HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to all!

This last year has been filled with fun, and filled with sorrow! In just the last month, we got married, my man broke his hand and had to wait two weeks before a doctor would even look at it, and our old man, Buddy, passed away very suddenly on the 15th! Poor guy... He was sick for a long time, and I guess his old body couldn't take it.

I have set myself some new goals for the new year!

1) Blackberries. Maybe this year I can get rid of them (HA!)
2) Build a chicken coop. Nothing fancy, but for when we move!
3) Move!
4) Update the blog at least once a week... We'll see how that goes!

This years garden is going to be different! The peas were a bit of a bust, so was the corn, and the cucumbers never had a chance it seems! The spinach was lame, and the tomatoes did nothing but annoy me! This year will be squash, more corn, and lots of lettuce! I loved having fresh lettuce to eat everyday!

Here's hoping the new year will be better than the last! Who knows what's in store for our little family?

I dedicate this next year to you, Buddy

More Gifts

All I get o do lately is weed... very... very boring. But Mr. Selinger always makes things better! He went out to some shops and found me 5 1L milk bottles, one of which still has the cardboard topper. After that, he found me a little cow bell! He wanted to get me an antique one complete with the leather collar, but it was $25, so a bit too pricey! The one he bought is brand new, and smaller, perfect for a mini moo later in life!

Here's a picture of a milk bottle and the cow bell next to some cut flowers from my rose bushes!

Pickles in the Future

The love of my life knows me all too well. He came home yesterday with baskets of new plants for us. He bought himself more herbs to plant in containers, since I'm not interested in herbs, I leave them to him. He bought Sage, Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, and the oddity named Pineapple Sage, which does smell really sweet. As well, he bought me high yielding Pickling Cucumbers... Three to be exact. As an extra special treat he bought me a rose bush, a Gerber Daisy, and a Cala Lilly! There they are, pictured below! So pretty in person!

I planted the Cucumbers outside on little hills next to the Long English Cucumber I bought Sunday at the flea market, where I also bought a little Roma Tomato plant. Since I am more interested in results then in the art of gardening this year, I consider this a good practice.

With all the rain we have been getting lately (between 15-30 mm a day), the weeds have really been taking over, and the plants are exploding in growth! The corn I replanted have started to shoot up, and the lettuce looks big enough to eat soon! Very exciting. The big things that need to be done at the moment are staking the peas, buying netting to protect the harvests, and planting my third rows of lettuce, carrots, and spinach. All for another day!

Replanting... Again!

First off, remember that big, plump strawberry posted last week? Well, its gone. Went out the day after the post, and it was gone. Something stole our first harvest and didn't share. Thinking of getting some netting to throw over top the crops so no more get stolen. There are a great number of birds in our area, so I'm sure my lettuce is going to look tasty soon!

Speaking of lettuce, some are a few centimeters tall now! And the second row of spinach planted 11 days ago have already sprung up in great numbers! Even more exciting is a few corn stalks have poked out of the ground.

Today I went out and poked some more corn kernels into the soil in hopes they will germinate better in this high heat, and I planted some cucumbers in their mound (which seems to be winged-insect free), and I pushed a few tomatoes into a pot in hopes these will grow as well!

I've also started to stir up the soil everyday around the rows. I've been weeding almost everyday to try and keep up with what needs to be done, and while doing so, I've noticed the ground is getting a bit hard on top. Under the hard top, the soil is soft and unpacked, so I'm hoping that by stirring up the top layer, I'll not only help with water evaporation, but stir up the weeds and make it harder for them to grow, while (hopefully) giving my seeds a head start! That's the plan anyways...


My peas are getting tall! 5-8 cm for some of them! These are the sugar snap peas.

Surprises in the Garden

So, I went out today to weed the overgrown beds and to replant the cucumbers since its been 3 weeks and they are still no shows. I pulled out dozens upon dozens of day lilies the are infesting the raised beds. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my carrots were actually coming up, slowly... so slowly.

Afterwards, I made my way over to the cucumber mound to turn over the soil and replant my little cucumber seeds. I used my little trowel and turned over a little dirt. A few bugs crawled out. Nothing odd about that. So I turned over more and more, and was quick to realize that the insects emerging were not only numerous, but winged. They were all black, a bit of white, and they resembled wasps.

Mr. Selinger thinks they might be black hornets, a very aggressive species, so I left gardening for the day and will go back tomorrow. However, I have looked up ground-nesting species, and it seems to me that they may be the juveniles of a bee colony. From he sites I've looked at, it seems like a single female has started a colony in the mound and I just dug up her babies! I can't be certain, but I'll defiantly ask around to see if anyone else has a better clue!

So, for the time being, how about we admire the fruit of my labor?



(Dear Santa, I want a better camera!)

Second Plantings Done!

Nothing interesting to report, I did planted my second rows of lettuce, carrots, and spinach. Its really exciting to see my little plants growing away and doing well! When they get big enough to harvest, I'm going to throw a salad party! Everyone can come and enjoy my first home grown veggies!

Spring has Sprung!

Went out yesterday to show off the garden to a good friend, and to my surprise there were veggies growing in neat little rows! I have lettuce, a couple of carrots, spinach, and rows and rows of peas! No tomatoes, cucumber, or corn though. I'll give them till Friday, and if they don't sprout, then I'll stick to my original plan and replant them. I don't think they liked the cold spurts we had!

Here is the only decent picture of the garden, and its of the sugar snap peas, growing like weeds!