The Garden - My Breathing Space

In the past few weeks, I've watched my garden go from the above...

To looking like this!  One of my simple pleasures is to go out and look over my little garden squares in the still and quiet of the morning.  A sort of centering activity before the start of my day.  I study the leaves and blossoms.  The vegetable buds and the bees going busily about the plants.  I rejoice and feel thankful when I see the promise of something wonderful growing!
   

A yellow squash growing

The distinctive shape of a patty pan squash starting to form


A little jalapeno pepper growing!


Mary Ellen

In The Garden & Slug Beer Trap Success!

So far, so good with this year's Spring/Summer garden!  I'm always cautiously optimistic when it comes to gardening.  I've yet to figure out how to produce large bounties of home grown vegetables in my backyard.  The perfectionist in me however, won't stop trying!  I still have more herbs to plant (got a late start this year).  But, the vegetables are all in place.  Yellow and Patty Pan squash; Roma, Grape and Big Boy tomatoes; Zucchini and Red, Green & Yellow Bell peppers and Jalapeno peppers.

This has been my best year with the peppers.  Typically, I plant them alongside the tomatoes.  This year, the tomato and squash plants went in first.  So, the peppers were moved to my second garden square.  The pepper plants seem to be doing much better in other square.  They're growing bigger and haven't suffered from slug damage.  One of the pepper plants even produced a teeny, tiny pepper.  Fingers crossed for regular sized peppers later!

The squash and zucchini are blooming, and their leaves are getting bigger.  They've expanded even more since the above picture was taken!

Starting to see some tomatoes!

 Fearing the slugs were going after the zucchini plants, I put out a slug beer trap.  To my surprise, it worked!  I did feel a bit guilty the next day seeing them in the dish - Bless their little sluggy hearts!  But even more so grossed out by the sight of them - Ewww!  Thank goodness for my husband being willing to handle disposal.  Definitely a man job! :)

Mary Ellen      

Garden Highlights...and Lowlights!

I love going out to my little backyard garden and seeing the changes each day!  Little bundles of Roma tomatoes are now hanging from my tomato plants.  Last year, my Roma tomatoes were plagued with blossom end rot.  But this year, everything seems to be going just as it should!    

The grape tomatoes have also made an appearance

Little cucumbers have formed on the vine

And it looks like our first zucchini is also on the way!

While the tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini seem to be moving right along, my pepper plants aren't doing much.  It appears that slugs have been chewing on the leaves and even eating the tops of the stems.  That could explain why I've never been able to grow peppers!  Also, the rosemary and marigolds have pretty much died off.  I've grown rosemary in a container for several years now and never had it die so soon!  Oh, the ups and downs of gardening!

Mary Ellen

Garden In Bloom

The garden is filled with blooms!

Zucchini blossoms

Cucumbers

Grape tomatoes

Bell peppers

There are even a few little green tomatoes forming - yay!

Even though this gardening season is still young, I've been thinking ahead to next year.  I shared with Dave my idea of expanding to three squares and he agreed!  So next year, I'm planning on having two squares for vegetables and one square dedicated entirely to fresh herbs!  I can't wait!

Mary Ellen

   

Spring Garden - Out With the Old, In With the New

Last time we visited the garden, I was putting in my Spring transplants.  At the time, my chard and lettuce plants from last fall were still going strong.  But with our warmer than usual Spring temps, the plants finally bolted.  So, I decided to replace them with more Spring vegetable plants.  The plants are actually an early Mother's Day gift from Dave!  To the garden square, I added Yellow Crook Neck squash and Ichiban eggplant.

As well as some Thai basil

And regular Sweet basil, for some homemade pesto!

I added herbs to replace the lettuce plants which had been moved to containers.  

Parsley 

Rosemary & Thyme

I also have some cilantro growing in a few pots - great for homemade guacamole!

And this Sweet mint plant, I've nicknamed Lazarus!  I bought the plant last year for my container herb garden.  The hot Carolina sun completely scorched the poor thing.  I put the pot aside, planning to clean it out at some point.  But over the winter, I noticed tiny green sprigs emerging.  I put the planter underneath our covered shelter to protect it from the frost.  But other than that, I gave it no attention at all.  And now, it's completely grown back!
  

