Garden & Kids 4/25

Well you know me, I like to post pics. No real news here, just some pictures from this afternoon.

















Here's a volunteer, some sort of mint. I didn't grow any mint and there was none growing here when we moved here 2 years ago. There are two plants... I wonder if seeds got dropped by some birds? I'm tempted to dig it up because I know how invasive the stuff can be.







Another volunteer... some chives going to seed. These have been here for many years, I dug them out of the strawberry planter and then was not intending to save them, so I threw them upside down into the walkway of the garden and ignored them. They must have hibernated last year and then they came up this year with shining colors :)





I think it's some sort of cabbage but it also volunteered this year. Maybe a lettuce? Anybody have any idea?










Eleora digging up dirt in the garden.












Sophia playing with the play house. If you happen to notice the dirt around her mouth it's because I was mixing up some soil blocker mix and she must have thought it looked tasty because as soon as I turned my head she grabbed a handful and stuck it in her mouth. A lil dirt never killed anyone, right? lol... you should have seen her face, it was priceless.





Pictures of all my 5 trees happily in the corner. OH YEAH I FORGOT TO MENTION... lol. Silly ol me decided to go back to Home Depot yesterday to get the Bearss Lime and the Blood Orange trees. I just couldn't resist. Many people have problems with impulse buying but I tend to do the opposite and NOT buy things when I really should. These trees are such great quality and an excellent buy for $15 so I decided I'd get all 5 types that had caught my eye. They did also have 2 other kinds but not ones I was interested in, so now I have one of each tree that I had liked - Satsuma Mandarin, Navel orange, blood orange, Meyer lemon, and Bearss Lime (plus the two key limes I'm sprouting and all the other stuff).








Some kids suck their thumbs... Sophia does this. I don't know where she got it from but she holds her blanket like that all the time, it's funny :)









And that's all I got for the day! Just had to share :)

My new obsession - tropicals!

Ok so here's the deal. I have this thing about the supply chain... basically, it's not infallible. Things could happen. And with our economy, who knows what could happen?

And here's practical little me saying - zomg if the food chain was interrupted how would I get MANGOS or AVOCADOS??? LEMONS AND LIMES???

This thought has been ricocheting around in my brain for about a year now so gradually I have started researching growing tropical plants. Not that I really think I'd have a big crop, but hey, if bananas or pineapples were expensive or impossible to get I think it would be nice to have them once in a while. Plus, it's just COOL to grow tropicals indoors.

So here's my little collection so far! I am very proud of each of my pieces. I don't know if I will ever get fruit or anything but it is FUN to have them, I love it.

Here's a couple that are really fun! I won't get anything out of them until someday when I have a good-size greenhouse, though, but it's still a novelty. The vine on the left is a vanilla orchid. The flowers bloom for ONE DAY only and need to be hand-pollinated in order to grow a bean. Oh yeah, and it needs like 40 feet of length in order to be mature enough to flower. That's why I need a greenhouse :)




The one on the right is Piper Nigrum AKA black pepper. Somewhat easy to grow from what I've heard but also one that needs a LOT of room to climb. It's a vine so I'll basically need to get a greenhouse with a really big looping trellis. The berries grow in little clusters. What we know as black peppercorns are actually the immature green peppercorns dried. You can also make white pepper by allowing the berries to mature and removing the outer shell. Either way, they are very potent, way moreso than the black peppercorns you can buy so I am really hoping I can try them! Something a lot of people do is just crush the green berries right off the plant and use them. Lots of experimenting potential... if I just happened to have a huge greenhouse with lots of room for this vine to roam, that is ;)

Here are two of my citrus trees. I just got them a few weeks ago when I went to Home Depot with my mom and happened to naturally sorta gravitate towards the plant section. What did I see but not only a Meyer Lemon for $14.95 but also a SATSUMA mandarin! I was having a hard time finding them, and mail-order it would be hard to beat finding 4 foot trees in such great condition for only 15 bucks! So I got the two...












