blueyedkitty04's Blog

Back home....
Aug 12, 2009 | 12:38 AM PST
Thank you to all those who kept my family and neighbors in their prayers!!

We ended up having to leave our home for 5 days, and 4 nights.  It was tough.  We came home a few days ago, but I didn't have my computer until today.  The fire is still only 75% contained, but they have allowed all but a few people back into their homes.   The cool weather we've been having apparently has been helping them.  It is such hard work, and even harder when the temperatures are so high, so I bet the firefighters are able to accomplish more when the temps are lower.  The fire is now at 9,158+ hectares, pretty big.  I can't wait until it's out and in the "mop-up stages".

My garden managed to survive without water while we were evacutated (although some of the late seeds that were coming up dried out and died).  I was so worried that when I came home I would have crispy zucchini/cucumber plants as well as pumpkins.  Thank goodness they made it, I would have been so sad.  My veggie patch was the only thing I was so proud of this season.  My flower garden was such a disappointment and I was thankful to have such a nice little veggie patch this season. 

I will update more when I get settled down again.  I have no idea when that will be. I have some pictures too that I want to share, but that will have to wait. 

My husband is coming home and will be here around 6 a.m ish and my daughter and I are so happy.

More when I get the chance....take care.  I sure hope I am home for good! 

~M~

Fires....
Aug 2, 2009 | 3:27 AM PST

I finally got back to writing my blog on GG and now I may need to stop for another few days.  The fire that was burning still (at 90% containment) has not gotten pretty crazy and is spreading again.  For some reason it has grown quite a bit.  You can check out my info on my other blog, link below, it will open in a separate window too.

http://cluttermo
mmy.blogspot.com/

I am pretty stressed to the max tonight (well, it's 3:17 a.m.).  My hustband left out of town for work (on Tuesday) thinking that the fires were going to be over or atleast under fairly good controle.  Unfortunatly we thought wrong.  I am so wishing he was home with me!  I miss him terribly and could really use his support and comfort right about now.  This is terrible.  When will this end? 

I will be sure to start writing and sharing my garden stuff as soon as thing straighten back out again.  Who knows when that will be though.  I miss talking it up with you all, and can't wait to get back.

 (
Above:  One of the large plumes of smoke that we could see from our house.)

 Above
:  The last picture I could take of the smoke plume above our house.  Scary and Eerie!

I don't know what else to write about, I am just stressed, worried, and scared. I don`t even want to imagine what we would do if we lost everything.  

I should try to sleep, or at least rest my eyes.  More when I am able to.  I will probably update my other blog (link above) first since my family checks that one often. 

Take care and happy gardening!

~M~

Where on earth did July go?
Aug 1, 2009 | 6:12 PM PST

(click any image to view larger)

Summer has been busy and chaotic for our family. We've been sick with the stomach flu at the beginning of July, then the fires broke out and now my husband has had to leave out of town for work. The whole month of July has flown by so very fast and I cannot believe it's already over. I remember the months of March, April, and May going by so slowly. June came and went just nicely, but July....where did it go?

I took a ton of wildflower pictures each time I went for walks with my daughter. I think I will save those for the fall or winter when I don't have any "gardening topics" to blog about.

My zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkins (and even my sunflower today) looked dreadful again. I know that they are watered well and there is no real reason other than the sun/heat. It's hurting them so much, all wilty and limp. I don't know what I am going to do but I have to figure something out. I think I am going to have to fashion something to shade them for a few days (or longer depending on how long this heat wave sticks around). I never heard of zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkins having trouble in the heat, but I guess anything that is in excess could hurt plants. I think I am going to tie a sheet over the zucchini patch and who knows what over the pumpkins. I will be sure to take a picture with my solution to my sun problem.

Hummm, it's kind of windy right now. I wonder why. I hope it will cool down just a bit.

Here are some pictures of my garden:

More soon....thanks for reading...

~M~

It's been 30 some odd days....
Jul 31, 2009 | 3:45 AM PST
It's been 30 some odd days since I last wrote a blog entry on GG. I can't believe that I have let it go this long, it's just been too long.

To start things out -

Doesn't a sunflower just brighten your day?

It's been so long, I don't know where to actually start. As of July 18th, there were 3 major fires near my home. Two to the south, and one to the north. If the wind blew either way, our home was in the path. The two to the south were put out after a few days and only grew to 200-300 hectares in size (they are now in the "mop-up" stage, what ever that means). The one to the north of us is still actively burning and only 85% contained. There is still a possibility of this fire getting away from them given the right circumstances. We didn't sleep one bit the first night all three fires had broke out. We were put on "evacuation alert" which meant that we had to be ready to leave with in 15 minutes of evacuation order. Scary! I decided it would be best to leave with my daughter one evening and was able to stay with my Mother-In-Law's Mom at her apartment while all three fires were burning. It was so needed since I was able to calm down and get some sleep (although my husband stayed back at our house, so not having him with me and him being near the fires scared me a bit).

I had to pack and then re-pack my car and my husbands truck with our valuables/important items when we had some really scary days. I had actually unpacked most of my car thinking things had calmed down a bit, but the next day the fire to the north of us had gone from 2,000 hectares to 4,000 hectares overnight and our house was getting ash dropped on it as well as major smoke. It was REALLY scary considering I woke up to all the smoke not knowing what exactly was going on. I had to then rush and rush to re-pack our things (all while entertaining a toddler!). How do you put a value or select which things are the most important? Very hard.

I think I will keep my car packed for a bit longer (at least until the fire is totally contained and in the "mop-up" stage). We still have close two months of fire danger. I think I will be on edge all summer!

While all this was going on, my poor garden suffered terribly. I wasn't able to water it properly (basically hit or miss for two weeks). The garden has done pretty well considering we've had extreme heat wave too. The zucchinis, cucumbers and pumpkins seem to be having a really hard time with all this heat. They flop over during the direct sunlight (and I've tried watering them at all different times of the day - i.e. morning, afternoon, evening - and it doesn't seem to help). I don't think it's lack of water but rather just too hot for them. I don't know what to do. I could get some sort of shade for them, but I don't know what would work. Any suggestions?

