What a Lovely Surprise!!

Went out to check on the plants today and found the most wonderful surprise waiting for me

Early Girl - First 3 Buds

Roma - First 2 Buds

Grow Box #1 has an Early Girl and a Roma tomato plants in it. They were transplanted when they were only about 3" tall. They are now, after only 2 weeks, about 10 inches tall and blooming!!! Okay... budding!!! But really in a few more days those will be blooms and after that, tomatoes!! Yay!! haha

Planted & Transplanted

Planted a "Bucket O'Carrots" today. It's a pretty big bucket, about 2-1/2 feet across and about 1-1/2 feet deep, so we should get some awesome carrots! I was inspired by a picture I saw of some container carrots being harvested by the fistful! While dreaming of handfuls of yummy carrots, I remembered this bucket at the side of my house and was thrilled to find some gorgeous soil underneath about 3 inches of leaves!



 We also started some cherry tomatoes in a smaller 8" pot. Those seeds are really old so I'm not sure if they will even sprout - but I figure not a waste of anything to try.




I had some fun looking closer at my dwarf Meyer lemon tree and found a couple of teeny tiny baby lemons! The hardest part of it all though is knowing that I won't have lemons to harvest for 6-9 months!! BUT I found out that dwarf trees when brought in and out will actually bud, flower and grow all year long for constant harvests. I kind of LOVE that idea!!




Also finally transplanted the poor Sunflowers - they were getting a bit sad! I was almost too late I think - But ALAS! They are in a big pot now and drinking some nice yummy organic fertilizer, water and getting plenty of sun! I took a couple of pictures of the flowers and noticed how different they look in the center at the different stages! Beautiful!

 Okay, so that's it for today!! Enjoy!! And always remember: Orange is NOT a good color for pink elephants! Muahaha!!

Busy Weekend

My best friend visited this weekend and we got the gardening bug in our britches. I had been considering getting another greenhouse before the sale ended as well as looking into getting a composter. Joseph pulled me through my doubt and by the end of the weekend... Ta Da!!! Two Greenhouses now and a composter. Yay! Now all the work starts... maybe. Or have we already done all we could?? Muahahaha!

The plants are all growing so well. The greenhouses are filling up - #1 is filled with plants and #2 is the working greenhouse with the starters and babies. I LOVE it. And once the other GrowBoxes get here, they will both be filled with veggies growing healthy and organic! I can't wait!!

My beautiful Lemon tree has so many blossoms on it that I just KNOW she will give us some great fruit this season! I've been brushing each blossom, hand pollinating it as they bloom open. I can already see the little green bulbs that will grow into lemons! Keep your fingers crossed!











The Herbs are all growing VERY well in their pots. The mints have already doubled in size since their transplant. Basil still not doing well but there is new growth - so I have hope. But just in case - I have 12 pods with two different basil starters growing. So either way, Evan will have his basil this year.





The Strawberry plant is even more bountiful than I'd hoped! There are so many new baby berries on it, that we might just be able to make some jam! I'm also thinking that I'll need to transplant them into a GrowBox soon as well. I think they are a bit snug and need some more space.

We got some beautiful sun flowers that are opening. It's time to transplant them, but the plot isn't ready yet. We'll do that this weekend.











We also found a chocolate mint plant as well (Yay!!) and will be transplanting that this weekend.

There is Chive in the striped pot. Not seen anything from them yet, but the seeds were very old. We got new ones over the weekend so if these don't rise, I will try again.





The grow boxes are also doing well. Even though it's only been less than a week since they were transplanted, I can already see a bit of growth. I can't wait to see how they will look this time next month, or even two weeks from now.

Well... This is what I've been up to. Talk to you again soon, and always remember - if I can do it - YOU can do it! LOL Keep being Green!

Oh Spring, how you tease me!!! Winter!! GO TO BED!

