Thanks, Mom!

My mother has a gift for landscaping.  She just seems to know what flowers would look perfect in any given place.  I can appreciate flowers by themselves, but when I try to plant them or group them artfully, the end result just looks confused.  My mother, however, can work magic.  But she doesn't know it.  She says she "just puts things in the ground," yet year after year her yard looks amazing.

For example, all these bulbs were planted by my mother.  Don't they look stunning?

Tulip, daffodil, and other bulb flowers.

So I have learned that if my mom suggests I plant something, I should do it!

Last weekend, while she and my step-father were visiting, I sought advice from my mom on our herb garden.  I had already planned to dig out part of the lawn in front of the house for our herbs, but wasn't sure what would look best.  My mom had a great idea to make a swoopy, wide bed that would curve partly around the house.  I made her draw it out for me.

Yesterday I started edging the design, but I didn't get far.  Not because it was hard, but because my lovely husband decided it would be much easier if he tilled.  Well, if you insist!

One other fact about my mom - she is addicted to our local greenhouse.  We went just to "look" and ended up with a flat of primroses and some houseplants.

Primroses.  They smell like honeysuckle

 I had never seen primroses before, but was immediately hooked.  I have already gone back to the greenhouse twice so that I had enough to edge the new herb bed.

And here is the finished bed: 

Thanks, Mom!

 I have already planted Lavender, a Flowering Almond, and a Jacks Camelia.  Now I just need to wait for our herbs to grow big enough to transplant.  Soon the bed will be filled with flowers, rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano.

We also hung the kids' birdhouses.  Now it is truly a family garden.

Week 12 - Project 11 - Grocery Tote

We had company this weekend and had a great time.  However, I didn't let that distract me.  I finally managed to get my weekly project done.   This week I continued my using-plastic-grocery-bags-is-bad-for-ME kick.  So to go along with my produce bags (week 10), I made grocery totes out of some curtains my mother gave me.

Yes, that is gold lamme!

I liked this project (found on the Wisdom of the Moon blog), but I am not sure I love it.  Yet.  It certainly sewed up fast.  I cut three bags in 5 minutes, and sewed one in 20 minutes.  Honestly, making the handles and trimming the thread took the most time!  I can probably get 8 more bags out of one curtain, which is fairly awesome.  And these are self-lined, since the curtains also had lining.  And I have 3 more curtains (all gold)!

I just need to see how they do with real groceries.  Real  ones, not these plastic ones the kids lent me.

Project 12 coming soon...

Mutants

Have you ever wondered if it is really necessary to separate your seedlings once they start sprouting?  You know, how it says to plant the seeds 1 inch apart, but then thin them out to 6 inches apart.  Does it really matter?

Why, yes, yes it does.

I found these at the garden I tend at the local university.  That is about 6 carrots that continued to fight for the same 2 inches of ground.  Some high school students had been given a plot and they never came back to tend their veggies. 

High school students + garden = mutant carrots.  

You have been warned.

Week 11 - Didn't Happen

I failed to do a project in week 11.  I claim gloomy, distracting weather; work out-related injury (or extreme soreness); grumpiness; gardening; and the need to get a lingering sock project off my needles as my excuses.  And March Madness, can't forget that.  (Go Tar Heels!)

I did plant 150-200 onion sets and two types of peas.  And I started seeds for my brassicas (brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage), herbs, and tomatoes.

 

And we started two more batches of beer.  Still working on the socks, though.

But all is not lost.  I will just have to do two projects next week.  Which is actually doable.  I think.  If I start tomorrow.

Geez, Jen, that is a lot of justifying.  I guess I feel guilty for letting myself down.  sigh.

Flowers and a Song

The 5-year-old sang me a seranade.

It was very sincere.

And the flowers bloomed.

They are lovely.

The Fruit Trees Are Flowering!

March Garden

March is half over and we need to start getting things in the ground.  Which means that we have to prepare the ground to be more than a sinking mud hole.  I randomly discovered in Family Handyman magazine that a great way to help clay soil is to add crushed shale or other fine rocks back into it.  Apparently this helps aerate the soil and allow the plants to get their roots moving.  Sounds good to me, and our local greenhouse sells exactly that.  (Go figure that they would know what to do with red clay.  I should have asked last fall!)

So today we put together the raised bed (the 5-year-old and I did this), and filled it with top soil and composted manure.

Then we added a soil improver (rocks) and leaf compost to the established beds and tilled it in.  I think we are going to need more.  At least two beds seem more clay than anything.

And now the garden is starting to look fertile. 

Gotta love the dirty work!