Greenhouse picture

FINALLY... a picture of my greenhouse lol. It's from a few weeks ago, but you can see it's all doing pretty good. It's a small variety but it has been tons of fun to do. We have had a few salads from it, yesterday we had our first cucumber and tomato on a salad YUM!! We have some lettuce ready to cut too. I have a variety of kinds planted and plan on planting some more seeds to enjoy some through the year as well.

The very front is filled with collard greens. We planted them for our bearded dragon, he LOVES them. So he's been eating healthy as well this year. We've not had to buy any greens either which is great. We have a few stalks of corn, lol, that was after the kids begged to plant some.. We have one large tomato plant and one smaller size one. It's the patio kind and they are about the size of a golf ball I guess. Not cherry tomatoes, but not the huge ones. Lots of green ones, getting ready to ripen.

The Sugar snap peas are the BEST.. We only planted one plant, but next year we will be doing more. They were SO good. Even if it was just one pea at a time.

Oh yea and we have a Potato plant. I know my garden is small, so we just tried a few things (usually ONE) of several different plants. We have some strawberries in tin buckets that are overflowing and will fill out the back side of the greenhouse.


Time to go water them for the day, so we can cut some nice crisp greens for supper!! Wilted greens are not good :)

WOW it's been a MONTH???

Our peaceful Patio!!


WOW I can't believe it's been a month since I posted on here. Sorry guys!! For those of you who follow me on facebook, you know what we've been up too LOL. I'll have to remember to do both.



So what's been going on around here????



We are finally getting spring weather here, of course that includes rain, but it's warm!! We've gotten out a little bit to clean up the yard, the patio is cleaned off and looks so peaceful... We swept, moved leaves and got our compost pile set up. We have been dumping our food waste in it everyday and mixing our weeds and pots from last year in it as well. We decided to go a less obvious route, hubby didn't like the idea of a tote or anything in his yard, SO... I took advantage of some 4x4's up agains the shed and boxed in a little area. It's not covered, but it's quite long and works well.. We have a long handled claw to mix it all in each day. An added chore but WOW I can't believe how much food waste goes into it each day!!

Our greenhouse is still empty, we are debating what to do this year. With plans to be gone with hubby's job we just aren't sure what to do with a garden. I'd LOVE to have one, really , but with no one here to make sure it is always watered and than picked... Last year most of it went to waste since it didn't always get watered.. Sigh so i'm just not sure what to do yet.

We have been beginning to get prepared for our summer camping as well. I hear JoAnns has their summer stuff on sale, and dishes, so I am hoping to find some nice plastic plates for the camper this year. We will see..



Hmm what else is news!!!! Well we need to mow our lawn, not real news, except that our lawn mower is broken AHH we are going to have a jungle here soon. No one ever stops to offer to mow it for us lol, I think because we used to have the lawn care company and chased them all away...hehe.. No they can stop and don't. Maybe we will get that fixed this weekend??? We've had a new baby in the extended family (no NOT ME!!), we've had a retirement party, a few birthdays, baby shower, a mishap on an ATV, LOTS of excitement!!



And lastly I guess I HAVE to tell you a new recipe, well it's not NEW, but it sure is yummy and it's the first time I made it..


HONEY BUTTER, have you ever had it?? I'm not talking about the kind you get at the restaurants I'm talking about REAL homemade honey butter. IT is THE best....


Here's how I made it

2 parts real butter, 1 part honey. (you can get real butter on sale often, this weeks it's $1.50 at our local grocery store, and it's better for you!!)


Set the butter in a dish, one that you will keep it in is good... and let it soften, DO NOT MELT IT. Once it's soft add the honey and mix it good. I used my electric hand mixer. Than put it in the fridge and use it on all kinds of stuff, PANCAKES ohhh that's good, even better than syrup I think.. If you melt the butter, the honey will separate and sink to the bottom even if you whip it together, and you will find yourself mixing it again anyhow (yea, i tried it that way too LOL)..



Ok, well I'm off to do my weekly shopping, yes with all 4 kids today. Sometimes it works out to leave them with my nieces and sometimes not!!