... and then the other day I went back and got another - a navel orange. The last one they had, too! Isn't it beautiful? Just $15, too... a steal considering what I'd pay for a tree like that shipped to me. The first two had already put on new growth in the week they were at my house so I decided to get this one. They had a few other citrus trees but those were the main ones I wanted. I might still go back for a blood orange, though, that one looked cool, but I'm running out of room on the ONE window I can keep them by :)










And this one doesn't technically count as a tropical but I forgot to blog it earlier with my starts :) These are my grape cuttings that I got earlier this year. I got 5 Thompson Seedless, about 20 Concord, and 4 each of two different wine grapes, Chardonel and one other I can't remember.

Anyway, I completely did them wrong (the Thompson and Concord, that is) so I am not expecting much of a turnout but you can see I do have SOME! The big leaf you see is the Chardonel wine grape (thanks, Gary!) and the one right behind it right on the vermiculite is a Concord (and there's one more Concord putting out a leaf but you can't see it in this pic). I know some more of the starts are still alive so I guess we'll see what the turnout is like once it's time to plant them. I hope Papa gets his tractor ready! Hopefully we'll have quite a few to plant.

Oh and honorable mentions that don't have a photo - I currently have a pineapple that is trying really hard to grow roots and two germinated key lime seeds that I have planted. Key limes do grow true to seed so I'm hoping to get some trees, although I could just swing by Home Depot and get a 4 foot lime tree for 15 bucks! lol... I am terrible. I got a choice of $50 gift card from work when I won a drawing and what did I choose? Home Depot so I could get gardening and irrigation supplies... haha I am such a nerd. Oh well. I still have about $18 left, so I could probably go get another tree. Just no place to put it.

Oh and I also have some ginger, two pots of it but no sprouts yet, those are just recently planted.

So, not bad, right? :)

Cheep Cheep!

Last weekend we had planned a trip up on Saturday to the property to go visit Grammie and Papa. As you remember, I had spent the afternoon the week before with my mom building a chicken tractor of sorts for her new chicks. She only got a few at the time and so suggested that I take the girls to the feed store that's right down the street and get some more chicks, since they were supposed to get some sexed laying pullets in.

Sophia was pretty sick the night before (I think she threw up more than 10 times in 24 hours!) and so I ended up staying home with her on Friday but then Tommy was there for part of the time too so I took Eleora to the feed store and we picked out some chicks! They were guaranteed 97% female so most likely we got no roosters in the bunch :) Eleora picked out a Barred Rock for hers (Her name is "My Black One") and I had wanted Auracanas and so I picked out one for me (Fluffy) and one for Sophia (Bolt). We also got two Buff Orpingtons (Buffy and Angel) and two Leghorns (Foghorn and Leghorn) and two Rhode Island Reds (Itchy & Scratchy). We got a heat lamp and put out a dish of water for them in a rubbermaid bin. The girl at the feed store was a doll and gave us some extra food since it was Friday and we wouldn't be getting them up to Grammie & Papas house until Saturday... so we got them a little dish of food and some shavings and they were quite comfortable.

Eleora had a blast, of course. Sophia also had lots of fun but she's such a flitterbug that she wasn't as focused... Eleora basically sat next to the chicks all afternoon and then the next morning.

On Saturday the chicks got to ride up between the two carseats in their little rubbermaid bin and so that was some nice extra entertainment for the girls. When we got there, we put them into the cage with the other chicks and they fit right in!

Sophia's investigating...












My girls and their chicks!

























Eleora loves "My Black One"












This is what she did... for hours. Talk about focus!












Ahh she was finally brave enough to hold My Black One on her lap!


















Look at me!













And just because it was so pitiful and cute, this is what I came home to on Thursday. Sophia had already thrown up about 5 times, so he finally just stripped her naked (since he kept changing her clothes) and laid her on him and she passed right out... I've never seen her do that. Poor thing! She woke up later and did the same thing with me for a few hours also up into about 5am Friday morning.













