Weekly Updates

Things that happened this week that don't deserve their own post and are too long to tweet:

1. Leland constantly wants to listen to music.  As soon as we wake up he goes to the computer and requests music and it isn't just any music, he wants the Sesame Street channel on Pandora.  Needless to say we have compromises on how long we listen to that channel before switching it to another.  Or else I may start pulling my hair out.

2. Leland now thinks it is hilarious to tell me "no, no" when I ask for a kiss or hug.  For other people, he will give them willingly, he will also tell other people he loves them.  Maybe he is around me too often or maybe the attitude just beginning (isn't it still to early for that?).

3.  I am planning on avoiding the car for a week in June, so I am trying to bike more this week and the next few weeks to get in shape.  In other news, I am really sore.

4. We are slowly working on getting our garden ready for seeding.  Thankfully we did a lot of work last fall so we have minimal work this spring.  In other news, I am really sore.

5. Leland now knows and understands the word wine.  So whenever I get myself a glass of wine he has to point it out and shout wine.  Proud parent right here.

Have a wonderful weekend.  We plan to go on a hike, visit a liquor outlet store and I personally plan to have some alone time.

Garden update v.3

The garden is still thriving.

We now have some squash blossoms!  I can't wait to start getting zuchinni.

We also have broccoli coming.

And tomatoes!

We also have diapers drying in the back.  Best thing about warm weather.

The past two days it has actually been raining, the garden is loving it.  Hopefully it means we will get some produce quicker!

Garden Update v.2

 Bean sprouts coming up.

 Peas!  Peas are very challenging to pick.  I have the hardest time finding them, they blend in very well.  I will stare in one area and finally find one a few minutes later.

 Lots of lettuce

 Soon to be broccoli.

 Collards with tomato plants in the background.

 Our grass patch.  To the back left are beans, back center will be summer squash and back right are the ever growing peas.  The very back is the pile of dirt that has been taken off to allow for planting areas. 

 We have a rose or two that pop up. 

 In front of the peas are winter squash.  In the very front are carrots- they are doing very well. 

This years garden is so far a success.  I cannot believe how well it is doing.  I think we are just learning more and being able to learn from past mistakes.  This year the biggest mistake was where kale was planted.  It isn't getting enough sun, so it is not really growing.  It is tiny, but with how well everything else is doing, I am okay with that minor fail.  I am already thinking about next year's garden and what we will do.  Not so many collards, good lord that is a lot of collards, and I don't even like them.  Kiwi bins will become play areas for Leland, since he is always getting into them.  Probably will just have snow peas next year, since those are doing better thus far.  And of course more tomato plants!  Maybe even add in some peppers.

But it is a lot of work.  It was a lot of work for Jeff in the beginning, with the digging up the yard and planting all the seeds.  Now the work isn't so bad, some weeding and watering.  Neeming some plants to help get rid of pests.  It is starting to pay off though, and hopefully there will be a little less work next year since he won't have to re-dig up the yard.

Garden Update

 So far things are going very well in the garden.  Our grass is coming in.

 Peas are coming up.

 We have an herb garden : lots of basil, mint, cilantro, sage, rosemary, oregano and fennel.

 Carrots are sprouting.

 Leeks are coming up too. 

 We have collards coming up.

 Broccoli sprouts are coming up too.

 Spinach is starting to grow like crazy.

And here is lettuce too.

Really happy with how it is going so far.  Summer squash will be planted soon, quickly followed by beans, tomatoes and winter squash.   I am hoping we will have lots of extra to freeze this summer. 

We also recently planted lots of marigolds to help with pest control.  We need to fertilize the new sprouts and mulch them to control the weeds.

The most difficult part is keeping Leland out of the sprouts.  He wants to help with everything and copy what we do.  When I use the shovel, he has to come try it as well.  He loves playing in the dirt, eating the dirt and eating the mulch.  I am having to teach him how to be nice to plants as well.  Similar to how we have to be nice to kitties.  He can be a bit aggressive at times.

Garden- summer 2012

 The plans: We have big plans for the garden this year.  Our old garden area will now become a grassy area for Leland to play in.  While the rest of the backyard will be the garden.  We are doing a lot of new items this year which is exciting and scary, because you never know what will work. 

 The seeds: We went through a seed exchange this year, which is exciting. 

The book: Every question we have, we look for the answer in this book. 

We will also get some items as plants once it is time, such as tomatoes and herbs.
I hope we have enough excess produce to freeze or can as well, we will see.  

Jeff has already planted peas, kale, broccoli, carrots and leeks.  We have lots of pea sprouts coming up now! 

Does anyone else have big plans this year?

Tomatoes

There is nothing better than a tomato for your own garden! I have some wonderful memories as a kid, eating cherry tomatoes from the garden in our back yard. They tasted so good. And since I know how good a tomato can and should taste, I have a hard time understanding why people buy tomatoes when they are not in season. They are gross and mealy(from being refrigerated, never refrigerate a fresh tomato) when they are not fresh. Our tomato plants are doing really well this year! It is exciting to actually get produce from our back yard. I feel like we were failures last year. But at the same time, we had no idea what we were doing. Somehow learning how to garden has not been passed on in recent generations. In the spring we had spinach and lettuces. Now we have tomatoes and hopefully some zucchini will make an appearance at some point. Last week between Monday and Friday, this bowl filled up. So this weekend we had a lot of tomatoes to deal with. We made bruschetta with the some of the cherry tomatoes, the rest were roasted and will be made into pesto. And the Roma got blanched and made into sauce. The early girls got roasted and will be eaten on some creamy grits later this week. Next summer I think we need a few more Roma plants so we can have enough to make extra sauce for the winter. Also we need some bigger sized tomatoes, the early girls are just too small. I am already looking forward to the garden next year, and I can only hope Leo will help.

Sprucing

We are slowly trying to spruce up this place while we are here.  Don't get me wrong I love it, but the previous tenants did not take care of the yard very well.  I am also trying not to get too crazy since we are just renting but I want it to look nice.  So we decided to plant some flowers in the front.

And look at that roof with no antenna. 

Soon we will get some mulch to fill in around the flowers.  We are also slowly going to take out most of the stuff in this front area.  There is cat mint that is running a little to wild and it smells awful.  Then later in the fall we will hopefully reseed the remaining areas of the backyard.  And maybe in the spring do the front, there are some dead patches in the front.  Luckily our property management will be willing to pay for seed, we just do the work.  So slowly it will begin to look much better.

Gardening and Father's Day

So last week over Father's Day weekend my dad and brother came out for a visit.  With them they brought an old patio set from the Stilleys.

It use to have cushions but the mold kind of took over and they had to be thrown out.  There was also some nasty mold all over the chairs but we went to a car wash and now they look much better. 

That weekend we also deep fried an 18lb heritage turkey and has some people over, but of course no photos were taken.  And as you can see in the photo above my dad went on a rampage around the yard and cleaned up the limbs.  They also took random metal parts in the yard out and took off the gaudy antenna on top of the house.  So it looks so much better now.

They also bought wood and set an area for the garden.