Above is a pictures of what my zucchini/cucumbers/pumpkins look like when the heat is a the highest during the day (this is probably one of the worst days I have seen so far).

Above is my tiny veggie patch in it's glory....I am so proud of it!

My veggie patch has done wonderful. Waaaayyyy better than last year! The zucchinis - planted directly from seed, started indoors, and nursery bought - are all doing great. I even got 1 zucchini squash from it already (the nursery bought plant - it's not any bigger or more flowery than the others). I am sad to say I believe it went to waste since I had not been able to enjoy it due to the fires. I will have to check tomorrow to see if it is still good or not.

Abov
e is the zucchini and some yummy peas I picked before the fire chaos.

The peas were wonderful, but with the heat wave they just went like crazy and the peas got big too fast. Even the ones that were not finished growing length wise had one pea that was really big and that was it. I have picked them all, so I am going to pull them out and start some new rows for another crop. They really were sweet! I had not had yummy fresh garden peas in years. What a treat!

My beans are doing okay (bush beans) but I have no idea what to look for when they would be ready to harvest. Any suggestions? I would really like to try them. There would only be a handful of them since I didn't know how big they would get or how much they would produce when I planted them. How should I eat them? Cooked or raw? I don't know.....any suggestions?

I don't really know how well my cucumbers are doing. I do know that they are flowering and looking alright (as long as it's not the peak of the heat). I think I will probably have some cucumbers soon, just not sure how soon.

My radishes didn't do too well. They grew nicely (on top), and I was able to pull out a nice one that my husband ate. But that was all. One. It ended up getting too hot I think and they all flowered. When I pulled them up, they were only root. I wonder if it was just the heat or if I did something else wrong. I have never ever planted radishes. Thoughts?

My carrots seem to be doing alright, considering I haven't pulled any up to see how there doing (I didn't plant very many and I don't want to risk pulling one up too soon). I will check in a week or two.

Also the broccoli seems to be growing normally, but I don't know what this heat will do since I have heard that it is a cool weather plant. We will have to see as the weeks pass.

I plan on planting more peas and carrots, and possibly more radishes (not sure though, depends on how much Kyle would like them).

For my actual flower garden, well, I am pretty disappointed in it this year. Actually REALLY disappointed. It has not grown well at all. The best things that are growing are the above sunflowers (planted by chipmunks by the way....*see previous blog entry on that story*). Nothing seems to be doing well. I don't know why. My strawberry patch has given me one berry, my perennials are yellow (need fertilizer?) and things are not flourishing. Could it be the heat or lack of fertilizer? I know I am not over watering them nor am I totally under watering them either. I just don't know. It's really sad and frustrating to me. I bought some new perennials that I have to plant in the next few days since thing have calmed down a bit. Some of my Morning Glories are doing okay too, but don't seem to be as successful as I had been in past years. Plus I am really jealous of my Mother-In-Laws nursery bought Morning Glory that is just growing like crazy! It's just beautiful!

Above
are my sunflowers the chipmunks planted and my pumpkin patch. I don't know if the pumpkins will grow at all since they were planted really late. They are starting to spread and trail around now and have lots of flowers on them.

I have perennials that I thought for sure would flower this year (i.e. Hollyhock and Columbine), but they are so far from flowering. I doubt that they are going to flower this year and that is yet another major disappointment. Frustration. I had such high hopes this year!!

One positive note, I found a WONDERFULLY scented flower - Night Scented Stocks! (see picture below) I love them. They open up and perfume the whole yard in the evenings. I kept walking around my yard and catching a wonderful smell and was not able to figure it out. Then one night I realized, "hey, didn't I plant something that was supposed to smell really nice in the evenings?" and sure enough, it was them. Wonderful flower, just kind of strange growth (they were floppy as if they hadn't rooted very strongly from the seed) and they get leggy when they are near the end of their bloom period.

>Above: The Night Scented Stocks - They smell so good....I LOVE THEM!

My daughter posing for the camera when we were picking pie cherries (sour cherries) down the road.

Well, that's all I've got for now. It's way too late and I need to go to bed. I will try my best to keep up with my 3 blogs. Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful rest of the week!

~M~

S-T-R-E-S-S is not just a 6 letter word...
Jun 24, 2009 | 2:10 AM PST
Tags: Hannah , Veggie Patch , Pests , Raccoon , Surgery , Garden

To save time (precious time....) I just re-posted from my "other" blog.  I will try my hardest to do a strictly "garden" post soon just for here, but things have been so darn busy.

http://cluttermommy.b
logspot.com/

 p>

I have so much to write and so many pictures to post since my internet hasn't been working too well the past 2-3 weeks.

Here it goes, my attempt at updating you all on the past 2-3 weeks worth of going-on's......

(Above: Hannah and a little green frog. She loves frogs!)

We are still dealing with Hannah's recovery from her eye surgery (June 17th) to correct her "lazy eye". It's been a really crazy week. She is continuing to progress and heal but still fighting the antibiotic eye drops. Boy-Oh-Boy she is fighting them. The redness has reduced quite a bit and I am feeling pretty good with the way they are healing. On July 2nd we go in to see how they are healing and see what the doctor has to say about it. I'll update more on this tomorrow (it's so late - 1:37 a.m). I have some pictures from when we were at the hospital, after and more recently that I will put up to show her surgery recovery process.

(Above: Hannah and I before going into the surgery room where I held her until she fell asleep from the anesthesia.)

(Above: Hannah the day after the surgery.)

