2012 - The Plans

Our raised garden was planted on Monday, March 26th and here's what I set in it.  I have more plants to plant, but ran out of room.  How surprising.  It is mostly herbs.  The Sweet Onion is from an onion that sat in our fridge and had some growth coming from it.  We will see how it does.  The Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Oregano, and Chive Onion is from the previous herb garden.  My Mom gave me the Brussels Sprout, Kentucky Pole Bean, Carrot, Radish, Beet and White Bunching Onion Seeds, while the rest is from the store.  I left two spots open to space out the carrots and radishes to have throughout the season.

The week before, I planted the rest of the Daffodils from Walmart and put in some Sunflower seeds into the clay pot I got while at Walmart.  The sunflowers have emerged and the Daffodils seem to peek further out of the dirt, or the rain has compacted the dirt  making them look taller.

In the meantime, a surprise flower has popped up and is quite beautiful.  Either it is a weed or some transplanted seed from a bird, it is very interesting.  I had some come up last year, but it was before the grass got too tall and noticed more.  This year, with all the rain, this one is the only one I found since I have mowed all the other areas where they came up.

2012 - And the Seeds are Out!

The six white and orange tulips are so beautiful!  They were well worth the $18 for the lot even if they don't make it much longer.  I can't remember having tulips growing up and watching them grow and bloom has been really neat.  My preconception of tulips is the closed cup and the droopy stem.  These guys are wide open and can see the true beauty inside the cup.  Amazing stuff.

Meanwhile, Monday was seed planting time for me.  I wanted to plant on Friday as the moon was new, but so much for that.  Moon experts say to sow seeds at certain phases.  Above ground seeds are to be planted with the new moon to help drawl them up out of their shells and the root vegetables seeds are sown during the new moon to help pull them down farther into the ground, making healthy roots.  All very interesting stuff.  I missed the phase I needed to plant the seeds for the above ground items and didn't think I would be able to plant the root vegetables on the full moon, so I just planted everything I planned out in the raised garden.  I squared off the garden into sixteen 11.25" sections and got to work.  I have some old seeds and new and hope they all come up.  We will see.  I've got back up seeds just in case.

After planting, I worked some more on the path around the garden.  Eventually, it will have a mulch path that is surrounded with grey stones that will hold in the mulch and keep me out of the mud. While money is the ongoing issue, the path will be put on hold until we have a little more funds to complete that.  Oh, and that green little planter in the top left is full of sunchokes that I missed when digging up the garden!  Unbelievable!  I am going to have sunchokes choking my new garden.  Bummer.  Those suckers are so hard to get out of the ground.  I will have to dig them up every year I guess.  So much for that.

Last week, Evan and I got a new toy for the garden/yard from Evan's sister as a belated Christmas present.  It is quite beautiful and very fun to sit in during the evening.  However, the morning and afternoon sun's position is high and hot.  Once the sun passes over the house, it is wonderful to feel the breezes and watch the evening pass and the stars come out.  The P's absolutely love sitting under it when the sun is out.  It is a cool lookout for them as they guard the backyard.

The butterfly garden is coming along very well.  It is so hard to believe it is still March.  Our average last frost date is April 15th here and worry that this early growing season will be halted with a blast of cold air and ruin everything for us.  We will see.  I am taking what I have and going with it.  No regrets.  I have extra seeds if that happens.  Disappointing as it maybe if it happens, I will take this early growth time with heart and enjoy it.  I still have lots to do before I am done with this garden to let it go for the summer.  I am glad to get this early start.

2012 - Updates

For now, the Orange and White Tulips are still shining with all their beauty with the Iris and still have seen no signs of the old Daffodils from Walmart.  In the Yucca ring, where I planted the other twelve bulbs, they are all missing. Gone.  Destroyed.  Eaten.  Or Stolen.  I don't know, I just hope they enjoyed them.  I sure didn't.  I never got to see them be in bloom.  So sad.

On another note, I managed to mow the rest of the backyard with a quick fix on the broken handle on the mower by shoving two metal chopsticks into the hollow handle.  It worked, but it is temporary.   So while we wait, this cool new contraption is on the way.  It is called a "Fix-a-handle".  I hope it works.  $14 is definitely cheaper than a new $300+ mower.  I am excited about it and have my fingers and toes crossed that this does work.

