Garden Fever...

The weather has been terrific here, for the most part. (Sorry East Coasters...)  This is the time of year I get more than a little itchy to go plant and grow things.

I wander through the veggie and flower catalogs, aka "veggie p-rn" at our house.  I am dreaming about my garden, considering what to grow, (which is always in the category of, "Why not?", leading to "Where am I going to PUT this?" later in the season...) 

I have thoughts about making things (the barn quilt block I have been thinking about for some time, and the Tardis garden shed), and things I would like to add to the garden, (a Doctor Who scarecrow, and drip irrigation), and so I have lots of day dreaming that occurs this time of year.

I will have some real things to do, I have to paint the raised bed boxes, to preserve them a bit longer, and check what seeds I have, and need.  Just off the top of my head, I am out of a particular watermelon that I grow for Mom, I can't save seed on that one.  So, will have to buy that.  A seed swap is coming up soon, I will get more goodies to grow. (see above "Why not?" statement...)

Bless him, I told Husband that I was going to try square foot gardening, and that I should probably figure out what I had for space.  He responds, "You have 10 4x8 tanks, so 320 sq. feet to work with."
He did this in his head, while I was still working out, for sure, that one tank was 32 sq. feet...

I said I day dream.  I never said I did math quickly...

I am cheap. But quantity discounts do apply...

I had a goal yesterday. I was going to N.W. Local Mart to get some Elderberry bushes I had my eye on. I had two that I planted, one is doing ok, sort of, very small. The other, well, it was mowed.

Note to self, paint markers BRIGHT COLORS.

Anyway, I was looking around at the Elderberries, and then saw a whole shelf of plants, separate from the rest of the plants. I wondered about it, and looked. The plants were the last chance types, buy now, or they are chucked out.

So, I started nosing about.

Hmm. A post 4Th of July "Firecracker" bowl. Lots of color, and lovely when it started. So, what's wrong with this? Little peaked looking, but everything in it looks fair. Hmph, let's get that for the front porch. And it was 20 some when new, it was a tad over 8$. Seems good for me!

Hey, they have those little Dusty Miller things. They just need to water these... 25 CENTS? MINE!

And the Salvia, too? Into the cart...

Uh, no tag. But it has a blossom, pretty... and it's a quarter, also? Dang, it's coming home with me.

Oh, look at the Coreposis thingies? A whole flat for 3$? MINE, again!

So, I took the plants to the clerk, I had what would have been about 40$ or so at the beginning of the season, for about 14$. I was pleased. I took them home, trimmed a few dead leaves and spent flowers, watered, fertilized, then planted or put them in their new homes. It took a bit, (my shoulders STILL don't like me...), but the plants seemed to take right off, even within a hour, they seemed to have revived quite a bit.

It really livened up a couple bland areas in my garden.

But...

I never did get the Elderberries!

What have I been up to? Oh, stuff...

I finished a pair of socks... I was going to finish them for Mother's Day. Welllllllllllllll, my niece was 'bored', Uncle nee' Husband said, oh, well, you can come over.

Great.

I entertained niece for the better part of the day. I am not upset, but I felt very strange for having her over, the one day I would think she should perhaps BE WITH HER MOM??? (Who knows, maybe she thought that would make a good Mother's Day gift.)

But, anywho, the socks ARE finished, I did the design purposefully off, so the socks are obviously a pair, but don't match. I gave Mom the option of either way, she thought it would be fun to have them randomized, and it bugs Husband a little, I think there is too much of the machinist in him to like it being 'that' random. I have a pair with one blue, and one red heel, and it bugs him every time he notices it. I think it's fun. Poor guy is going to have a problem when I knit my Dobby socks, and they not only don't match, they aren't the same style, (one is a brown guy's sock, the other a pink and orange gal's sock... Unless I make the red with snitch, green with broomstick ones...)

We unplugged the Digital. We are in an iffy area, and if the wind blows, the antenna swings some, and it can total the signal. Great... But what was on there sure LOOKS nice.

Diggin' in my garden. I have planted more stuff this year than any that I can remember since I was helping my Grandpa. Wow. And, the majority are just flowers and such, not veggies (yet.) This has actually been the biggest time draw of late. I am going to plant cauliflower this afternoon. But I have been planting Phlox, and Lillies, and hosta, and wildflower seed, and oddball little thingies that I don't know what are, and some things with blue flowers, and just all sorts o' neat stuff. Pictures will be forthcoming when I can photgraph more than watered dirt.