Oh I almost forgot.... MY newest addition to the tons of other things I do!!! My sewing website. I finally have it done. I've had it in the process for about a year but finally am ready to spread the word.. Please share it with others, and tell me what you think...

http://jensews.tripod.com/

OK, we are off to get some groceries!! Wish me luck with 4 kids!!

JenD

Busy, busy

Warm weather is finally here, or closer anyhow. I know I don't post much, but the warm weather makes me feel more ALIVE!! Lol...

Today I have a large order of alterations to get done. I got it started yesterday. I'm hemming pants, jacket sleeves and taking some sides in as well. I LOVE doing alterations. I love sewing, but I really think my passion is the altering. I know I'm a little crazy. As my mom pointed out last night, I just get busy and don't finish sewing projects, hehe, she was the same way when we were small. It's sad really, I have some really adorable outfits I made for Amberlin and Marky (matching) and now, the dress will fit Abigail this fall... YIKES all it needs is a hem and buttons. I now have it hanging in front of me in stead of packed in a box, so I'll remember it's there. I promise to post pictures.

I'm also looking forward to moving Abigail upstairs to Amberlins room. I'm not sure how soon that will happen, but when it does...... I will have a room just for sewing and office, NOT baby too. It's kinda hard to sew when she's sleeping and harder to sew when she's awake lol. I have great plans for that room. She's still not quite ready to go upstairs yet tho. We do have our school in there as well, but we do our school at the table, and store out books in a tote in the DR. Our shelves of books and such are in the office/sewing/baby room lol..

So it's time to get the kids going at their school and I've got sewing to do.

I'm also compiling a list of some great links I've found regarding composting and simple gardens. I'm really excited about it, I can't wait to get some flowers and vegis in the yard. I have to keep in mind that I have 4 kids, I'm busy and I'm not always here in the summer, so...... if you have ideas, I'd love to hear them and I just may add them to my list on here....

Till later..

Oh goodness...

It doesn't matter how busy you get, life keeps going. Did you ever notice that??? Last week was a busy week, at least for me. My baby was sick most of the week. She ran a fever for a few days, sore throat, congested, just not happy. A few of the others were not feeling 100% either. So since they didn't feel well, or sleep well, Mom didn't sleep well... It was a Loooonnnngg week. It was a happy one to tho, we now have a new nephew and he's adorable...

It's also time to start thinking about planting too. I was just talking to my SIL about a garden and we are planning on doing it together. I'm excited, it will be fun. Last year we tried with the green house, but ended up being gone most of the summer, so they went un watered. This year, we plan on being gone off and on as well, BUT she found a great article on how to plant a garden with mulch and CARDBOARD and not have to water it. YUP we're trying it. We figure it's worth a try. It will be fresh vegis if it works, that will save us $$ and of course it's better for us....

You can see a video from the article at
http://pearloutdoors.com/ Click on "organic gardening video" at the top.

You can read the article from the magazine here..

I'll keep you posted on our plans as soon as we get them figured out lol.

Be sure to check out my tips on practical ways to live a little greener... I post a new tip every Tuesday. There is also a link on the this blog now as well. Come check it out!!

Jen

My Hibiscus

I wanted to post some pictures really quick. This is my Hibiscus plant on our patio. Oh how I love Hibiscus, they are sooo pretty. This is one of my favorite colors, (cause it's on my patio lol). The flowers are so big. I have a white one in the front as well, I'll have to get some pictures of that one too. Just wanted to share. It's doing so well this year, we just planted it last year.





I also wanted to share my new shirt. I went to Vista Print and designed it, and only paid for shipping. I LOVE it. It's my new theme!!

Well we've been busy. We helped weed and plant at my in-laws on Wed. Thursday was the kids dentist and we stop and got some flowers. Save-a-lot in Haslett has the cheapest. $9.99 for a flat of 48. We got 5 flats and planted them all yesterday, Friday. We've got flowers everywhere now. Around our lamp post, 6 pots, by the shed, the house and a bed by the road. We had to weed out the one by the shed first, but we got it all done and it all looks beautiful. I was exhausted lol. Here are a few pictures. Today I will try to mow the lawn, it may just have to wait though. I've got boxes to get moved to the shed, and spring clothes to find. So another busy day, and hopefully a fun weekend ahead of us. We are going to a museum on Monday. I'll post more about that later.