How I long for the day of the flooded seeds!! THIS is what I woke up to this morning. I've had to go out every hour to clean off the roof of the greenhouse because I'm terrified it will crack and collapse in on the plants. We also decided to put a small space heater in there on low just to keep the poor plants from completely freezing up. We also decided to bring the lemon tree back into the house JUST to be on the safe side. So far so good. But after I took these pics, it snowed about another 6 inches!! The greenhouse is really holding up well!! I'm SOOO proud!!!

So the lesson for today is... don't bitch about the seeds being destroyed... Mother Nature will laugh at you then give you MORE to deal with! And boy, did she!! The roof of the tool shed, the one that got the leak over the seeds, remember? Well... The snow caved that one in completely. It didn't occur to me until after I had taken these pics that I should have taken one of that as well LOL I fixed it before I remembered.

Anyway... yeah... Don't complain about drowned seeds... You'll get MORE crap the next day if you do!

Leaking Tool Shed

Sooo... it's been raining. Not a problem - I have a great new greenhouse up - the crops are fine.

BUT the tool shed that I had all the tools and seeds in, sprung a leak... RIGHT over the bowl that had the seeds in them. Yep... Seed Stew :(

I'm sitting here right now trying to dry out the clumps of seeds before they sprout and then dry the bags they came in without too much heat to destroy the integrity of the seeds.

Truth be told, I really am more angry about my stupidity than anything. I usually have my seeds in plastic zip bags to keep out moisture. UGH! What was I thinking? Well - I wasn't thinking! So...now I'm stuck with clumps of seeds I can barely see - although - to put a more positive spin on it - the pumpkin and corn seeds were rather easy to separate.

I'll probably give up and just dump everything... there are seeds like the lavender that I've had for years and am attached to. But I am going to give them the day to dry out before I give up completely. Then I guess it will be a free for all dump (just to see what grows) in a couple of large pots I have that are empty, and then a trip to Lowes to replenish my losses.

*Sigh and Whimper*


All the days can't be perfect, right?? Some days you have to use those green thumbs to force/hold your mouth in a smile when things go bad.

Okay... *takes a deep breath and goes to check on the seeds again*

It's Grow Box Time Kiddies!!

Ha! Okay - Over the last year or so, I have obsessively gone over the website and all the instructions for the Grow Boxes at least a million times...

Early Crop Tomatoes and Roma Tomatoes

So what do I do? I water the top of the nutrient patch! UGH! I'm mouse-brained, I tell ya!

You aren't supposed to water it - or it CURLS! I took a pic of my mistake in the hopes that I am so embarrassed by this loss of brain noodle usage - I never make this mistake again!

No worries, it will be dry by morning and I have little ceramic pots holding it in place until it does - no harm no foul (except to my ego, that is). Muahaha

Sweet Red Bell Pepper & Two Jalapeno Plants

I did a little better with the pepper box though. I got them transplanted and set up - no worries. Now it's a waiting game to see how they develop. I really can't stand it *jumps up and down like a mad hatter*

The third grow-box is waiting to see who wins the race in the starter tray - whomever gets big enough first, wins the coveted Grow Box #3 as their new home.

Oh - yes - a word on that - I actually decided not to transplant the strawberries out of the hanging planter, because today... Today!!! - it did not try to murder me! No 'bonkies' on the head for me! haha

So here we are - the only thing I have to do at this point is water every 2-3 days and watch... *sigh*

...I really HATE waiting...

Happy Gardening - And may your fruitful always be dirty! OH! I mean... errr... May your dirt always be fruitful! Yeah! That's it!! hahahaha

Getting It Together (Little By Little)

I was very blessed today to have one of my friends come over and help me go through some of my old gardening stuff that had been gathering dust and spiders on the back porch for a few years. We found some seeds we are hoping are still viable, as well as some lovely ceramic containers and other goodies -- like 5 bags of potting mix!!

