Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Long time, no post!

Wow, I haven't posted here in years! A lot has happening around here since posting last, we now have 2 little boys! 5 years old and almost 3. We've relocated our raised beds to another area of our yard. And had put gardening on the back burner since our little one was an "eat everything with in reach and sight" kind of kid. But both of them are now a great help and love being out in the yard. 

Also...drum roll please...

We've added 6 chickens to our family! They are now 8 weeks old, and living in their coop full time! I'll be creating a few different posts, probably one garden related, one strictly chicken and one all about the coop! Excited to be back at it! 

Here's Toad, a little longer in tooth than she was in our previous postings, and a few of our chicks enjoying the sunlight! 

Monday, May 16, 2011

Sunny Day...

On Saturday it was so beautiful in the morning that we took advantage of Ez's naptime and got a ton of yard work done. I planted a bunch of seedlings, and prayed for the best. I really hope that we don't get another frost this spring!

I added some weed barrier fabric to the 12" bed, so I could warm the soil up to transplant my squash, pumpkin and cuc seedlings! Did the grid this past week as well with some Jute. Also transplanted a ton of leaf lettuce seedlings. Hope they take, I was lacking patience and didn't harden them of first. So hopefully they'll hang in there! :) Also put a tomato in, and plan to train it to the trellis in the back! Then transplanted some strawberry crowns to the 6" bed, cuz' they were getting crowded in the planter!

So excited for this season, now if it'd only warm up!!!


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Spring Seed Starts

So this season I started using Jiffy Greenhouse seed starting kits. Which I've really enjoyed, they've been super efficient and easy to use, and when you've used all the pellets you can buy replacement pellets! And they are pretty inexpensive, I picked them up at Home Depot.



March 9th:
  • Beefsteak Tomatoes- sprouts on 3/17, 8 day germ
  • Basil- sprouts on 3/17, 8 day germ
  • Cilantro- sprouts 3/21, 12 day germ
  • Parsley- sprouts 3/21, 12 day germ
  • Sugar Snap Peas- sprouts on 3/16, 7 day germ
April 20th:
  • Yellow Squash- on 5/9, all seedlings doing very well @ 1"-3" tall, still in window sill.
  • Summer Squash
  • Cantaloup
  • Watermelon
May 5th:
  • Cucumber Bush- sprouts on 5/11, 6 day germ for Cuc, Pump, and Pea
  • Sugar Pumpkin
  • Sugar Snap Pea
  • Kentucky Wonder Bush Bean
  • Variety Leaf Lettuce- sprouts 5/8, 3 day germ
Cantaloup seedlings

Basil, and Watermelon Seedlings

Leaf Lettuce seedlings, and Basil

Tomato seedlings

My Gaggle of Seedlings

Jiffy Greenhouse with Lettuce seedlings


Yellow and Summer Squash Seedlings

Thursday, May 5, 2011

May 2011

So I didn't follow through well last year, as it was a really cruddy year weather wise! But I'm back in the saddle again, and we have some big plans for 'My Side of the Yard'! I'm drawing up a plan on some graph paper today. The plan is to get rid of most of the grass on the veggie side of the yard, and add a bunch more beds made from salvaged pallets.

Also possibly getting ready to build a coop for some super awesome laying hens! I love growing food in our back yard, and am excited at the idea of a higher yield to be able to glean the excess to neighbors, and local food banks/rescue missions!

I have a ton of seeds and seedlings started in the window and am itching for the weather to level out and get warmer! :)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

July 2010, Plants on 'roids

So it has been awhile since I have uploaded, here in the Northwest, its FINALLY summer!

My warm weather crops seem to be doing great, but the cold weather crops have all bolted! No worries tho, I allowed most of them to flower to attract pollinators! I'm really enjoying the garden, but need to buy more seed, because I have so many vacant spaces now! So far this has been a great learning experience! I'll know better what to do next spring!

Here are the most current photos taken today!

Purple Potato doing great! 

Carrots

Strawberries soon to be ripe!

Basil Seedlings finally popping up in the heat
Tomato going gangbusters, need to stake and prune it this evening

Brussel Sprout that bolted, attracting bees!
Mint thriving

Monday, May 24, 2010

mmm...Radishes!

This weekend we spent a lot of time in Olympia, visiting with family and friends. But that meant spending awhile away from my garden, and seedlings! Funny thing is that I actually missed them. I would think randomly, 'i wonder how the peas are looking?...hopefully the compost bin isn't getting gross...how big are the heads on my broccoli?...wonder if my seed starts are sprouting yet?'.

But we did end up going to the Olympia Farmer's Market on Sunday. The weather was a little iffy, but their market down there is AWESOME! There is a permanent building for the vendors, so you can walk around rain or shine, and stay dry! I was able to speak to a gardener about Clematis, and got some great tips for pruning after it goes dormant. As well as learning about Black Orchard Bees, and Bat boxes.

I was also excited to find Praying Mantis egg cases, and purchased one for the garden! I can't wait until they hatch. I've always like Praying Manti (is that the plural form? lol) and am interested to see if any of them hangout to eat the bad critters of the garden! Here's the packaging, from The Lily Pad, Oly. Wa.



When we got back home, I ran out to the garden to check things out, and most of the radishes are ready to harvest! I picked a few and brought them in, and my hubby promptly munched one down, and enjoyed it!



Such a gratifying experience running out there to pluck something from the ground, that I planted from seed, and then to see my family enjoying it. I'm constantly amazed at how easy it is so far to grow our own veggies, and look forward to every new harvest and planting. And love the feeling of seeing a new sprout popping through the soil. Yes, it may be a little silly/dorky. But it's awesome.

I'm a gardening nerd.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Last day of sun

So today, is supposed to be the last day of sun for awhile, but man, those few beautiful days of sunshine seemed like steroids for my veggies! I also planted 2 squares yesterday, another crop of carrots and radishes! Hopefully they weren't washed out by yesterdays torrential downpours!

Here are photos from today: