Backyard Veggie Garden...now we wait for the good stuff

Doesn't look like much now but we got it all finished, I purchased three different types of Heirloom tomatoes, one of which is named "Mortgage Lifter"...interesting. We have peppers, red and yellow, basil, cilantro, spearmint, and parsley, I'm hoping my squash will survive they were looking a little depressed. But here is the finished raised veggie garden for this year...now we wait for all the goodies.... Oh and here is the latest edition to our family meet Molasses and Pine
We started building the chicken condo, I mean coup so I'll be posting pics of that too. Now for operation backyard redo stage 2!

We did it!

Got the veggie garden started! Yeah those sneakers are my husbands, he did actually lend a hand!



Steer Manure! FRESH! We almost passed out in the Yukon on our way back from Home Depot, with those bags in the back....



We also planted sunflowers along the fence...if the birds haven't eaten them yet we should have some 12 footers by mid summer!




Giving our baby seedlings a nice drink! Oh and what happens inside the house when all this wonderful gardening is going on outside?....take a look at this:







ate the whole top off of a boston cream pie! yummy!

We have lift off!

It's been two weeks since we planted these squash seeds and take a look at these beefy little guys! We're going to be the type of gardeners who are always trying to get rid of their squash cause they have too many. That's cool, I love squash, but I'm the only one in the family that does. Well guess the neighbors are going to be loving squash this summer too. Well it finally quit raining, and I've been cleaning out the garage, doing a little spring cleaning and this evening I'm going to start looking at my veggie garden plot and cleaning up a few more things in the back yard. It's amazing how inspired you get when the sun shines!

I'm drowning! Rain, Rain go away!!!

I know we need the rain, but 70 mph wind gusts? Plus do you ever have one of those days that you just wish you could have stayed in bed? Yeah, that's me today. I have a leaky roof, my kitchen sink is backed up, and I feel a migraine coming on. On a more positive note... This is my little baby's second day he rode the school bus back home from school and he didn't cry. The bus driver said he was really excited to get on the bus today, now that he knows she's bringing him home. They grow up way too fast... So right now I'm working on my landscape design, I've been looking at countless pictures of fabulously landscaped homes, and with a twinge of jealousy I've been taking a few ideas from each one. For instance, I found a drawing of a skate track all the way around this backyard that was similar in size to mine. In the famous words of Mr. Gru: "LIGHT BULB!" That's such a fantastic idea. Big enough for the kids to skate or ride their tricycle's and small enough to leave a little space for the veggie garden and grass! So I'm excited about this concept, I've been looking into what it's gonna cost, probably more than what I can afford, but I figure if I do in sections, maybe it won't hurt like passing a kidney stone, hopefully more like stubbing your big toe... Anyway, stay dry out there!

Backyard Project Part 1- In search of seeds

There is a huge variety of seeds out there, like I can't even count how many different hybrid types of tomatoes and cucumbers there are. I mean they have everything! I even discovered a cucumber that is called "Burpless". What exactly does that mean? So say I grow a "burpless" cucumber I eat it and burp. Does that mean I get my money back? Ok, I know I'm being sarcastic, but geez, what happened to the good old fashioned crops our ancestors used to plant in the old Victory Garden days. So I thought wouldn't it be cool, to find an heirloom variety of tomato and plant that! So I go on a quest to find some. I order a few seed catalogs, I pick out this gorgeous heirlooms called Big Rainbow which are supposed to grow up to 2 lbs per tomato. So I go online, ready to order, pick them out at $1.95 per packet of 30 didn't think that sounded too bad. Shipping would be a little but not having a heart attack yet, until I see they're charging a GAS SURCHARGE! what? that would make my one packet of tomatoes almost $7! Sorry Park Seed.com not going for that. So what if I were ordering a big bulk of seeds instead of one packet? Would I get a discount or would they just keep tacking on more? It's almost as insane as a Gas charge at a hotel, excuse me? I drove there, the hotel didn't drive to me! But anyway....moving right along...

I checked out seedrack.com and discovered they didn't charge a gas surcharge but they're shipping was double for one packet of seeds! Geez! So this is what I found out. Stick with local nurseries, home centers, even Walmart has a huge selection of seeds for like a buck a packet! If you buy a new plant at Home Depot, and it dies, you take it back and they'll replace it. I'm sure it's the same at Lowes, and Ace Hardware. Anyway, moral of the story, unless it's extremely rare and there's no way in hell you'll find it locally, go with the local folks. But the catalogs are cool to browse through...

Backyard Project Part 1

I am by no means an expert gardener, in fact, I'm probably more "gardening challenged" than most people. However, I've decided to take on the completely insane and almost humanly impossible task of landscaping my backyard, and starting a vegetable garden. We've lived in this house for over 10 years. Believe it or not we have done some things to it. We've added a "playground" that is more a death trap or lawsuit waiting to happen. I planted a couple of trees with the best of intentions, but they look severely distressed, depressed, and just overall miserable. I brought home a couple chickens, a cat, a few dogs, all we've had to get rid of for one reason or another, now we have a rabbit who mostly spends time in the garage. He's just too humiliated to even live here. We did put up a gate where we had nothing at all, hence having to get rid of the chickens, they were just too scrumptously tempting for the neighborhood Jack Russell Terrier. Then of course came the kids and years and summers ignoring the seeding, weeding, maintaining, sometimes even watering.

So through all this our backyard has the that "look" like when you pass by a house and look at the yard and wonder if the place has been abandoned. yeah. here's a peek...


Even my son looks confused in all the mess.... So anyway, to get started I did some research and read an article that suggests starting seeds indoors at least 8 weeks before you plant to get a nice solid plant is the best way to go. I gathered my empty egg carton, some potting soil, and my summer squash seeds. Nothing to it right? Just poke a hole in the dirt, insert seed and water. Keep on the windowsill until it germinates...So my 8 year old tells me. Here she is giving me instructions:



So ready or not, here I go! With no experience, no time, and pretty much no budget, I'll be visiting other gardening blogs and reading articles and then testing them in my backyard, and let's just say if you follow this blog (why would you want to you're probably asking, but hey, you're reading this right now right?) I'll be making all the mistakes for you! So it's a win, win situation! Sort of. :)

I know it's late!

It's after midnight I can hear my little one coughing, she has some major congestion going on and I can tell I wont get a wink of sleep tonight. Hoping all of you are having a great start to your week, and praying and wishing for the best to all our friends in Japan. My heart cries and goes out to all those who are on the streets, cold, maybe hungry, not able to console their babies. I think every hour of every day since the disaster, what would I do to help my babies survive it, and I'm really not sure. I think I should maybe be more grateful for the fact that they are safe and out of harms way at the moment. I shouldn't worry or stress over the fact that my little Joey is Autistic, and that I have all these therapy appointments and that tomorrow he'll cry and scream when I leave him at preschool. Because somewhere in Japan right now, someone is holding their Joey and wishing they at least had a piece of bread or a bottle of milk to console their little guy. Sleep as well as you can tonight, and pray for those who wont sleep much at all.