On Father's Day we had a wonderful "surprise". Kyle went outside around 11 a.m and saw that our garbage had been gotten in to. We had noticed that the dogs had slept down at the bottom of our steps the entire night and also realized that if they had been the ones to get into the garbage they would have pulled out more and gotten to the really stinky stuff. As Kyle was walking down the stairs, one of the dogs ran towards a tree and started barking. He hollered up the stairs for me to get him a gun because he figured there may be a raccoon up in the trees. I hollered back that I doubted it since most times the dogs just think they've treed a raccoon, but it's really escaped by hopping from one tree to the other. Kyle looked up and in a different tree he saw a raccoon looking down at him. The dogs had indeed treed the raccoon that had gotten into our garbage. What good dogs....

Kyle came running into the house, trying to figure out which gun to shoot it with. We agreed on the "proper" gun - Hannah's new Pink "10 - .22". Six shots later (man those suckers are tough!!) we ended up with a dead raccoon and a wonderful Father's Day photo too!

(Above: Hannah, Kyle, Mitch, Luke, Pink .22 and a dead raccoon - what fun.....)

After the whole ordeal I found that something had ransacked my garden, breaking off my nice "natural trellis", knocking over some of my garden decorations and digging a bit near the base of my "natural trellis". I can only guess - it may have been the raccoon or the dogs tracking the raccoon, but who knows. I will set up Kyle's new "Game-Cam" in my garden maybe tomorrow and see if I can catch any night animal activity in my garden. Can't wait to see what shows up....

I caught a snake 2 days ago with/for Mitchel (my little brother-in-law). I think it's a "Rubber Boa" or "Rat Snake", not sure what the correct name is, but that is what we call them. They're not poisonous, but are good for getting rid of summer nasty bugs (ie. mosquitoes) and even some eat mice. It's not very big and was really calm/gentle although we didn't let go of it's head and let it crawl on us. We kept our fingers on it's head in case it decided to bite/protect itself.

The weather has been really cold the past 3 days. Today it finally warmed up, but in the evening it got colder again. Not cold enough to freeze, but definitely cold enough to wear long pants and a sweatshirt. I haven't had to water my garden for those 3 days which was a really big help since Hannah has to stay away from dust and our yard is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo dusty that we stay inside quite a bit. Also it's rained a few days on and off so that has helped keep some of the dust down (until today). We've spent time outside when the dust isn't so bad.

My veggie patch is growing like crazy and I am so proud of it! My radishes tops are really big, but not much is growing below (I pulled one today to see the progress and was so disappointed, maybe I am doing something wrong...too much water?). My Zucchinis are doing so well, I am just thrilled. My beans are growing nicely and my peas too. The carrot patch is measly, but I will plant some more soon in my open areas. The lettuce is not coming in well, but it was old seed so I will try some of my new seed in a next planting.

(Above: My garden before the ransacking)

I will try and take some more pictures in the next few days of my garden, veggie patch and Hannah.

Two weeks or so ago we brought Hannah to the "Fat Cat Children's Festival" and she got to color a rock. It was not nearly as good as the year before and we had more fun watching the ducks and geese than standing in line for things. Needless to say, we may not go back next year. We did get some cute pictures though (see below).

(Above: Hannah and I posing in the park at the "Fat Cat Festival")

(Above: Hannah and Kyle posing in the park at the "Fat Cat Festival")

Kyle has to leave again for work probably on Saturday. Big bummer! I am not looking forward to him leaving again. This time it better be for only a week or two or I will go nuts! I had hoped to go camping (don't know if we will get to do that anytime soon until Hannah's eyes are healed, got to keep away from dust and lake water). Kyle even bought a tent that goes in his truck bed (3 person tent) and two fold up chairs to start out our camping accessories.

Anyway, this is getting long. I will try and update more often, but like I've said before, when Kyle get's home things get super crazy and with Hannah's surgery it's gotten harder to find time.

More soon!

~M~

(Above: A crazy picture of Hannah a few days before her surgery)

(Above: My sweet little girl happy as a clam in the bath 2 days after the surgery)

Oie! So busy!
Jun 12, 2009 | 12:14 AM PST
Tag: seeds

Pictures, pictures, pictures and a major busy week +

My last post was titled "Feels like it's been forever", well it has now been quite a while since I last posted a blog entry here. I miss my GG friends! Wish I could catch up on all your blog entries, but who knows when things will settle down enough (probably sometime after the 20th)

Things have been so crazy around here! My husband came home over a week ago which is WONDERFUL, then my daughter had quite a few appointments regarding her eye surgery coming up.

The weather has been just wonderful. We need the rain, but we are enjoying the sun and warmth! Hannah, Kyle and I spend a ton of time outdoors. Since Kyle's been home, we've gone bear hunting (basically a nice drive out in the woods enjoying nature and wildlife - we saw lots of deer and 3 moose), quad riding in the orchard down the road to see the deer eating the cherry tree leaves, and of course playing in the garden!

Things are really coming along in my garden and veggie patch! I am so happy! I have quite a few pictures to post, so maybe I will just post the links to them on my Facebook page so you can see them all there instead of having to upload one at a time on here. I will have to figure that out in a few minutes.

My Zucchini seeds have come in great, my zucchini starts from the nursery are doing well and the cucumber seed I had planted is coming in nice too! I have a great start of radishes, carrots, peas, beans and broccoli as well as lettuce seed that should be coming up soon. I can't wait! Things seem to be going well in my veggie patch! Thank goodness since I worked so hard on amending the soil there! I do need to put some more liquid fertilizer or more manure on the zucchini areas soon.

I have one concern though. Some of my flowers that were started outside from seeds seem to be turning yellowish. Could that be lack of nutrients or more likely over watering? I am trying to only water once a day or every other day there and things don't seem to be changing.

Speaking of watering. I have two questions I've been meaning to ask on that matter:

HOW DO YOU WATER YOUR FLOWER GARDEN?

HOW DO YOU WATER YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN?

