Adventures in Procrastination

Once again I have disappointed people by not posting for way too long. Sorry. Life has been very...full lately. Not necessarily busy, but the last thing I want to do when I have a free minute is sit at the computer. Sorry. It's nothing personal, but it's what I do all day long. I enjoy a break every once in a while :)

But, I have been thinking about blogging and taking pictures! We'll play a little game of catch-up, enjoy:

More eating from the garden this week. It's still just lettuce, but it is oh-so-yummy! And this week I made my own dressing...kinda. I brought in leftover chicken and asparagus with the sauce I made for the pasta and warmed it all up. I cut the chicken up and poured some of the sauce over my little "salad". It was DELICIOUS! The asparagus was even good reheated, which I was little worried about. Yum!

Some cowardly soul at work apparently thinks collecting coffee grounds is disgusting. They left a sticky note on the this lid the week before telling me so. And this week we get "YUK" actually written on the lid. Luckily I have an extra lid. My boss told me to write on the new one a warning that if it gets tampered with we'll be going to HR, and I did. Seriously, how it more gross to collect coffee grounds in a separate bucket than to put them in the garbage can, of which you actually have to stick you hand in to use? Putting the grounds in the garbage makes the garbage give off heat and moisture, and I think THAT is gross. We are now trying to launch a PR campaign around reducing waste...if I only I had more time!

I built trellis' for my gardens this past weekend! When I have a moment and it's not pouring down rain, I will be tying strings from the poles down and maybe a few across. I need to put stakes in with the other tomatoes (in pots) too. My idea is to use the stakes and combine that with string in between the posts from the boxes and support them. Problem is I'm not completely sure that's where I want to keep the pots...so I haven't done it yet!

I also made a lot of progress on my "garbage hut", as Hubby so affectionately calls it. I still need to secure the tarp on the sides and make a latch for the door. So far it cost me $4 for the hinge and $7 for the sheet of lattice used. The tarp was free after rebate and the rest of the nails/wood were what I had on hand. I would also like to stain it to match the stairs...but Hubby thinks that would be a waste of good stain we could use somewhere else. I'll have to work on that one!

I've also become an outlaw. We decided to share garbage pickup with one of our neighbors. I will not name them to protect them, but we started a couple of weeks ago. We each only have one can a week, and neither are ever really full. So we decided to share! Problem is that on recycle pickup days there are four bins out there!!

And now for veggie updates. The beans and spinach on the left look good. I may be adding spinach leaves to my salads soon! And of course the lettuce is doing wonderfully. The other large plants there are both broccoli.

This is my pepper plant (and a weed on the right). It hasn't grown a centimeter since I transplanted it. I'm hoping it just hasn't been warm enough, but I'm starting to worry a little!

And my carrots are coming along very nicely as well. I'm hoping we get at least a few big ones in the bunch :)

The yukon gold potatoes all finally came up and are coming along nicely.

The white potatoes look like a forest! I didn't give them enough room, and I'm worried I didn't plant them deep enough. I'm thinking about building up the sides of the bed to accommodate more soil on top. I don' t know how much more I can add here without making a real mess of things!

The other SFG is going well too. You can see a tomato plant all the way to the left. They're all doing well. The garlic is still going strong. I'm really hopeful for a fall harvest. And the replanting of beans took, so that's awesome! If you look closely, you can also see some tiny heads of lettuce and carrot tops coming up. Also in this bed, I finally have melons sprouting and nasturtiums coming up! I had to replant both of those a few weeks ago.

The strawberries I don't know where to plant are still alive in their makeshift pot. There are ten plants there. I feel terrible!

And last but not least...is this maybe a grape vine? I'm pretty sure it's not, but I'd be very excited if it was!

Harvest Time!

This morning I got my first lettuce harvest from the square foot gardens. I brought some for lunch today at work. It was very yummy :)

I made a quick salad with leftover grilled chicken breast and T.Marzetti's Garlic Italian dressing. After I use up the store-bought dressing we have, I will not be buying any more (except for ceasar, I just can't see anchovies going into something and then eat it, I can't), I will be making it. Wish me luck!



My garden goals for this week are to turn the compost piles, set up a more permanent one for yard waste and get stakes in for the beans, tomatoes and peppers. I'd also like to get some sunflowers going along the back to assist with the vines and round out my herb garden a little bit. I'm going to look through my recipes and see what I use the most of. Thyme and sage are at the top of my list to add, but I'm sure there'll be more.