And here's Sheba kitty, checking everything out!  

Mary Ellen

Spring Garden 2012

My Spring garden is officially under way!  Dave surprised me over the Easter weekend with an early trip out to the State Farmer's Market to buy my transplants.  In the square above, I have grape and roma tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers back by the trellis. 

This square has more green peppers, zucchini, Ashleigh's cabbage and the Swiss chard that was planted last Fall.  The chard is starting to get a bit wild!  Looks like we'll be enjoying plenty of green smoothies around here!  And if you're wondering what that thing is in the middle of Ashleigh's cabbage, it's the toe of an old pair of pantyhose.  I'm using the pantyhose to protect the developing cabbage head from pesky cabbage worms!

I added marigolds to the squares this year in an effort to attract more bees.  Last year, I had trouble with some of my zucchini shriveling before they matured.  I think it may have been a pollination issue.  Hence my desire to encourage the bees to do their stuff!

And for a little decorative element, I added these black and white toile tile pieces around the flowers.  I found these pieces at Michaels craft store in the clearance section.

Mary Ellen

Add Color to Your Garden

Transform ordinary plastic planters by giving them a splash of color with spray paint! 

The leaf lettuce I planted in the fall is still going strong.  And so are my Swiss chard plants.  To make room for the Spring transplants, I moved my lettuce plants to containers.  I'll keep the chard in their garden square along with Ashleigh's cabbage plant.  I can't wait to get my Spring garden going!

Have you started a garden for the Spring?

Mary Ellen 

PTO Day - "Paint" Time Off

Last Friday, I took some time off from work to take care of a few homecaring tasks.  The weather was gorgeous and the kids were in early from school.  It was the perfect day for an afternoon away from the office!

Having the afternoon off gave me the opportunity to do some spray painting.  I had intended to start on these projects weeks ago, but never found time on the weekends.  For my garden, I spray painted a wooden trellis in a soft french lilac color.  The trellis was a Craigslist freebie!  I think lavender and green are a beautiful color combination.  In my head, I'm envisioning pea and cucumber vines wrapping themselves around the trellis in my garden this year.

I also started priming this trash to treasure find.  It's a small stand with a cut out for storing electrical components.  Would work well as a small TV stand or writing desk.  I'm thinking about doing some sort of design on top in gray.  I have a Martha Stewart stencil I'd like to try out and this would be a good practice piece!

Since Dave's office is closer, he's usually home before me.  But Friday, I was able to treat him by having the house in order, dinner cooking and plate of warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies ready for him as he walked into the door!

Mary Ellen

Beauty in the Ordinary

A simple (and frugal) bouquet from bolted garden plants

The warm weather lately has my thoughts turning towards my Spring garden.  This weekend, I started clearing out my garden squares in anticipation of Spring planting.  Most of my fall vegetable plants have gone to seed (bolted), with the exception of my Swiss chard and lettuce plants.  I gathered together the blossoming tops of my arugula, mizuna and red kale plants for a simple (and frugal!) bouquet.  Beauty in the ordinary.

Mary Ellen   

Early Start to Spring Garden

Ashleigh's Cabbage Plant

My Spring gardening got a much earlier than anticipated start last week.  Ashleigh came home with her latest school project in hand - a cabbage plant.  For the next two months, she has to care for and document the growth of her cabbage plant.  Since my arugula plants had started to bolt, we replaced them with the cabbage plant in our little garden square.  Previously, I tried growing red cabbage one Fall gardening season.  But ended up in a losing battle against cabbage worms.  Hopefully, we'll have better luck this time!

Mary Ellen 

Winter Garden & Tuscan Bean Soup Recipe

Mary, Mary quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

In this Mary's case, I'd say extremely small!  I've discovered two things about my ability to garden:  (1) I can grow things without killing them (good!).  (2) I seem to be able to only grow things in miniature.  I'm working on the second item.  I'm taking this time leading up to the Spring gardening season to find out what I need to do to make my garden more productive.  I'm hoping the folks at our local garden center can offer advice on how to improve my soil mixture. 