But by Friday night she was feeling like her saucy little self!

4" soil blocker

OK so I finally got to put the 4" soil blocker that Tommy made me to the test. Best illustrated with pictures, of course.

Here's the blocker. It's an 8 inch length of 4" PVC pipe with some sort of end cap that happens to fit perfectly right inside it. There's a u-shaped bolt that forms a handle and then the nuts that it attaches to on the bottom form sort of "dibbles" for the seeds, 2 per block.















So basically I hold the cap in place, flip the blocker upside down and fill it loosely with my blocking mix.









I carefully set it onto a plastic lid that I'm using as a cover just for me to press onto. You could press onto the table directly if you wanted to.











A closer look at the bottom of the lid, you can see the two bolts that are good sized and form a good size dibble on both sides.









So here is the lid once I have flipped the blocker back on to sit on the plastic lid, I'm getting ready to press.

















Time to press! The handle works great although I will say next one I make will only be 6 inches long (the tube) and I'll just fill it in place... to get a decently compacted block I had to press further than my hand could comfortably reach and so I had to use a towel and a stick to push it in all the way. I think if I made the tube shorter and just filled the whole length with mix I'd end up with the same amount of mix but not so far to press.












And here it is all compacted!


















I carefully slide the tube upwards, leaving the "plunger" top in place sitting right on top of my compressed soil block.

















Using a spatula, I move the block from the plastic lid to it's permanent home in my seed tray.











And then once it is in it's home I lift the top off very carefully and voila!


















And here's a tray almost filled with the blocks. You can sort of see the two indentations on each side that the bolts made, they are a great size for the bigger seeds you will plant in these like melons, pumpkins, etc.

I got cucumbers and melons planted in these, and I also started some marigolds and basil in some of the 2 inch blocks.



Speaking of the 2 inch blocks, one thing I wanted to do was to make the bigger block so I could easily pot up a 2inch block into it. But I found that this design didn't work well for that. I had a 2 inch block but I couldn't seem to get the soil mix compacted enough on the sides of the block. I tried doing it in layers which worked a little bit but then it occurred to me - I'm trying to make this simple, right? It was really just too complicated to make it work so I just took the blocker for what it was, ran to the store down the street for some 18oz keg cups, and potted my tomatoes & peppers up into those. They worked perfectly and were way quicker to fill than making 4 inch soil blocks with 2inch square holes in them :)

Garden update - April 2010

Well, my garden is doing QUITE well so far. Due to the warm winter and spring we have had I decided to be a little adventurous and plant some things before I am supposed to. I covered them with a row cover and it helped protect them quite nice! Mostly just that I planted my onions SUPER early and I also have planted carrots and beans which I am not supposed to plant for a few more weeks. Oh well :)

So here's some pics!
Here's my strawberries. I trimmed them all back and they are all starting to put out new leaves, although a couple of them are being slowpokes.










I've pulled the row cover back on one of the beds to let the green onions grow... those are left over from last year and they survived the winter so I am hoping for a batch of seed.









Some petunias we planted. Notice I finally have my irrigation system hooked up and being used! It's nice :)










Cute little garden helper












Can you believe she's almost two??? Oh and in the background there you can see my spring planted garlic which is ALMOST as tall as those volunteers in the last patch that got left last year.









Here's a peek underneath one of my floating covers, you can see onion seedlings poking up. They took so long to germinate I'd given up hope, but kept it covered because I planted carrots right next to them and lo & behold, both of them are coming up!







Here's a picture of my grass-invaded bed, this is where my garlic volunteers are from last year. i think when I planted them in the fall of '08 some of them just never made it past the thick layer of leaf mulch I had on them because I know I pulled up all the garlic that had come up last year but I have at least three separate plants, and then one of them is technically three plants of it's own because apparently it had a few cloves last year and each one sprouted.