Garden will be going in pretty soon, Husband is putting up a deer fence. I think this could keep out more than deer. I think he might have thought the Huns were invading... Heavy pipe for the posts, and Cattle fencing. Eeep! But most of it we had, so it is not as expensive as buying 'true' deer fencing. Plus, the pipes can be removed fairly easily with an Allen wrench. I have some pumpkins and gourds out there now, will get the garden in, Gawd willin' 'n the creek don't rise, on or near Memorial Day. Not during Indy 500, however. That is my one time of year for car racing... With Dad.

Am now working on a resolution keeper, I had a UFO, and am finishing. It's a baby outfit, I knit for a military charity, and they make "baby sea bags", for new parents, and they include a baby set. Hence, I am knitting a set, for said bag. Green with white trim. Soooo plain it hurts. I am going to do SOMETHING different on the next one, or I won't be able to knit them much longer without making more UFO's!

Ok, now I need to go do some more stuff. Carry on!

Movin', movin', movin...

Keep those plants a movin',

dig 'em up, put 'em in, set 'em down, wet 'em good,

RAAAAAAAWHIIIIIDE!

(Yes, maybe I have been out in the sun too long...) So, now that you have that song stuck in your head, here's what I have been up to this last couple sunny days.


If you look a the garden, you see the pretty red tulips? You COULD NOT see them when I started, there was just so much grass and weed stuff in there. I hadn't done a thing with it, and it showed. Husband never said a word, but we are getting more people coming by for various reasons, and I think he likes the thought of it looking like a garden, not a mini hay field.

These are some flowers that were in our grass when Husband was all set to mow. I told him to hold off, and transplanted about a dozen. He mowed, and I think there are a dozen more out there! I will move them eventually, but the ground out front is hard, HARD digging, so I am sort of slow on the digging up of the front, so far. Mom thinks they are Blue Bells, I haven't checked yet, but I think I agree.

I have been getting plants that I know will grow here, either they already ARE growing, or I have grown them before. I am a "Darwinian Gardener", if I can grow it, it's welcome. If not, Pbbbt. I also grow things without knowing what the name is quite often, so I take pictures, and then bug people that know, like Extension Agents... Nursery People... Mom....



This is what I have been working on a LOT. It's (I believe) an herb called Lemon Balm. It is all over the place here, so I have been working on putting it in the garden, so that I can enjoy the smell. It's like you have been sprayed with Lemon Pledge when you carry this stuff around.

(Which, I might add, after a day of sweating and working, is NOT a bad thing...)

My Garden, part one...

Let's see, I actually made the effort to put plants in, AHEAD of time, so I will have healthy starts... I hope. So, we do a count. Tomatoes...

Check.

LARGE pumpkin starts, that look like they want to come out of the planter...

Check.

Blurry sensitive plant, for the house...

Check.

Peppers. NO check. I have planted the d@^^ things 3 times. That is enough! I will buy the stupid starts. Grumble.

Zukes. I should start these. I really should. But I am afraid of my parents coming over, opening the door, and there would just be this mighty exodus of vines, pumpkin and zuke, fighting to get out of the door. Husband would be hanging on to my hand, as we ride a huge green wave of veggies! Chaos!

I also planted some Birdhouse gourds, they are almost identical to the pumpkins, just a tad smaller. Check.

And finally, for a little luck,

Check.

Bloggy bits...

This was not a stellar week. I tried to be nice about it, but trying to do good things for people this week, did NOT go unpunished. So, rather than depress everyone with my whining, (which I believe I am quite good at, by the by), I decided that I would throw some 'stuff' in my blog, that in and of itself, wouldn't really be much, but might be enough if I throw it all in one. Sorta like leftovers for dinner, but not.

One of my friends said they have puppies that are a Red Heeler and Blue Heeler mix. I keep wondering if that makes them Purple Heelers.

One of my roosters is offended by wind. If the wind blows, he will go out and challenge it. He literally will stand and squawk at passing breezes, if they ruffle his tail feathers. I really don't think he would be my first choice for continuing the species.

Joke someone told me recently. There is a place in Idaho, called Picabo (peek-a-boo). Thusly, there is in the hospital, a Picabo I.C.U. (Well, who knows, maybe it's NOT a joke. I think it's funny, however.)

If you don't start on a New Year's Resolution, have you broken it?

In that regard, I have actually found some of the floor in my craft room, but Now I am losing space on the window area, because I am starting plants from seed. I have some pumpkins, that I believe are trying to take over. They haven't even formed true leaves yet, and are almost a hand span tall. (Feed me, Semore!) On the annoying side, I have replanted my peppers 3 times, and nada. I am soon to go to the time honored tradition of saying to H*** with it, and buying plants. Darn it.

Am I feeling like living irony, as I spin, love to knit, like fiber a lot, and my next door neighbor raises sheep!

HAIR sheep.

Sheep you don't have to shear.

Sheep that don't give fiber...

