Victory Garden

Since the Obama Victory Garden is all over the news right now, I thought I would post pics of my own.....But first pics of my flagstone garden....we planted wooly and lime thyme, ajuga, knotweed and sedum between the rocks....they have to grow a bit, but hey, we got thyme!  I also planted some California poppy seeds in the cracks in a couple of spots.  The goal is to have plants that will do okay without a lot of water, keep down the weeds and fill in the cracks.  

Here is some corsican mint and star creeper in the not so sunny spot.....can't wait until the mint is a bit stronger and takes over a bit so that we can smell it.  It's nummy when the leaves are crushed and the creeper has tiny white flowers.

So here is the bed with the new beans, eggplant and onion plants in, as well as some lettuce in between rows.  The corn that I have not yet put in is there in the foreground. 

Again, with the corn.  But down below there is the new strawberry bed.  We just dug out the ugly bare dirt this weekend and then built up that little wall of stones.  It looks so pretty like that, and if the strawberrries don't perform, well, we put something else there.   There is another stretch of dirt on the other side of the sidewalk that is where the corn will go.   It is well populated with poppies at the momnet, with a scattering and then one good clump....the one good clump will stay and I might try transplanting some of the others.   
And here is my peas, my sprouts, some early lettuce and some onions in between it all.  The sprouts already have itty bitty little sprouts on the stalks.  You can't see them but there are also some tomatoes in between the two stands of peas.  I am not sure that they will thrive in that exact spot, but they do like this bed in general.....and the little bit of shade from the fence may not be a bad thing as it heats up.

So are you also planting a garden this year to ease the grocery bill?

The Springing of Spring!

Bezzie, it's cold here, which means 40s, and very wet.  We have an exceptionally long growing season, and I do try to put in the plants in early spring for an earlier yield as well as to allow the plants to get those spring rains for a bit before the heat sets in.  They seem to do better.   Also I only put out the cold crops this weekend, the tomatoes need a bit more heat to thrive.  I am considering cutting terraces  for tomatoes on the hill, even if there are no stones to hold the wall, so to speak.

I forgot to mention that my daffodils are up and blooms are incipient!  When they do open, I will snap some pics and post them.  

I also have a bunch of lettuce that I started from seeds in December in my kitchen window, as well as a number of recent seed starts, including about 4 eggplant, 12 tomatoes, 6 cukes that are ready to break free of the seed starter, 12 sunflowers, and a tray of various flowers for Littlest's cutting garden, that I still need to find a home for.  

I am hoping that my seedlings do better than last year's seedling, and I will probably also find a place to put in some potted tomatoes from the nursery, since they will be further along than the seedlings in my window. 

I am determined to get some good harvest this year, but am not sure where to put all of it.   The plants, not the harvest.  I know what to do with the harvest....yummmm! 

For the record, many of my co-workers had the same horrified reactions when I mentioned the planting.  I think I am a wee bit early this year, but the weather has been unseasonably warm so I think it's appropriate.  

Oh yeah, I treated my restlessness and fatigue with a bit of Wyder's and some plum wine....made me feel better.....I am considering a proper bender today after the errands are done.

It's quiet

It's Saturday in early spring, and the book is off for edits, the all clear was sounded on the day job, I am certified in my profession and there's not enough sun to dye, even if I had yarn to dye. We put some plants in this morning into the first bed in the yard already.  The girl-child is at a party, the husbeast took the boy-child off to do manly things somewhere else and I have the house blissfully to myself.   And it's quiet.  Very quiet, the type of quiet that pushes against you and whispers of quiet, pre-reproductive weekends where there were not childrens to farm out to achieve this kind of quiet.  

And I am enjoying it.  I'd be a fool not to.   Napping sounds good, but then I could not enjoy the quiet, since I would be asleep.  Ah for the days when I knew what to do with quiet time.  

But for now, a tour of the garden....

Sequoia Strawberries....I put in a dozen, all lined up in the new bed I put in last year.  

Red leaf lettuce, you know, to feed the puir hungry slugs. 

Brussel sprouts, for the manses who like to steam them and eat them dipped in balsamic vinegar.   Apparently, I may be planting them at the wrong time, but we shall see. 


Peas for the whole family.  They even have a jungley gym to climb, Lawd knows they wuz trying to climb out of their flat.

And my very woody Rosmarin which is in beautiful purple splendour....Sadly, Rosmarin may have to go, since she is just in the wrong place....not looking forward to pulling her out, since her trunk is about 4 inches in diameter.

How does my garden grow?