The dirt area in the front is all planted with grass seed. I've got impatients, begonias and dusty millers out here. It's a partial shade area, so they should all do well.

These are some really cool mushrooms that grow on our tree out back. They are huge this year.

gardening!

Well today it is raining, so I thought I would share our progress from the last few days.
We got the edging all around the pond. We had to revamp it a little. It just wasn't enough. Yesterday I finished it off by adding some weed barrier fabric and mulch, a few plants and 13 fish. Here's the before and after. It makes a huge improvement.
It's such a peaceful place to sit. We'll have more plants in there too. Some Canna's will come up along the back and the side.

Mark helped me plant my new rose bushes by the greenhouse on Sunday. After that I started digging up the sod for my garden around the outside of it. It's still to early to plant them, but we have edging to put around it and should be able to get it all planted next week I hope. Here are a few pictures of the progress.

I got it almost all done and ready for the edging, but didn't get to finish it yet. I don't have pictures of that yet. In the process I chopped our satillite cable in half lol, we forgot we buried it right thru there. We got that patched, but now Mark gets to bury a new one next chance he gets. It won't hold up to moisture.

The flowers have come up on the side of the house too. This flower bed is all perennials that I've planted and some were there already. It's really filling out. I hope to build up the beds in the fall, so next year they will be more defined and deeper. This is the first year I get to plant flower, so I'm really excited to get them in there. The siding, windows and roof is all done, so I can go all out. YAY!

Well I'll get more pictures up here in a few days. Not going to get anymore done outside today anyhow. BUT I can sit on my beautiful patio and enjoy the rain showers.

Tata!

Our garden

Here are our tomatoe plants in the house. They are really sprouting up.
Our greenhouse is now in the center of the yard and will get lots of sun
You can see how much they've grown in just a short time. Here are our beans and squash.

Broccoli, Cauliflower, chives, cucumbers and a variety of flowers.
Squash and some morning glories
This is how we have it set up inside the greenhouse.

Here is our herb garden. So far only the chives are big. I had planted the rest as seeds later. The chives I started with the first batch of starts. They are all starting to sprout thru though. Can't wait!

I took all these photos on Saturday, you can see how much it's all grown. Now if it will quit freezing out I can get them planted in the ground.

Well another day of gardening behind us!

In my search to identify a plant for someone, I found a few good links I thought I would share. I am far from a good gardener. I'm still learning so I'm always in search of some good helps. I've still not found what this plant is, but is sure is pretty. Here's a picture, if you know what it is, please share the info so I can pass it on.

Identify diseases and a cure for your vegetables

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/cropindex.htm

Tons of information on lots of different gardening and flowering subjects. Even a search by characteristics for unknowns.

http://davesgarden.com/

Top 10 Gardening Websites for Your Online Tool Shed

http://gardening.about.com/od/toolschool/tp/Web_Diagnostics.htm

I'll let you know if I find the name. So far I can only think it's in the Rhododenren family.

Gardening

Oh what a beautiful day yesterday. We got some gardening done and a walk too! A few weeks back we got our seeds started inside. I'd planned on posting these photos before, but go figure, I got to busy!!!



What I did was used egg cartons. I found out that egg shells work great for fertilizer and you can use the halves to plant the seeds in, than the transplanting is easier into a pot. A few things I would change is not plant so many seeds in each one, it kinda defeats the purpose if you have to break the shell open to separate the seedlings. You can also crush the egg shells into the dirt to get the same nutrient effect.

Well now it's all sprouted and time to transplant, so today we transplanted into large pots. I have more seedlings than I know what to do with of course, but we'll give some away.

Today we hope to get some more transplanted and the greenhouse in order. Hubby moved it into a sunny spot last weekend, so I can fill it up this year. We stopped at the library during our walk yesterday and got some books on greehouse gardening. I've never had a greenhouse before, so this is a new bit of fun for us. I'm very excited to have the possibility (since I'm not sure if it will work yet) to have some vegi's year round in there. I've got some space around the outside to plant some squash, tomatoes, melons and berries too. I'll keep you posted as we progress. Yesterday all I did was covered the floor with newspapers to kill the grass. It works great as a weedbarrier so I figure it should work to kill the grass for me too.

Well gotta run. We are off to town for a bit.