My main preponderance here is to figure out what is the most efficient way of watering plants. Also w/out wasting water and minimizing the weeds around the plants/garden area. There is no need to water around the garden really is there? I water my garden by hand with a hose nozzle sprayer that can be adjusted to lower/higher levels of water. I feel it's pretty efficient, but I am so curious what other methods gardeners use.

Okay, so I decided I will add links to a Facebook photo album so you can see all the pictures there instead of one at a time on here. I have so many, it will be easiest to just upload them there and then post the link here. Sorry if this bothers anyone, but I don't have a ton of time to upload them the slow way.

Gardening June 2009 and beyond....

I hope everyone is doing well! More as time permits!

~M~

Feels like it's been forever...
May 29, 2009 | 4:22 AM PST
Tags: seeds , pansy , veggies , clematis Dr. Ruppel , clematis Multi Blue , moth , cow manure , bell flower
It feels like forever since I wrote last, but it's only been 2 full days.

I want to thank everyone who has been commenting on my posts lately. I have been slacking in my regular chit-chat responses I normally do and don't quite know why. I think I have just been so busy trying to keep up with the housework and get my share of "playing" out in the garden. My husband will be home in a few weeks and I want to be done with my "spring" cleaning and organizing by the time he gets home. There is still a ton to do, then we'll have my daughter's eye surgery on the 17th to add. So, I will be busy, but I will be sure to keep writing!

I felt better later on in the day after having that terrible headache. Thank you all for the "feel betters"!!

Now, on to gardening....

So many of my seeds are coming up! I am so excited! I planted so many seeds I can't remember where I planted them all. I marked most of the seed with sprinkles of peat moss over the areas and that has helped. Some of them I didn't think to do that with so I have to be careful when digging.

Most of the seed that is coming up is the smaller seed like Alyssum, Brachycome (Swan River Daisy), Matthiola (Night Scented Stocks), and Baby's Breath.

I planted a ton of Morning Glory seeds that I soaked for the recommended 24 hours, but they haven't come through the soil yet and I am wondering if somehow they dried up. It's strange that they haven't, but I will have to be patient.

My "stump planters" have quite a bit of seed coming. My sweet peas are coming in nice as well as what I believe to be sunflower seeds (the ones I sprinkled in from last years seed head this spring). I can't wait to see how nice turn out.

I made a new flower bed (well, sort of) to spread my cut flower mixes, Shasta Daisy, Delphinium, Baby's Breath, Bachelor Buttons, the rest of my Black-Eyed Susan's, extra Phlox, and mixed Poppy seeds. I raked out an area, pulled out the loose rocks, used all those rocks I pulled out to line the perimeter. After pulling out the bits of grass and natural bushes I spread the seed mixed with sand around the area. Covered it all with a thin layer of dirt and watered it all in. I hope the seed grows in since it will look really cute with the "Gnome Home" and the two little Gnomes admiring the flower area (see below). I will post some pictures later if/when the seeds start to come in.  (Click on any of the images to enlarge and see closer up!)

I planted the two Zucchini plants from the nursery today but decided to place a clear plastic tub over them for the night to keep the cold off of them. They were kept under a greenhouse style roof/area that protected them, so I figured it wouldn't hurt (I just have to make sure they don't overheat in the morning). I spotted the Zucchini seeds sprouting that I planted and I am so excited. I do hope they grow! I love fried Zucchini and seasoning salt as well as Zucchini bread! Any suggestions on how to eat Zucchini?

I also planted some Broccoli seeds, but don't know if it will make it before it get's too cold. We'll just have to see.

My peas and radishes have come through the soil which is good too.

I also decided to plant some Cosmos and Zinnias for the first time and they are coming in nicely too. I chose to plant them in my wild rose area since the wild roses I transplanted are not doing to well yet (if at all). My daughter helped me plant them and it was so cute. She would squat down and tip her hand attempting to spread the seed around, but really just dropping them on top of each other so I had to spread them out afterwards.

I love letting her help me, it makes me so happy to see her learning and enjoying nature. I show her any bug I come across, frogs and toads and especially birds. We listen to cricketts and frogs at night. She knows what Woodpeckers do and can explain it (she's only 2.5 years old). She says "they peck, peck, peck....", "The trees", "Looking for bugs and going slurp, slurp, slurp!" and "using their beeks". It's so cute! She's so bright and retains so much. I want her to be able to look at the little things around her, to be able to step back and see things in a simple way, enjoy it and value it. Kids these days are so wrapped up in materialistic things, video games, t.v and computers. None of those things nurtures the soul, none of those things can do what mother nature does for a person. I believe those things can enjoyed in a healthy amount but that other things need to be taught and learned. Simple things. How many kids go through school having the only experiance with nature be the "plant unit" taught to them by their teacher? Sad.

Anyway......

Above: The tags from my new Clematis. I really like them, but now am not sure where I want to put them. When I bought them I figured I could find a place, but now I am getting pickier and re-thinking where they should go. When I really like a certain flower I take forever finding a place for it to go since I am scared of killing it...lol.

Above: My Mother-In-Laws Gazinia (? I am guessing the name because I can't think of it off the top of my head right now...) Really pretty.

Above: A really pretty purple/blue flower in my Mother-In-Law's garden with her Columbine. Really pretty, I will have to ask her what it is. Do you know what it is?

Above: A GIANT moth my little Brother-In-Law caught today to show my daughter and I. It was huge! He said that it looked like Nike swooshes on it's wings and feathers for antennas.

Above: "No Name" Cow Manure....cracked me up! I never would have thought there was "No Name" brand cow manure....had to share....lol!

Above:  A few of the Pansies....

 

Above:  My blue/purple Bell Flower blooming!  I just LOVE IT!

Above:  One of my favorite flowers in my garden.  It's a succulent (I believe), supposidly flowers but has wonderful green/red colors and grows in so nicely in my garden.  I don't know what it is though.  It's easy to transplant and spread, you just have to clip pieces off and stick them into the soil.  It's great!