I have been very busy lately between work, class and the family. Sadly, the family is losing out in that equation, but I have provided negative feedback to the class, based on the instructor's caution to the class to conduct no business on the internet, because it's not safe.

Luddite.

Anyway, I slammed out my plan, and they will arrange for it to be reviewed by one or two consultants on staff with respect to the class, and I will no longer attend the class, as it is a patent waste of my time. Mind you, The Rock thinks that I should stick it out, because there might be something that I could learn from it. But then everyone else that I know wants to know why I am still in the class.

So the plan is almost complete, I have another couple of hours to put into it on sections that mostly just don't apply to my model, size and concept, and then it will be DONE....and I drop it off on Monday for them to review. Finito.

But meanwhile, my garden has been growing, I have completed a pair of socks and a shawl in the aforementioned timewaster. Thank God for sticks and string! And I thought that I would post some pics of the plants growing in my yard for all to see.

Here we have the pima cotton that grew in, this plant is about 7 weeks old. Something has been eating it as you can see, but there is no apparent insects, and we have very few rabbits and the like that might eat plants. Now you should know that commercial white cotton is kept that way by draconian genetic, insect, fertilizer and other controls, is one of the most expensive crops on earth in terms of the cost of water, to the environment and chemically. You can see why, no? This little plant is not so hardy, yes?

And here we have some brown cotton from seeds acquired clandestinely on the internet. This plant is a little more than 3-4 weeks old. Look how healthy it looks, more hardy, and it's brown cotton, so has the added bonus of being more natural than the other. Of course, it's in a pot about 6 feet from the pima, one would think that what's eatin the pima would be going for this, but no! Amazing how Mother Nature takes care of her own. As for the rest, not so much.
Radishes, that have not been thinned yet. The only person that eats radishes in my house, is The Rock. I throw some seeds in each year, just so he can have some spice in his life. Of course, he would much prefer the peppers, but I have not been so successful with those here.


Meet the peas....also in need of thinning. You can't see it in the photo, but just above the wood there is a chicken wire fence that the wee peas will climb up once they get big enough.
Beans, beans, the musical fruit..... What was I thinking? I have 3 pots of beans....and well they is going gangbusters.....also needing thinning.
Last year's calendulas are exploding. I need to strip the heads and brew me some sun tea to dye with. Maybe tomorrow.
Here is a mystery. I think I put linen seeds in the side bed, and they were last years' seed, did not get water for a bit, and well the bed is in bad condition. And I have this growing there....well actually the mint is coming back too, but this is my concern. This could maybe be flax, but I don't think so. I think it's a mysterious noxious weedy thing.

So bumble fee, if you see this and your flax is looking like this, do tell, aye?

If'n it is flax, it's not doing well, as the plant is laying down, not erect like one would expect of flax.
Here is the peach tree that volunteered in a strange place a few years ago. Do you know that this peach tree, which The Rock swore three ways from Sunday would never produce, threw on oodles of small sweet peaches that were well enjoyed by all? Last year was a bust due to leaf curl, but as you can see, looks to be a peach pie year, weather willing!
So that's the garden....

Now for something completely different. I have been going through my clothes to pull out the ones not getting any action, and in that lot was this vest that was too long for flattery, and too plain by far. Take a look at it now! That is shisha mirrors and some trim that I picked up somewhere. I still have a bit of sewing to do, but it's done with respect to the look....just finish work left.

First the detail. Oohs and ahhhs are appreciated, of course.

And the total look!
I also recycled some jeans into the yoke for a linen skirt, quick and easy. I did not take pics of that yet.

On the yarn front, I am wrapping up the adagio shawl from Candace Eisner Strick. I have to say though that the pattern has left me with alot of leftover yarn, which I hate.....I may knit it up into a scarf or something like that, just to use it up.

On the dyeing front, my yarns are up on the Ceallach Dyes storefront. Take a look and place your orders, because this yarn is going to disappear before you know it! There are still some yarns that need to be photographed and posted, but there is a lot to see right now.

Look forward to hearing from you

The peas and cotton are up

So this year, in my abundant free time, which occurs during a full moon on the weekend when the kids stars are aligned perfectly, I put in some food and fiber crops....I put in two tomato plants, an eggplant which has since um baked in the sun, and laid down some peas and one variety of cotton seeds.

I am happy to report that the peas and cotton have started to peek up through the dirt. I would take a photo, exceptin' I ain't actually in the neighborhood of either the peas or the cotton pokins.

But I needed to share, because growing things make me happy.

I have more cotton to plant, I think acala, since I think that the pokins are pima, as well as some O brown cotton.

But I wanted to see if the first set of seeds would come up.

And now they have.