2012 - Oh NO!!!

What's left of my tulip.  Someone... ate it and left me the roots.  I was so disappointed.


 Also, with all this nice weather and rain, our grass is as tall as it gets in the summer.  I charged up our mower and plowed down more than a third of our yard before the stupid handle broke at the point where it connects to the mower unit.  The grass is almost a foot and needs mowing desperately.  I haven't had the chance to find a replacement part and fear I will have to break down and buy another mower, which isn't a bad idea.  When the grass gets tall like this, I need two mowers to get the job done.  So a second one wouldn't be a bad idea, but the funds are gone and a three hundred plus dollar battery operated mower seems so out of reach.  I hope I can find a replacement part.  After all this sucker has already lasted  four seasons!  I am impressed.  I got this one with money left over from our house closing in 2008 and bought it at Home Depot for $317.  It was a good investment.  No oil, no filters, no gas.  With gas prices these days, I enjoy plugging it in overnight and only mowing for forty-five minutes with a great workout.

Bummer.  What a trooper too.  My lawn is bumpy and very thick.  No wonder it fell apart.  I have to lift and pull and tug and whack it around to get it to cut my thick grass.  Sometimes mowing over it three times before the grass is shortened.

2012 - The Raised Bed

Our garden bed is RAISED!   We filled it with our previously removed 'clay muck' and used it as the base mixed with old leaves and garden debris from the butterfly garden.  We then filled it in with ten cubic feet Garden Soil.  For the past two days it has been raining and I have not put the seeds in for growing.  I plan on doing so Friday.  I am still working a plan on where all the plants will best suit the garden.  The space seems so small in person, but on paper, it seems it can hold a lot more.

I am also figuring a path for around the garden to keep from having to mow the area and stomp around in the mud while working in the garden for weeds and other care.  The next consideration is how to put up a deer fence around the area and a way to keep other small critters from eating our food.  The competition is fierce here.  I am going to put a drip system in as well, if I can find the system at the store.  I looked, but didn't ask for help.  I have seen it at the store before.  I wanted to get that and put it in with a digital timer to ensure the plants get the right amount of water in the summer and not have the water sitting on the leaves evaporating.  Money is also out, so a lot of this will have to wait until more money comes in to pay for the new tools.  I did buy a long hose to reach around the patio and allow for easier water retrieval in the hot days.  Right now it sits on the other side of the A/C unit and is very difficult to pull out of the housing that rolls up the hose while it is not in use.  Eventually, I will have that new hose connect to the drip system.  What I really would like is a rain barrel to catch the rain water and wouldn't have to use so much city water.
 

The Green Onion, Spearmint, Lemon Balm, and Oregano sit and wait to be planted.  They are troopers.  Hang in there!

The path for the butterfly garden and the area around the raised bed.  I am contemplating a mulch path to wrap around the raised bed.  The two flowers I planted on the curve of the path will have to move to make room for the mulch path.  I hope I can keep them alive.

While working on the raised bed as Evan was breaking up the dirt, I cleaned out the butterfly garden and put all the debris in the bed to be stirred into the new dirt.  I added mulch and it looks great now!  It's a real flower bed!

Our raised bed is filled and now waits for the seeds and plants to grow!

Pixie and Panda had a tiring day as the sun was pretty intense, but they enjoyed their day outside.

This was one of our new toys.  It is awesome for breaking up the 'clay muck'.  It gets in there and twists and turns and makes it so nice for leveling a path or stirring our dirt in the new raised bed.  We got it at Home Depot.  Lowe's was out of stock, but I think this one will be much better than the one that Lowe's had.  It is an all metal handle attached with a solid weld to hold it to the base and the points are not super sharp, but are adequate for turning the soil.

2012 - The Daffodils are a Changing.

One day the daffodils were bright yellow and white.  Now they are a fading pale yellow and white or peach and white.  So cool!

2012 - More Spring!!!

The Daffodils are absolutely beautiful!  Their happy little yellow cups are tucked in the center of creamy white pedals.  They just say to you, SMILE! So much sunshine in their beauty.

Please Smile!  : )

This tough tree has been around for a while sitting in a pot.  I want to say it has been at least four years.  Evan finally put it in the ground in the front yard!    Yay!  Happy tree!

Magnolia Bush.  So pretty!