Well, that's all for today.  I hope you all have had a wonderful week so far!  We've had just beautiful weather!  More to come in the next few days. 

Oh, I have been meaning to ask.  Some members commented on my daughter and the little frog pictures and said I should submit it to G&G, what is that?  I cannot for the life of me figure it out.  LOL.  It's been in the back of my mind and I have been trying to figure it out, but can't and it's making me curious to find out what it is.  Thanks!

Have a great day and an even better weekend!

~M~

Pansy, pansy, pansy...Clematis....
May 26, 2009 | 1:54 PM PST
Yesterday I went to Extra Foods and bought 10 pansies for $5 and was so thrilled.  Gotta love a bargain.  I also bought two Zucchini from one of the local nursery's (one yellow and one green), and two Clematis vines from Home Depot.   I bought the same brand as the one I bought last year that is doing  so well.  I am thrilled with it and hope to have the same success with these two new ones.  I will attach pictures of the tags below once I get them off my camera.  One is a called a "Dr." something-or-another and the other is named something to do with blue.  I can't remember off the top of my head right now (plus I have a major headache).

I have to get out there and plant some of those pansies, but my headache is pretty bad.  I will probably take a nap when Hannah does to see if I can get rid of this headache. 

I also planted my geraniums I had bought 4 or 5 weeks ago.  I planted two in each hanging pot I have (I had some in them last year, but killed them by leaving them out in the cold too long last fall.)  I had two left over and two fuchsias so I planted them in a small rectangle planter but don't know where I will put it.  Maybe on the porch to or down on the little table between the two yard chairs at the bottom of the stairs. 

I have a total of 12 really full pansies to plant and only 4 pie-shaped planters to fill.  I have one more small rectangle shaped planter though.  It won't match the other small rectangle planter with the geraniums and fuchsias so I don't know how I am going to swing that with un-matching planters.  Hum....

We'll see if I figure out a solution...

I have to go for now.  My head hurts and looking at this screen doesn't help.  Have a great day....I wish it would rain here already, we could use some. 

More later....

~M~

P.S.  The dang Mr. Toad is digging more in my garden!!  I will have to see what he's been up too today....big stinker and getting worse each day!!

That's a deal!
May 25, 2009 | 5:57 PM PST
Tags: pansy , deal

10 Pansies for under $5!! 

I went back today and bought some more pansies and they marked them down even more from .94 cents each to under .50 cents each!!!  I have to go for now.......gotta get planting!  More later!

 ~M~

It's been a few days....
May 25, 2009 | 4:16 AM PST

Well, I have been so busy enjoying the wonderful warm sun on my face! It has been just gorgeous! It just sort of hit with consecutive days of nice weather. Before this week we had on and off good days, but they never got overly warm. I wonder is summer here to stay or are we just getting teased again.

My flowers are just loving the weather and my seeds are coming too. Out of all the plants I have the one that putting on the quickest growth is my Clematis! It grows so much each day and has outgrown the "large" trellis I have given it to climb up (it's not a very big trellis, but it's my largest metal one I have). I will have to figure something out for it soon! I may attach one of my smaller metal trellises to it with some wire to extend it, but I don't know what I will do if it outgrows that! I will have to build something permanent and much larger this summer.

After leaving a teaser of topics yesterday, here they are and as always - clicking on the images allows you to view them larger and in more detail.

Teaser Explanation #1:

I have been finding random holes in my garden and I attributed them to the dogs walking through my flower beds (secretly cursing them under my breath, "Stupid dogs, can't they walk on the paths like they're supposed to?"). I thought it was weird that there was only one hole each time and not a series of foot prints along a normal path that one would expect if a dog walked through an area. I mentioned what I was finding to my Mother-In-Law and she thought it was weird too.

So, on Saturday I was out watering my garden and I found a new hole smack dab in an area that I had planted seeds in the night before. I decided to take a closer look as well and then fill it in. As I got closer to the hole, I realized I had caught the culprit in the act....and what was it you may ask?

A TOAD! A big fat TOAD! I can not believe Mr. Toad was coming into my garden and digging as much as he was (unless we have many toads). What a destructive little bugger! Below is a picture of Mr. Toad (he sure is cute though!)


Above: You can see the hole that caught my eye on the left of this picture and Mr. Toad buried on the right (near the plant tag).

Above: He looks so grumpy in this picture....maybe he doesn't like getting his picture taken...

Above: Mr. Toad....buried.....humph....I was not thrilled....

Teaser Explanation #2:

I have been examining my garden very closely these past few days since I have planted most of my seeds and am waiting for signs of sprouts. So, when I noticed 3 seed sprouts coming up that looked like sunflowers sprouts I was boggled. "How on earth did these get here?" I know I did not plant them there. Two are in a spot that I have been just chucking "organic matter" ie. roots, bark, grass and rotting wood and the third is actually in the middle of my "shadier" flower bed. I have racked my brain and can only come up with one conclusion.

The chipmunks did it.

Earlier this spring I had been digging through my garden and I would come across little pockets of dried corn chunks that the chipmonks must have collected from the bird seed I was throwing around for the little birdies. I had been feeding the bird seed that had sunflower seed in it and it could possibly have been buried by the chipmonks as well. So, does anyone have thoughts on this? I can't think of any other way this could have happened (we don't have any sunflowers near us either, so I can rule out birds bringing sunflower seeds into the garden).

Teaser Explanation #3:

I went shopping on Thursday and bought some Pansies for 94 cents each!! I bought 6 not knowing where exactly I was going to put them. I could not pass up that bargain though! I want to go back, but don't know if I will get a chance. Preferably I would like to buy 2 or more to plant into my new pie-piece shaped planters. I planted the 4 purple ones I got in four of the new planters (pie-piece shaped ones). They look really nice and I am happy that I bought them!

Above: My new Pansies!

With that, I move on to the next teaser.....