And here's another shot of the spring planted garlic. On the right is a broccoli I unsuccessfully tried to overwinter.










And here's a shot of the whole garden. It's so beautiful to me :)


Anyway that's it for my garden update so far. My seedlings are doing well in my basement but that's for a different post. I don't know how much I will actually be planting in the garden this year, actually, because we might be moving in June. I plan on doing a lot of containers because there are a few types of tomatoes I need to save seed from since I planted my last ones... mostly just the Dad's Sunset and Tess' Land Race Currant tomato.

5-year plan update

I've got a couple blog posts to do here tonight or in the next few days so bear with me, but I'll try and keep it somewhat topical.

The biggest most exciting thing going on is not only is my husband almost finished with school (not even 2 months left!) but he has had several interviews for a company up in Colville that is looking for a Design Engineer. He's underqualified for the position but the fact is, it's RIGHT up his alley (they mfg wood stoves), it's 20 minutes away from where we want to build our home, and unlike many of their applicants he won't be looking for something else once the economy recovers.

They did put off the hiring for a bit so we won't hear back for another couple months but I am praying hard for this... those of my readers who also pray please pray for us! This job could mean big things, not only getting up there to the property quicker (we were thinking it could take 3-5 years after he's done with school) but the income, if we kept our standard of living the same, could allow us to build a home over a period of a few years with NO MORTGAGE. Of course, that's if things were at optimum conditions but I guess I'm trying to say that it would be AMAZING if we could get up there.

As of right now, my parents are up there and I am so jealous! They have gotten their Maremma sheepdogs, and the dogs are absolute gems. They also have a wire coop full of chicks! My mom and I spent an afternoon building the coop while the girls were napping on a day I happened to have off and she was here for the day. It was a wonderful day.

Which leads me to another topic... my emotional state right now is not very stable. I feel like me working has been unsustainable for so long emotionally and so I'm starting to run short. Kinda like an oil tank (anyone heat with oil?) when you run it and run it and it starts to get low, there's all kinds of stuff at the bottom of the tank that gunks it all up. That's kinda how I feel. I could sure use some prayers to lift my spirits also... it's becoming very difficult for me to drop my kids off with someone else and then go sit at a desk all day long.

Oh I almost forgot - Potato SEEDS.

I forgot to add on that last post that I'm doing an experiment :)

Last year I had gotten some heirloom seed potatoes from Ronniger. They were fingerling types, and 2 different varieties.

To my surprise, they set seed! Ever the curious one, I saved those seeds the same way I would save tomato seed and I am going to grow them this year to see what I get! Depending on who pollinated them they might just be duds but who knows, right? The potato seeds have also sprouted and so I think that will be a fun experiment for me to do this year, we'll see! I never had seen them before but according to my google searches this is a rare thing but it does happen occasionally.

Garden Update - seedlings!

Oh I almost forgot! I need to do an update.

This year I had promised myself I would get a soil blocker, and so I did. I got two actually, one 2" and one .75". I also have put my wonderful designer husband to the task of making me a 4" size, which he is mostly finished crafting out of PVC pipe. The 4" size was just too expensive to buy.

Anyway, the soil blocks are great! They were really easy to make, and I am looking forward to not having containers to deal with. it sure was a lot faster this way! I filled up two trays of blocks and started them a few weeks ago. Within 12 days I had tomato and even pepper sprouts.

Last year I had started my onions indoors but they did not do well at all so I figured maybe this year I should just start them directly outside. if the seeds don't germinate then I can always buy sets... but I'm just trying to figure out the best way. So I planted them outside a few weeks ago, we'll see what happens.

I have a few volunteer garlic plants coming up in last year's patch, I think some of them just didn't quite make it up through the thick mulch and so must have hibernated. I also have a new patch of garlic I planted this spring which is coming up quite nicely. And then I also have a few scallions that overwintered just fine.