18 Corn, 6 Cilantro, 18 Var. Leaf Lettuce, 6 Basil, 6 Sweet Basil, 6 Lavender, 6 Curly Parsley, 6 Pumpkin

My son and I spent the morning cleaning out the 'starter' trays and getting the pods watered and expanded. I think he has this list of "rewards" he will demand of me once this whole ordeal is over as he was the one the spiders all seemed to fancy! They hid from me, but apparently loved E. -- He must have found over 10 in one tray alone! Anyway - those have been cleaned and are sitting on the shelves in the greenhouse soaking up water so that we can plant seeds in them tomorrow.

My friend came over around 1pm or so and she and I finished cleaning the pots and transplanted some of the herbs into larger containers. The greenhouse is getting fuller and fuller as the days go by.

Rosemary, Basil, Peppermint & Spearmint

Funny thing -- or maybe not so funny -- the hanging strawberry plant is out to kill me! Every time I go into the greenhouse I bonk my head on it! Something must be done before I end up with a concussion, I swear!

We never did get around to setting up the grow boxes - LOL - we plan to get to those tomorrow, weather permitting. So much just keeps coming up and we get more and more done that we never even had in our minds to do!

Sage, Thyme & Lemon Thyme

Oh - and we are also considering getting another greenhouse! - not a done deal yet - but the more we get done, the more room we seem to need now!

On the to-do list for tomorrow:

• Start 10 Corn
• Start 6 Cilantro
• Start 2 Pumpkin
• Prep Grow Boxes
• Transplant Tomatoes into GB#1
• Transplant Jalapenos and Red Bell Peppers into GB#2
• Transplant Strawberry plants into GB#3
• Bring down the plant cages from the upper garden; clean and stack.
• Get straw to place on greenhouse floor as a covering.

I think that is it for now. More tomorrow! Happy gardening!

Putting the GreenHouse Together

The Frame

This was a LOT easier than we thought it would be!!

Putting the frame together took only about 15 minutes - and that was with a disabled me and a twelve year old.

The one thing I would suggest to anyone getting this particular greenhouse, however, is to keep the wing-nuts loose until you have put the cover on, then tighten as you go around securing the cover to the frame.

 

The Cover

Putting the cover on took a ladder and help from below pulling it across the top. Attaching it to the frame with the toggles was just as simple. This part only took about 20 minutes - and only that long because we were adjusting the frame and cover as we secured it.

All in all - the entire time to put it together, get it in place and put everything in it? About an hour! This makes us a bit proud because the instructions say it takes about two hours with two adults! Not bad, right?

 We really LOVE this greenhouse! So easy to put together, and just a brilliant design! My only complaint - I wish the store we got it from had the bigger ones available! I would LOVE to get one of the largest ones! THIS one is 6 feet wide by 8 feet long and 7 feet high at the center. PLENTY of room - but I would have loved to have more!! I'm sooo needy, right?? hehe

It really looks great, right?

E. my junior gardener! He can't wait to eat the food we will be growing!

Okay - so - tomorrow brings the loading and planting of the first three GrowBoxes! We are VERY excited and I'll post pictures once we have them fixed up! I can't wait to get the next ten GBs I have coming! We will be growing CORN(!!!) as well as a lot of other great veggies and herbs.

Until next time... Happy Growing!!

The Sweet Surprise From Mother Nature

 We brought the plants out to get some air and sun while we were setting up the greenhouse today. A great surprise happened during one of our breaks from tilling the foundation plot - a beautiful ladybug came out of nowhere - the first we've seen this year - and landed at E's shoulder. We put her on the strawberry plants but she decided she like the lemon thyme much better and moved herself over.

We've Dubbed Her "The Guardian"

The Foundation of Gardening...

We've Been Working So Hard!

My son and I have been working so very hard to get our little plot ready for all our Grow-Boxes and plants - not to mention the greenhouses!

We started out raking, tilling and pounding out an area for the greenhouse foundation.

My son, E. raking and clearing out the area

E. pounding out the foundation after tilling

Finished Foundation

Once the plants get a little bigger and the last frost or danger of snow has passed, we will move the greenhouse and this foundation will be part of the garden rows. But that won't be til late May to Mid June. We'll see!