Teaser Explanation #4:

Well, we have a honey bee problem. They seem to be invading our space. The first major problem instance I had was after I planted the above mentioned pansies into their new planters. I had finished planting and after watering them in, I sat back and was admiring my work and enjoying the quite in my garden (My daughter was napping, so it was oh-so wonderfully quiet!). I was sitting there and I noticed there was a ton of flying insects around me. I realized that most of them were honey bees. What on earth were they up too? They were all over my newly potted pansy's, both on the leaves and then on the soil. Below are a few pictures of what was happening. Talking with my Dad, he thought it was probably the explorer bees sent out by the hive to find water and food sources. I called my Mother-In-Law to see is she was having any problems or had noticed any major amount of honey bees around her house too. She told me that the dog's water bowl was so full of them that the dogs couldn't drink out of it.

Above: 5+ Honey Bees in my newly planted/watered pansies.

I had to wait until it had cooled down enough for the bees to head to their hive for the evening before I could move the pansies to their new home (which leads up to the next teaser). I don't know what this means. Why are they that desperate for water? Is our area that dry this season? I know that they are saying it's a dry year, but could it be that bad that the bees are acting this way? I wonder if this is normal though when you have a honey bee nest near by. Maybe it's just like my Dad said, the explorer bees are sent out to find the water/food source. I suggested to my Mother-In-Law that she move the dog bowl each day or many times a day to confuse them and maybe they will find a more natural water source farther away from us. I will keep updated on this issue if we continue to have problems. We'll just have to see as the summer begins.

Teaser Explanation #5:

I cleaned up below our stairs and placed the pansies at the bottom of the stairs on each side of the shop door. I also figured out how I am going to use a few of the bamboo steaks I bought last year at the dollar store. I am going to make a teepee shape trellis out of them by tying the tops of 3 together. Below is a picture of the clean up as well as the tee-pee shape trellis.


I still have more to write about but this entry is getting long, so I will save it for tomorrow or the next. I hope everyone is doing well. I think we need some rain here too (well, we could always use the rain to keep things green around here).

Below are a few random picture I have taken over the past few days. Enjoy!

Above: A little froggy hiding in my Pansy....

Above:  My Cucumbers I started indoors, now transplanted into the garden.  I don't know how well they will do, but hey-I tried.

Above:  Something eating my Strawberry leaves....more on that later...but I haven't figured out what it is though...any ideas/suggestions? 

Have a WONDERFUL holiday Monday!

~M~

So much to tell...
May 24, 2009 | 2:54 AM PST

Oh, I have so much to tell and so many pictures to add.  Sorry I have been updating, but the weather has been great and Hannah has been keeping me busy!  I will put together a big post tomorrow with lots of pictures!  

Some of the topics for tomorrows post:

~  Mystery holes in my garden....mystery solved.

~  Sunflowers seeded by the chipmunks?

~  Pansies

~  Honey Bees, what do you do when you have a problem?

~  Bottom of my stairs clean-up

~ Pictures, pictures, pictures!

I hope everyone is doing well, I will try to catch up with your regular blogs I have missed, but am sorry if I miss some since tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeous again! 

Happy Gardening and may you have your desired weather!

~M~

Surgery and Clouds....
May 21, 2009 | 3:05 AM PST
Tags: seeds , Alyssum

Well, I did absolutely nothing outside today. The extend of our outdoor activity was our walk to the Mother-In-Laws, out to feed the horses for her and then back inside. It rained and was cloudy on and off all day making for a not-so warm day.  We stayed inside and I put our newer DVDs and VHS that we've bought in the last year into my database of movies. We have 412 DVDs and VHS!! That is nuts!

Anyway, back to gardening stuff. My Zucchini, Cucumbers, Thunbergia Vine, Malva Zebrina, Morning Glories, and Broccoli have all been outside overnight and no problem. I will hopefully get them into the ground by next week after I put them out in the garden overnight for a few nights (they're on my covered porch so they are protected somewhat).

I took a peak into my stump planters while we went for our little walk to see if any of my seeds are coming in and I am thrilled to say - YES! I am pretty happy since I had doubted that they were going to come up this soon. The weather hasn't been the greatest, but it has kept the soil damp therefore keeping the seeds moist (probably better than I would have done by just watering them since my schedule is so crazy depending on my daughter). As things grow in some more I will take some pictures. I just hope that the Alyssum does all right in this cooler weather since I think that is what is coming in the most. None of the "big" seeds are coming in yet, but I think they take longer to germinate. I can't wait for them to come in though! The excitement of seeds, waiting for them to come up and seeing what seeds actually germinate well. Oh-the excitement!!

Tomorrow I am going grocery shopping so I will see if I pick up any little gardening extras. I need to find trellis materials, metal trellises, natural/jute twine, more Nasturtium, Zucchini, Thunbergia Vine, and Sweet Pea Seeds, an extra hose sprayer (just in case the new one I bought breaks, I really like this one and I want a replacement for later) and any other garden goodies I can incorporate into my garden.

Anyway, I should get to bed, it's so late and I need to get up early. I hope everyone is having the weather they desire!

Have a wonderful day!

~M~

P.S.  Hannah finally got to the top of the waiting list for the eye surgery she needs to correct her "lazy" eye (man, I hate that term).  She has been waiting since August 2008 and now I am stressing out.  My protective mother instincts are kicking into overdrive.  I was almost in tears this morning from the overwhelming feeling that the surgery is now booked and is officially going to happen.  I am so scared.  I really wish my Hubby was home on days like these.  He'll be home in time for the surgery, but probably not for the pre-surgery appointments etc.  So, I will be on my own until he comes home.  Talking on the phone just doesn't  seem the same as if he were here home with me talking about my fears and concerns.  I will keep you all updated, her eye related appointments start at the beginning of June, so if I am MIA that is why. 

