Organic Gardening is Pretty

My Square Foot Garden is a mixed blessing. Because I didn't get the seedlings into the ground fast enough, most of my plants died. The ones that survived are beautiful.


Jalapenos (or Serranos...I'm not sure)


Basil and Parsley (and Cilantro in the bottom corner)


The Corn is really my pride and joy. My grandfather grew up on a farm for most of his childhood and he is the family expert on gardening....and he's jealous of the fact that I have corn in my garden.... :)


This is what excited me...TOMATOES!!!

YUM!


I think this is the best photo of the day...a baby cucumber


I forgot what kind of squash this is....Now it's kind of exciting to find out later....


I'm getting excited about nature.

Spring has Sprung, but the Break is over

Last week was Spring Break at the college. I took off back to Georgia.


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Sometimes I still can't believe I used to make that 5 hour drive every other weekend... here's a quick run down of the week:

Friday: Watched the first part of the Battlestar Galactica Finale with Sue Ann. Tried not to cry.
Saturday: Slept in. Was rudely awakened at 8:30 by parents who assumed I had hit the road at 5 AM and were anxious for me to arrive (I'm still a bit concerned about that.... I never see 5AM unless I have been awake all night.) Went back to sleep. Hit the road ~4PM. Hit Albany around 9:30-10PM. Met up with Andrea and hit Waffle House. Full of sugar, I easily stayed up until 4AM.
Sunday: Slept in. Watched as parents tried desperately not to sit underfoot. Man, they missed me.
Monday: Mommy left around 5AM to go to work in Columbus. Sat around house with Daddy all day. Drove to Columbus to take Mommy out for her birthday and celebrate their anniversary. Drove back to Albany.
Tuesday: Sat around house all day. Snoozed on couch. Slept in bed. Very exciting day.
Wednesday: Daddy cut work to spend the day with me. So, we spent the day together just like we used to: he worked in the yard while I slept in every conceivable room in the house, including the kitchen.
Thursday: Daddy had to go to work today. Thank God. I went to Thomasville to visit the Grandparents. They were overjoyed when I arrived [Sidenote: Why did everyone feel the need to warn me that the cops were watching the road? I KNOW!!!! I'm not speeding (that much...)] and in their determination to spend as much time with me as possible, they stayed up until 3AM!!! Come on people, can't I get some alone time....?
Friday: Woke up with every intention of going back to Albany. Granny had different plans. She hid my keys, then put on the "sad-sack" face. I stayed another day, but warned them I was running out of clean undies. . .she did my laundry while I took a nap. Watched the BSG Finale. Cried for hours....I'm still not ready for the show to be over, but it is over.
Saturday: My keys returned, I set off to return to Albany. Met up with parents for breakfast, then a little mall crawl. However, my plans were rudely interrupted when some random teacher friend of my mother's showed up and started yapping her mouth. DAMN! I've been ditched. So I ditched her when Andrea swung by. I hit WalMart for the first time all trip (good looking out!), then a few more stores. Stephanie called me because my sorority was having an intake soon and the new DP and Pres didn't know what to do, so would I come by ~6PM to help them plan, since I had been the pres during one of our more infamous lines. Sure, so I split from Dree (her sister's on the line, so she didn't need to know anything going on) and headed home to get a few things. Wouldn't you know, Mommy's home and she's cooked. So, seafood night at the parents, then over to Steph's. She's cooked (I'm feeling the fat settle on) so a small plate of Spaghetti and let's start planning. I'm finally free at 3AM.
Sunday: Mommy wants to try our girl's day out again. Great, but all the rest of my clothes are in the wash. So she ditches me again, (how rude!) then calls me back 1.5 hours later to meet her at the nail shop. At that point, I'm ticked, but I go. She pays. My toes are hot pink.


NOTE: I had no interest in alone time. I have quite enough of that in Florida.

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When conscious, I spent my time in GA looking at plant catalogs and dreaming about Square Foot Gardening (the price of tomatoes is simply ridiculous!) . . . I feel rather confident that I can pull it off this year. I also looked at acquiring a few houseplants.

<--Like Dieffenbachia I grew up with this plant. Lost quite a few stupid dogs to it too (the leaves are poisonious).

Pothos: I grew up with this plant and it's also poisonous....What were my grandparents trying to do to us?

<--Philodendron: I grew up with this plant and it's also poisonous....I'm beginning to see a pattern.



Arrowhead Vine: My mother had this plant.....I'm seeing a disturbing trend here.


<--Cast-Iron Plant: Finally, a plant that isn't poisonous.


Well, I live by myself and I don't have a dog. I think I can manage not to chew on the plants.




I've stalked the Pioneer Woman's Gardening site for information on how she built her raised beds (not difficult at all) and I am almost living at Mel Bartholomew's site, but I may have a problem finding vermiculite. . . apparently it's tough to lay hands on.

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While at home I had a great time finishing projects that have been on the back burner for a while:

I now have a pair of Pomatomus Socks and they are gorgeous! I am in love with them. A little blocking and they'll be ready for wearing.


A Koolhaas hat in Cream: Daddy claimed the hat, then Mommy stole the hat, then Grandy decided she wanted the hat (but in Blue) and PawPaw wanted the same hat but in a different blue from Granny. Let the Christmas 2009 Knitting BEGIN!

New Home Project

Like so many Americans, I've spent the last few weeks trying to figure out ways to cut back on my spending. I didn't do badly last year, but I want to bulk up my 401(k). So after getting a body blow from Quicken (I really spent $1200 on my CELL PHONE last year!!! Are you kidding me???), I decided to go outside.

I spent about 20 minutes in my backyard trying to decide where to put my square foot garden . . . I don't have a large backyard and every time I've attempted to grow something it has been a dismal disaster, but I'm going to try again.

Then I walked around to the front yard.


That tree has got to go.


The Palm tree might live to see another day, but that yellow grass thingy . . . I hated it the moment I saw the house.

Thankfully my neighbor Linda was on hand to help me figure out a plan.

Me: Well, I was thinking I would hire a tree service to get rid of that tree and the grass thing because I hate them both

Linda: Honey there's no need to to that! Get yourself a pair of ....umm...long clippers or a saw and saw that thing down. (Grabs branch and twists) Matter of fact, this thing is half-dead anyway so it should come down easy.

Me: Umm...I don't have a green thumb, so I don't know if I should do this.

Linda: Well, in this case, you're the perfect person for it. You're trying to kill the tree and if you're as bad as you say, this is right up your alley.

Me: You have a point. . .and I have a hacksaw. . .

Linda: Ring my doorbell if you need anything.

Yup, I do like my neighbors.
So here's what I accomplished in one hour:
Beginning: See Above

30 minute Mark:


Done (45 Minute Mark):


I left three weeds and a stump, but I'll get rid of those before the trash get here in the morning.

Now I'm pricing the garden . . . This is soooo much fun!