Panda and Pixie.  The P's.  Pre-hair cut.  Wow.

2012 - New Herbal Garden!

 So the quest for a new herbal garden has begun.   Evan and I bought our raised garden frame at Lowe's the other day and laid it out where the new bed will be raised.  It sat there for a few days as I had to work, or it was super windy, or too cold, or I was too tired, or it was too wet and rainy.  I was off yesterday and waited until Evan got home and for the sun to pass around the house, so we wouldn't be digging in the blazing sun.  March 12th and it's 80 degrees out.  Today, March 13th and it's 83 degrees.  Amazing!  

I'm an idiot and didn't get the dug up square Evan had cut out with our now busted edger.  The second one too.  Never more Friskars.  I hate your weak orange plastic handle that cannot handle our thick clay muck we call dirt.  While Evan worked the base of the raised bed, I dug in deeper to get those pesky Jerusalem Artichokes tubers out of the dirt.  Sunday we had a really good soaking of rain and with all that rain, I was able to dig easily into the ground and pick out a bucket full of tubers.  No more lame sunchokes that can't handle the high winds of summer storms.  I didn't throw them away so to speak.  I put them over the fence in hopes they will grow there and make a really nice display for the deer to eat.  Wink. Wink.

Pre-dug garden bed.  The Spearmint, Oregano, Chive Onion, and Mint had to be dug up and I hope they will survive the transplanting to the new bed.  The red stones are saved to help hold up the south end of the bed on the slope.

Winter debris in the mix of new spring growth.  All about to be dug up and moved into the new bed.

Our new bed frame is held up by the saved red retaining wall stones to keep it level.

Dirt removed from the bed, or should I say, clay muck.  We will replace it with some better quality dirt.

This garden day came to an end as the sun set as the dogs stood guard over our garden.

2012 - Spring has Sprung!!! Even More!!!

New transplants!  Evan and I bought eighteen new tulip bulbs at our local Lowes.  Three of each color: Yellow, Purple, White, Red and White, Red, and Orange.  They were $0.98 each!  So I picked out bulbs that had lots of babies growing with the main one.



I took the three orange and white tulips and mixed them in with the Irises that sit on the two corners of the front patio/driveway walls.  I also buried some new Daffodil and Allium bulbs behind the Irises which are old and may not come up.  I purchased them at Wal-Mart in February for four cents, so if they don't pop out I won't be too upset.  They have been in the fridge to keep from molding and waiting for the right time to be planted.

White Tulip planted in between two Irises.  A orange tulip planted in between the top two Irises.

While planting the Tulips, I noticed that the Crocus had popped out over night and made their debut.

The wind has been sustained around 20 mph with gusts of upwards to 50 mph.  This flower got severed by a yucca leave that it grew up under.

My Mom's Day Lilies survived!!!  I am so siked to see these coming back!

The Holly Bush is struggling, but is still holding its ground.  It looks like disease is trying to take it down.  Boo.

2012 - Spring has Sprung!!!

This Spring has started early.  The Daffodils take flight first! Their green leaves and pointy yellow-green buds shoot for the sky to welcome the warm weather on.  These guys sit around two rocks that mark our driveway entrance and make me smile every time I pull in.







Most of the action is taking place in the backyard were the butterfly garden is beginning anew.  Everything is coming back up and this makes me so happy.  I feared that the lamb's ear had died off in the summer from the intense heat and drought we had endured.  Those soft light blue-green little furry leaves have emerged with the day lilies and a few weeds as well.  I need to get cleaning and remove the dead leaves out, but fear a burst of cold air will hurt these new leaves as it is only the beginning of March.  This dead growth could act as a blanket until April has arrived.  Our last frost date is April 15th.  With these warm temperatures and nice days, I have been very anxious to get out there and setup the new herb garden.  I fear the growth of the sunchokes will arrive before I can dig up the tubers.  Maybe that will make it easier to find those suckers. 

Lamb's Ear is in the middle, Day Lilies at the bottom and top, and a few ground cover weeds at the top.

Oh, beautiful new growth of life.

Lamb's Ear!!!  Yay!

Mr. Spearmint, I am sorry, but you will have to be transplanted soon.   I know you can make your showcase later in the new herb garden.  I know you got that warrior attitude to survive the journey.