Trellis Pictures....
May 20, 2009 | 4:01 AM PST
Tags: clematis , vegetables , radishes , carrots , zucchini , peas , daffodil , tulip , grape hyacinth , trellis , oregano

Hello Everyone! 

Yesterday (Tuesday), I spent a long time in the garden. I concentrated mostly on the continued amendments of the veggie patch, but also planted some of the morning glory starts. I had started them in a cottage cheese container between damp paper towels, they ended up growing through the paper towel and up the container). I planted them under some of my bushier plants in hopes that they will get shelter if it does get overly chilly.

I fiddled and faddled adding more horse manure, 2.5 bags of top soil, peat moss, sand and ash. Working back and forth, turning the soil in over and over, and back and forth some more. My blisters returned! I hadn't been digging to that extreme in at least 3 weeks! I will have to purchase a nice rototiller when I get a larger garden area, it would be well worth it! Just think, I will have so much pride when I get to harvest my veggies though! It's all done by hand, every bit of it!

After working in the garden for most the mid-morning to afternoon, we went for a walk to visit my Mother-In-Law and see what she was up too. She had to head out to town so we didn't stay long, instead we wandered around looking at some of the flowers blooming in her yard. She has a really pretty area with red tulips, grape hyacinths, the prettiest daffodiles (they must be called a "double" or something, I will look it up tomorrow) and oregano. Below are some pictures, I really recommend this time clicking on the images to make them larger to see the lovely details (especially the daffodil):

Above: Grape Hyacinths, Red Tulips, Daffodils and Oregano (I think it is since I smash it between my fingers and I smell oregano) and my daughter stopping to smell the flowers.

Above:  What I think is oregano (not sure) because when I squish it between my fingers it smells like oregano and my Mother-In-Law thinks that is what it is (she's the one who planted it).  It's a pretty little plant and I transplanted some more into my garden (from my Mother-In-Law's garden).

While my daughter napped, I did some more fiddle-faddling in the veggie patch amending like crazy. When I felt I had done my best I decided it was time to build a natural trellises. My trellis has 3 pine branches and Jute natural string. It turned out really neat! I am going to make some more only slightly modified for my cucumbers to climb in the few days. Below are a few pictures:



After I finished the trellis I planted a row of peas (only half the length of trellis) with some older pea seeds I had from 2 years ago. I watered them in and by then it was dark out (above pictures show how dark it was, my daughter was using a flashlight...lol) I figure it was natures way of saying to go inside and take a break, the day is done.

Today we spent most of the day inside because it was sunny but overly chilly outside. I found it hard to "want" to go out there and work, PLUS I was so sore all over! My left calf is extremely sore (is that the way you spell the body part...hum???). I am currently applying heat to it since it's been sore the entire day.

After deciding we needed some fresh air despite the fact that the day hadn't improved (it was supposed to be an amazingly beautiful day, but to our disappointment it was not nice!), we headed out to the garden. I still have lots of flower seeds to plant and I have been wanting to get my veggie patch planted. I have been so cautious not to plant until I am totally convinced that my soil amended to the best of my abilities, but I really needed to get my veggies in.

Today after a bit more amending I planted some my veggies!

I started out by planting the other half of the natural pea trellis with new seed (that way I can compare germination time and if the old side doesn't germinate in a reasonable time period I will re-plant with the new seed).

I decided I was going to plant my bush beans and chose an area I could get to easily enough so I could have access when I needed to pick the beans. I only planted 9 seeds since I don't know if I like fresh beans or not and I don't want to waste them or waste the space. Plus I will be planting a ton of Scarlet Runner beans for a decorative plant and I will have all those beans too.

After that, I decided where I wanted to plant a few carrot rows. I planted them on the far left of the veggie patch seen below, Yes, it is a tiny amount of carrots, but I hope to make a few more rows/areas after I plan it out more and place other veggies where I want them, then I will see where I have room.

Next, I decided to plant a small section of radishes (I don't like them, but my hubby and Father-In-Law eat them. They are in the next section to the right of the carrots.

I didn't quite know what to plant next so I decided to plant the rest of the zucchini seeds I had. They were old seed, but they germinated for me inside (all but one seed), so I figured they will work outside as well. I only had 9 seeds, so if I want to plant more zucchini I will have to buy another packet of seeds. I know zucchini gets so big if it's in a happy place and I am already short on space so I may just go with what I planted outside and with the plants I started inside.

I have a few more spots to add veggies, but I am not sure what I want to plant in those spaces. I have quite a few more to plant. I have more cucumber seeds (which I will be building a modified natural trellis soon), more carrots, lettuce (I have two kinds and would really love fresh lettuce), and tomato (I doubt I will get fruit off of them, but I still want to try, I will probably plant them in pots instead of in my veggie patch that way I save space, can move them to sunny spots, and can bring them to a safe space when it gets frosty...oh-how I do not want to think about frost....).

I placed two rocks in my veggie patch so that I had places to step when checking my vegetables and doing my weeding.

Above is a picture of my clematis (Nelly Moser). First year having it grow in my garden and I can't wait to see how it does!

Well, I hope your all doing well and that you have a wonderful gardening day!

~M~

Beautiful seed day...
May 18, 2009 | 1:13 AM PST
Tags: vegetable , vegetable patch , veggies , seeds , flower seeds , sunflower seeds , vegetable seeds

Well, today was a truly beautiful day!  It was so warm out, and just a really enjoyable day. 

My daughter and I played out in the garden in the late afternoon after the storm clouds rolled in.  It didn't storm - only a bit of wind, and was still pretty warm, but the clouds were definitely the kind that some with storms. 

I decided to try and get some of my seeds into the back flower garden since I was thinking it was going to rain tonight (not happening yet...).  I have a few interesting things popping up in the back garden.  I think I have spotted 2 morning glories (from last years seed) and some sort of other flower from seed.  It is a big leafed sprout (like the size of a bean, cucumber, zucchini, etc.) and is possibly a sunflower but I am not sure and have no idea how it got there, unless I planted some out there and I don't remember (which is possible). 