As far as seedlings, here's what I have planted:

Tomatoes:
- Great White
- Principe Borghese
- Dad's Sunset
- Tess's Land Race Currant
- Litchi

Peppers:
- Craig's grande Jalapeno
- Purple Jalapeno
- Orange Habanero
- King of the North Sweet Pepper
- Orange Bell
- Sweet red mini stuffer
- Quadrati D'Asti Giallo Sweet

I also planted Thai Yellow Egg eggplant again.

Most of the seedlings are up except the Litchi Tomato, Great White and the King of North pepper (oh, and the eggplant but I remember it taking a long time last year too). Even the habaneros sprouted in about 12 days, it was crazy. All I did was prop up the seed trays with the humidity domes so that the bulbs are almost touching the plastic dome. The tomato seedlings that came up first already have their tiny set of first leaves but they are not leggy this way. They already need to be taken out of the tray to a new one, but the others are so small that I'll need to figure out something because I can't take them all out yet.

The one thing I am very happy about is that the Dad's Sunset was our favorite tomato from last year. It was so tasty and delicious but I never got any seed saved. I thought I had ONE seed left in the packet but then it turned out I had three. And all three germinated, and they were the quickest seeds to germinate! So lucky me, I will have more of them. And you know I will be saving seed from them!

Progress? maybe. Prayers? Yes.

Well here I am posting again because I have all this nervous energy.

You see, today my husband had a second interview as a design engineer for a company out by our property. This is overwhelmingly great for a few reasons:

1. we weren't expecting his first job out of school to be up there.
2. he would make quite a bit more money than anticipated for a cad drafter, nearly doubling my current income.
3. The money he would potentially make plus the decrease in cost of living in the area would mean we could realistically put significant amounts of money aside and build a home without a mortgage. Yes, WITHOUT A MORTGAGE.
4. I could stay home. Yes, I COULD STAY HOME :)

It's interesting, I've been working towards this goal of being able to stay home with my family for so many years and it's as if the reality is potentially going to finally happen! Part of me is waiting for a shoe to drop, and for someone to jump out and say "AHHHH You thought it would be this easy, but you are going to have to work for another three years to get to stay home!!!"

I guess it's almost being afraid of success. But I am also feeling very excited at the same time. Excited at the idea of not dealing with the junk I deal with at work. Excited at the thought of being able to homeschool my kids and make macaroni necklaces with them. Excited at the thought of being able to have another baby someday and NOT have to take them to daycare, to be able to breastfeed them without losing my supply from pumping, and to be able to use my stash of cloth diapers. Thrilled at the idea of being able to teach my daughters how to grow things and why worms are one of the most incredible creatures that God created. I am ecstatic at the potential to me able to have a pleasant and happy home with a hot meal waiting for my husband when he comes home from work, and actually to have time every once in a while to fold and put away laundry after it's been washed instead of just leaving it in a pile in the basement to pick through once a day for everyone's clothes.

This may seem like simple things to you, but for someone like me who thrives in the stay-home environment to have to go out and earn a living to support the family it is a tough thing. Some people are the type that would get bored being at home... I am the type who gets bored and burned out being at work because I wish I was at home doing things I consider productive. With that said, I am forever blessed to have a husband who has worked very hard in school (even made the dean's list!) and is now working hard on finishing school up and also looking for work. It is as important to him as it is to me that I am able to stay home, and in that small little thing I have a great asset - a partner in life that has the same goal as I do in many different ways. That's a lot more uncommon than you might think.

And really, the only fears I have are the fears that all this will somehow be taken away from me. That for some reason, somehow, I will be doomed to never be able to fulfill that basic need that is for me to raise my children as a stay home mom. it seems like a simple thing, but when you have spent so much time going past so many obstacles it almost seems like it would be natural for things to "not work out."

but really, if I had to just work forever, I would probably become clinically depressed. So I don't even want to think about it. Maybe I just need to refocus and remember that SOMEDAY it will happen and I need to just keep walking along because if you keep walking, you will get there, right?