Adventures in Aging

This weekend was pretty much a wash for me when it comes to gardening. My sisters Emily and Megan, a set of twins, turned 18 this past week and graduated yesterday. Saturday was their huge party and yesterday was the graduation ceremony. It was a lot of fun and I'm pretty tired from all the fun!

Megan is on the left and Emily is on the right. I can't believe they're all grown up!
Seeing them and all the other little siblings of my friends graduate this past weekend
really made me feel older. I'm really a grown up now. It's kinda scary!
CONGRATULATIONS EMILY & MEGAN. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!

I managed a few minutes of weeding this weekend, but that's about it. God provided plenty of water for us so I didn't even have to do that!

I did have a bit of a setback at work last week though. Friday, when I went to collect the coffee grounds from all three buckets, I found one bucket was empty and another had been vandalized. Someone wrote "YUK" on the lid. Very mature, right? I guess last Friday there was a sticky note that said "disgusting" and the week before that an email went out.

I'm not going to go into why I think these people are crazy. I honestly feel bad that they've become so far removed from nature that they think collecting coffee grounds in a bucket to take to my compost pile is more disgusting that throwing them in the garbage headed for the landfill. Personally, I think it's kinda gross sticking my hand in the garbage and feeling the moist heat come up off it from the grounds. I guess it's a good thing I didn't try and make it a true compost bucket! I'll just keep my little on at my desk and keep quiet about that.

However, my boss has decided we need to embark on a PR campaign for composting. I have been tasked with finding the most disgusting landfill picture I can find and all the gross statistics to go along with it.

Wish me luck and please pass along any info you can. I'll keep fighting the good fight and trying to rise above the 3rd grade politics, now that I am a verified grown-up :)
Happy Monday!

Weekend Adventures

It's been a while again, I know. But I come bearing pictures!
The gardens as they currently are.
Bush Beans (Jacob's Cattle)
Millionaire Tomato plants (from seed). I was having issues with the focus last night, sorry! My tomato plants are still tiny, but I have confidence they'll thrive soon!
The spinach is coming along well.
Lettuce Mix. I think this is almost ready for a salad soon!
One of two broccoli plants, doing really well too!
Carrots, finally! I've sprinkled some coffee grounds on top and will mix some in once these plants get just a little bigger.
Itty bitty pepper plant. I don't know if these will make it. I have two.
The garlic is doing well at least! I may even be able to have some this fall.
The onions really haven't done as well outside as they did inside. But, I'm hopeful.
Tomatoes in pots.
Asparagus trees! They're tiny, but they're all alive!
The white potatoes. I need to get some straw for this bed. These are going nuts already!
The Yukon Golds aren't quite in the same place, but I have confidence in them.
One of the rogue pumpkin plants I put in. Almost ALL of them have sprouted. I got these seeds from my mom and she's petty sure they're pie pumpkins, woohoo!!
Marjoram and Oregano I got off freecycle...I'm still not quite sure which is which, but I'll figure it out :) The small pot is a bunch of strawberry plants I didn't get in the ground yet. I'm hoping to find a place for them soon and praying they live!
Here are pots with Strawberry plants that I did get in. They even had a flower this weekend. The petunia's are going nuts and the pots in front are houseplants I re-potted and one waiting for a new spider plant (the ferrets killed the first one).
And the plants that went in last year are bearing fruit. Look how beautiful!
And tasty :) First of the season, it was just delicious!
And I finally got this put together. It's still a little ugly, the ground underneath isn't level so it's a little crooked, but it functions. I just need to get some lattice and a lid. It will be gorgeous :)

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day.
Thank you to all of those who have volunteered their time and their lives for our freedom.

Adventures of a Long Weekend

Sorry it's been so long, but I've been away. I left Friday to go to my 5 year college reunion and spend time with Friends. I had a great time, I really miss alot of those guys. I can't wait to see them again!



I drove home Sunday morning and spent the day Sunday helping my in-laws pack and move. Yesterday, I pretty much did nothing. We finally made it outside at about 10am (Hubby took the day off as well). Hubby mowed while I transplanted most of my seedlings out to the garden. I also planted some oregano and marjoram I picked up from freecycle last week. I hope to get some picks tonight.

By 1pm, we were on the road to my Mom's and spent the afternoon being lazy in the sun and helping them a bit in the yard and the garage. Came home to dinner with friends.

Overall, it was a very relaxing weekend, but also very tiring! Before I left Friday, I did manage to get ALL of the laundry done. Washed, dried, folded and put away. I got all of the ironing done, which was actually a tw0-day process as it has been building up for a few months really, and put that all away as well. It's like I have a new wardrobe again!