I planted: 

Sweet Pea - Royal Family Mixed
Four O'Clocks - Marvel of Peru
Nasturtium - Jewel Mixed
Stocks - Giant Imperial Mixed
Cosmos - Sensation
Zinnia - Giant Dahlia
Sunflower - Lemon Queen
Sunflower - Velvet Queen
Sunflower - Helianthus Mixed Varieties

I still have a TON to get into the ground and am starting to feel way behind the eight ball now.  Before I felt I was way ahead of the game so much so that I had planted some seeds inside way too early, but now it's getting down to the wire and I HAVE to get them in for their fullest potential!  Especially the vegetables!

Vegetables I have to plan out and get in include:

Carrots
Bush beans (Green Pod Stringless)
Broccoli
Zucchini (oh how I want these to grow this year, I LOVE fried zucchini!)
Peas (Lincoln Homesteader)
Lettuce
Radish
Pumpkin (NO idea where I will be putting these, probably closer to my daughters "play area")
Tomato (4 different kinds, I don't know if any of them will successfully grow since I am planting them directly outdoors and not planting indoor starts because I am so behind, but it's a learning experience isn't it?  If they don't work out I will buy some extra tomato plants to fill the void...lol)
Dill (will probably plant it in with my mint, lavender, and lemon balm area, but not positive since it tends to look "messy" compared to flowers.)

The good news is that the vegetable patch is pretty much finished with soil amendments.  I think I want to mix in another load of horse manure (yeah, that is what I am trying this year, I will have to see how bad the weeds are and learn accordingly). 

When  I "draw" out my basic layout in the vegetable patch (tomorrow hopefully), I will post a picture up of it.  I hope to start planting seed tomorrow though, so I should have a layout planned by then.  Fingers crossed for me, I have to get this done!!

Anyway, more tomorrow I am sure.  It is supposed to be warmer than today even!  Oh-what fun!  I love spring/summer!  Sorry, no pictures today....

Have a wonderful week!!

~M~

P.S.  Thank you to everyone how commented on my last post about Wildflowers!  I just love sharing my pictures and love hearing back from you all!  Thank you!  I will look up the "Solomon's Seal" to see if it looks like it.  Also I will post another picture once it flowers (I think it flowers...).

I took the Garden Guides Survey...
May 17, 2009 | 3:25 PM PST
Tag: glitches

Below is a copy of what I posted in the "Feedback" part of the forums:

"So, I took the "Garden Guides Survey" the other day and wrote some of my suggestions on what should be improved rather then adding new exciting features. At that point in time, I couldn't remember them all, so now that I have made note, I thought I would write them  down.

1.) The message deletion problems. Yeah, I know I am singing the same song over and over, but it's been ages and this still doesn't seem fixed for all people. I am able to delete messages 1 time so I have to figure out all the messages I want deleted and click them all (pain in the butt, because if I miss some, and I always do, I either have to log out, or do it the next day). I like my in-boxes tidy and I know I am not the only one.

2.) The size of the comment box - newbies have trouble figuring that one out and it drives them away.

3.) That there is no logical way of tracking your forum posts and responses. I have asked questions in the forum and people respond and I never get the response. Especially if it was an older post. What is the point of asking a question or sharing an idea in the forum if you can't follow it. I have posted questions a long time ago, and forgot about them, I found them (somehow) and found I had a bunch of responses, frustrating!

4.) The forum "topic writing program" that I am writing this in. Why isn't it simple like the blog writer?? You see the font and size change right there, on here you see HTML tag and no changes. People who don't understand computers probably have a harder time using/understanding this.

5.) The fact that the blogs get bumped off after a certain amount are written, why not list them more by date and tag combination (just a suggestion, I haven't put too much thought into this one, but it could be improved)? There have been times when I read through a blog entry and wanted to re-read it, but didn't remember the user's name, and went back to the recent blog list and it was bumped off and there was no way to find it (I even used the search feature).

6.) I never use your How-To, Supplies, Plants, Pests, or Resources because they are hard to navigate to me. I don't know if anyone else feels the same way, but it is too cluttered, and not separated properly. I think if it was ordered in relevance properly it would be of better help. Maybe some dividers, or something to change it. I rarely go there and when I do I just get frustrated and confused (I am computer knowledgeable and I don't get it), so I leave and just use Google to find what I need. I would love to use your information, because it's in one place, but at this point it's hard to follow.

7.) COMMENTS - Comment notifications check box DOESN'T work! I check the box every time I comment on a members blog entry hoping to get a notification when someone responds. If someone comments on my older blog entries, I have no way of knowing as well. There is a lot of missed comments out there on everyone's blog entries I am SURE!

8.) Photo sharing - A better way to move/organize pictures? Possibly a better photo "uploader" (the current one is adequate, but it's slow and only lets you upload a few at a time)

9.) The "bookmark" option (currently above the "Take the GardenGuides Survey" link) is always open/expanded and it covers buttons up often times. It's just a small irritant.

I would like to now point out some of the GREAT things that GG has going for it!

1.) Profiles are simple and well organized.

2.) The options of being able to blog about your garden. I love being able to share my pictures and efforts in the garden.

3.) The members are wonderful, friendly and ever so helpful.

4.) and again....I enjoy how great the members are!!

If I have any more ideas/comments/issues I will update this. I think before you think about adding new exciting features maybe you should look at fixing and improving the old.

Thank you for your time.

P.S. Another little tiny pet-peeve of mine is that the "preview" button below this writing box is "dimmed" and looks as if it is not an option to be clicked on. Why is it like that? I think it should be just normal "GG Green". Thanks again....lol!

~M~"

 

I thought I would share this with the other members of GG because if I missed any of the issues you feel you have had problems with,  you could go to the "feedback" area and post a response to my post. 

Have a wonderful day!

~M~