Despite their small size, I used the chard leaves from my garden in place of kale in this Tuscan Bean Soup recipe from the Pioneer Woman.  I also omitted the shrimp, if you couldn't tell.  Quite simple and delicious!

Mary Ellen 

My New Year's Resolutions

I hope your 2012 is off to wonderful start!  I'm not really the best at making resolutions.  Which is weird because I love making lists.  I know written goals give you a clear direction and allow you to measure your progress.  But, the perfectionist in me feels like a failure if everything is not accomplished!  To take the pressure off, I refer to my resolutions as "aspirations".  Things I hope to aspire to in the New Year, but won't feel guilty about if I fall short of the mark.  Any change for the positive is a good thing.  Even if everything on the list isn't checked off at the end of the year!

So, here are my "aspirations" for 2012:

* I want to learn or increase my knowledge in the following 4 homecaring areas:

• Gardening - I want to learn how to make my vegetable garden more productive and grow more fresh herbs
• Sewing - I want to finally use the sewing machine Dave's grandmother gave me as a wedding present 11 years ago!  I'd love to sew something (maybe an apron) from a vintage pattern.
• Breadmaking - I want to move beyond homemade pizza crusts and homemade cinnamon rolls!
• Cake Decorating - Just looks fun and cute!

*I want to make a Home Binder to keep my calendar, homecaring list, menu plan, grocery list and contact information all in one place.

*Organize kid-related paperwork

*Practice yoga and deep breathing for relaxation

*Observe a day of rest for prayer and gratitude journaling.

*Focus on the positive - "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

*Take a day off from work each month to focus on homecaring projects.

*Fill the empty shelf space in the living room and family room without making those areas look cluttered.

*Re-read The Surrendered Wife (Laura Doyle), The Complete Tightwad Gazette and Simple Abundance.


I also have some home projects in mind for the coming year.  But since those will require Dave's approval and assistance, I'll hold off on committing to those for right now!

What are your resolutions (or aspirations) for the New Year?

Mary Ellen

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Garden Art Using Recycled Lamps

Recycled garden art by Mary Jo Stephenson

During our morning at the NC State Fair, we took in the beautiful garden exhibits.  One colorful display that caught my eye was by local artist Mary Jo Stephenson.  She used recycled lamps to create garden art.  I thought it was not only beautiful but wonderfully creative!  Old lamps and chandeliers are easily found at thrift stores and yard sales.  This would be a great way to give them new life! 

Colorful tree with hanging lamps

Teapots & lamps

This garden display had an outdoor shower.  But my eye was immediately drawn to the green vanity in the corner.  The top portion had both mirror panes and plants.  This would be a great way to incorporate a  trash to treasure dresser into an outside space! 

Mary Ellen

Fall Garden 2011

New squares

For our anniversary last month, Dave surprised me by building two cedar squares for my Fall garden!  It made me feel good that he considered my interest in gardening worthy enough of spending household funds.  The cedar squares are a major upgrade from my homemade squares made of free bricks from Craigslist!

Daddy's little helper

Don't worry, the bit was removed and he was under Daddy's very watchful eyes :)

I had intended on getting my fall transplants in the ground a few weeks ago.  But life has been quite busy!  This past weekend, I was finally able to get my transplants in the ground.  In this square, I have red kale (it's ornamental and edible!), arugula and chard.

And in this square, red leaf lettuce, green oak leaf lettuce and mizuna.  After a losing battle with broccoli worms last year, I decided to stick with just greens this year!

Mary Ellen

Garden - Summer 2011

A few zucchini and a small green pepper from my garden.  They were some grape tomatoes in the basket, but someone (my Momma!) ate them!  I used some of the zucchini for this delicious Zucchini Bread recipe from Simply Scratch.

***

This Summer's garden has been better than last year's.  Which gives me hope that I'm inching ever so closer to my goal of elevating my gardening from hobby status to something that has real added value to the family - but still enjoyable at the same time.  I'm the type of person that likes to do something right the first time.  But gardening is surely breaking me of that thinking!  I've dealt with zucchini shriveling on the plant before they even mature (pollination issue).  And blossom end rot with my roma tomatoes (watering issue).  But as Dave reminds me, it is all a part of the learning process.  And a part of the growing process for me.   

Mary Ellen