Today I am back to work and still don't like it much. I did have a couple of inspiring conversations with people I went to school with this weekend, but more on that later as well.

I don't know if I'll get a menu up this week or not. I haven't been to the store in a while and I'm really not sure what's in the freezer right now, so, I'll be working on the fly. Hopefully I'll have a few minutes to do some inventory and planning tonight. I do know I need to make bread, but that's about it!

Adventures with late spring frost

Despite proclaiming the last frost had passed weeks ago, our weatherman warned us of frost for both Sunday night and last night. Nothing heavy, and probably not close to the lake or in densely populated areas, but there was a chance.

So I covered everything. We seam to have weathered it just fine! I didn't see any indications of frost around, but I'm glad I was safe about it!

The garden after taking the tarp off. Safe and sound! In the foreground is lettuce and the left corner has two kinds of beans as well as spinach.

Jacob's cattle beans, loving he warm and sunshine we've had lately.

A few spinach plants popping their heads up.

This past weekend I also direct seeded three kinds of carrots, a melon plant and nasturtiums. I also planted some rogue pumpkin seeds all over our yard. Hopefully one or two will take!

I have also set out most of my seedlings to harden off before I put them in the ground. They are living on our front porch, which is completely screened in. At night I close large bamboo shades to keep out the cold then open them to bring in the sunlight during the day. I'm hoping to plant a bunch this weekend. (I still haven't finished washing all the jars, so the laundry room idea didn't work out :)

This weekend we also saw the demise of our old grill. It was a built-in that was originally hooked up to the natural gas line at the house. When we first moved it, we converted it to charcoal (the gas was way past working properly any more) and I cleaned it up and painted it. Unfortunately, it was rusted pretty badly and there was barely a bottom left to it. So last year we bought a gas grill and haven't been using the old one. Sunday, it fell over. The pole rusted all the way through right at the ground. This was actually good news for me, as I wanted it gone anyway and was contemplating how to cut through the pole! Now I can move forward with my plan for that area. And, Hubby had a wonderful idea of using the top part as a planter. I think it will make a beautiful herb garden! I can set in on the ugly stone and use it, and then at some point make it all look nice. Thanks Babe!

No menu this week. I will be out of town Friday and Saturday and we're helping Hubby's parents move Sunday. The rest of the week will be grilling and left-overs to clean out the refrigerator.

Happy Tuesday.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mother's out there who ready my blog,
especially my own Mom and Grandma, who I know read occasionally.

Happy Mother's Day
Mom-me and Nena!!

As this is another busy weekend, as usual, I probably won't post again until then,
so I wanted to wish you all a wonderful day. (Even those of us that aren't moms too!)

Vegetation Update

I am a Winner :)

Last week, I entered a contest over at orgjunkie.com and I actually won! Thank you so much, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I won the ebook Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time A 52 week journey of baby steps to help you move towards more natural, nutritious and sustainable living by Stephanie at Keeper of the Home.

I was going to buy it, I was thinking about it anyway. But I didn't, I waited, and now I'm glad I did! When I get it and get a chance to read it, I will definitely share my thoughts. And, I'm sure you will hear all about the journey along the way!

Thanks again to orjunkie.com and Keeper of the Home!

Such a Productive Weekend

That's right everyone, we got the stairway sanded and the first coat on. It took literally all day on Saturday. We got up, had breakfast, and I did some dishes, cleaned the ferrets room (including their carpet) and then by 9am we were outside. We took a quick break for lunch and then were back at it until after 6pm. We had dinner with our friends and we were all so tired I think we were in bed by 11pm!

It needs another coat, which we hope to start on tonight. It isn't supposed to rain tonight or tomorrow and Wednesday is supposed to be clear until the evening, and we're hoping to get the next coat done tonight and tomorrow night. We hope, It could be a couple of late nights!

These are the lettuce seedlings, coming along well! You can see all of the stones in the dirt still, even after all of my hard work at sifting the stupid soil! Oh well.

I also got the potatoes planted this weekend. I'm hoping to bring the broccoli and onions out to harden off the next couple of days and get them outside as well.

Before I can do that, however, I need to clean off the shelf in the laundry room, as that is where they will go overnight. Currently, it is filled with jars.

And so is the windowsill.


These are all the jars I got from my grandma's house. I've been slowly washing everything. There were 113 glass disks and about 83 metal tops for the glass lids. I haven't finished washing and counting the jars themselves yet. There were also quite a few older things that, to me, were really neat!






I'm still hoping to get more pictures of of the flowers. If I don't, please don't hold it against me :)