Waaah!

I found a grow it yourself chicken scratch on http://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/, (terrific company, no relation, just satisfied customer), and so I thought I would get some for the birds. Then I started reading what they put in it for seed...

Bloomsdale spinach
Tyfon
Oak Leaf Lettuce
Salad Bowl Lettuce
Red Russian Kale
Red Giant Mustard
Collards

Um. I am going to plant a plot for the chickens... I am also planting a row in my garden. FOR ME!

(Hey, looky that! I managed to get a link to work, there is hope for me, yet!)

Ok, well, have a nice day, and if you can't leave a post, (I have received complaints. Thank you, didn't know...) then email at "rencatus AT yahoo DAWT com" , with the obvious changes. Others of you that can, I thank you!

You may now return to your regularly scheduled other stuff to do.

Veggie P*rn and Gingerbread.

I am getting all the new catalogs for the gardening season of 2008. Even the Mushroom season of 2008. Mmmm. Shiitakes, lightly saute'd with butter. ('Scuse me while I go wipe off the drool...)

Anyway, I am just utterly astounded at the variety of... well, everything! I swear there is 20-30 types of tomatoes! Reds, yellows, some sort of purple, big, tiny, sort of stripey, wow! Carrots, yellow, orange, fat, thin, long, you have your choice. Corn, white, yellow, red, multi, this year even has (for you Barbie Doll lovers out there) pastel colored corn! I am sort of planning out my garden. I have been so frustrated with the quality of corn (the llamas liked it, no one else did...), that I said I wasn't going to plant any next year. (My Darwinian gardener coming out again.) Husband has been putting extra soil in, and getting a trailer set up for my ATV, so I can collect llama doo for putting on the soil. He asked that I give it another chance. Hmph. Maybe. But I do want peas.

My dear neighbor might get to have venison, if I lose them to deer again this year! Sheesh...




Husband has been gone so I have made gingerbread for cookies. Why does Husband need to be gone, you ask? This recipe calls for a tiny bit of vinegar. That is a smell that Husband can't stand, I have seen him turn green and go outdoors. So, if I cook with it, he can't be around. He doesn't mind it in things, mixed, but the odor of "raw" vingear just makes him ill. (Which makes cooking a dinner he likes, chicken with sweet and sour sauce, a bit of a challenge. Hot vingear smell allllll over the house. Not a good thing, poor guy.

Well, in the knock me over with a feather department:
My niece and nephew came over last year, we made cookies. They seemed ambivelent, at best. I didn't bother inviting them over, figuring they would be bored. Ahem.

I was taking over some funds to my niece for a school fundraiser, (Auntie IS a pushover, yes she is...), and Niece spoke up, "Auntie, are we going to make gingerbread this year? I would like to make a house, I haven't ever made one before."

I in my sophisticated and suave manner, said "Gahuh, huh?"

She: "I would like to do cookies again, but I would really like the house this year, if we could."

I mumbled something about we'd have to see when I could, and oh, and that sort of thing. I know she's not been here since I adopted the llamas, and would like to see them, as well, so I at least have some OTHER activity, if her attention span is that of a... really short attention span niece, ahem. So, as you can see by the above photo, I am getting ready. By my calculations, I can make a gingerbread house, big ginger family, maybe a ginger pet or two, and still have enough left over to have way too many cookies!

Or I could just make a gingerbread skyscraper, and gingerbread Godzilla, and see what happens...

SPRING!!!

Well, I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the tookus, but I decided to plant some seeds, in peat pots, to get them ready. I planted cauliflower, and peas, which I have never planted before, so we will have some early 'stuff', if I can keep the bloody slugs out of them... I also planted yellow crookneck squash, (I have poor luck direct planting, so I decided that a head start might help.) I also have tomatoes. I was going to plant pumpkins, but I ran out of peat pots. Guess what I need to get next time I am in town?

I have also been knitting, next time I will hopefully have another pair of socks, real knit-in-the-round, heel-flappy-that-you-have-to-knit-up ones, I like my 2 needle kind, but I want to have some LIGHTER socks, the 2 needle kind are for winter use, I suspect if I felted them, I could probably walk outside (if it was dry), and not be cold! Good sockzes! But not for spring and summer...

Meanwhile, here is pictures that I took of the plants, yesterday. If you can believe it, the peas have almost doubled in size since I took it, and the tomatoes, well, they are getting these little tiny leaves (finally!)...


This is the whole shootin' match that I planted...


This is (an extremely blurry) picture of the califlower plants. They look like little 4 leaf clovers at this stage... If you could see the darn things...



These are the peas, they already are trying to get some leaves growing!

Husband didn't know what he was doing when he doubled the garden size, did he?