un-gardening

so i finally get over to our garden the other day.  everything is dead.  not just dead, it's overly dead.  yes, i think that's possible.  i watered everything to soften it to make it easier to weed, then proceeded to weed for about an hour.  got a lot done.  lovely!

then i muster up the energy (and the girls) and head over there this morning around 8:30am.  i'm trying to turn the water on, but seem to be having problems.  the faucet wasn't working.  so i mess as much as i can with it.  still no dough.  so i meander on over to another faucet.  no help.  i go to yet another one...nothing.

at this point, i'm getting ticked off.  i thought maybe the garden police came and turned off our water or something.  eventually, after wasting 40 minutes trying to figure it all out, i call maintenance for the complex and ask them if the main water has been turned off.  (a-ha!  now the wheels in my head are finally starting to turn a little)  indeed the water was turned off.  great. 

so much for gardening today.

por fin...an update!

a few weeks ago the girls and i meandered on over to the poor, deprived garden.  i really didn't expect to see anything good.  stephen had dropped by on his way home from school one day and informed me that all was dead.  we just had so much rain (for san diego, that is) over the past few months, and we didn't have a chance to go and manage all that had happened.  the thing is...husband's just don't "look" very good.  they don't.  it drives me nuts.  i could write a book about it, really.  maybe some day!

anyway...we entered the garden to see two lettuce plants that were as tall as chloe and dead corn plants.  buuuuuut......we did find some friends!  including one beautiful green onion plant, two carrots, three large zucchini plants and a small pumpkin....all of which we brought home with us that day.  i was very pleased.  our garden resident, mr. gopher, had a few nibbles of the pumpkin, but overall it still grew perfectly and was beautiful.  it's motivating me to plant more, since i'm having success at all.

things are finally blooming around my front door too.  my jasmine plant will smell heavenly this summer each time i walk up to my door.  i'm so excited.  it helps relieve my stresses when i smell something so lovely. 

my sweet peas looked like this only 5 days ago...

dfd

...and yesterday, like this!  things are looking promising!

new favorite!

it was a tough decision to share this with others.  when i really love something at first, i tend to hoard it to myself.  i don't want to share it.  but, as much as i love this site, i felt that the greater good was to share it. 

terrain

there.  aren't you proud of me?  i shared!!  i didn't even hoard it more than 24 hours.  this is a big step!  ok, maybe i'm making myself sound like a totally selfish meanie.  but i'm not!  (i'm pretty sure i'm not...corrections?)  just try not to buy everything at once!  i had to seriously resist.  pictured are a few of my favorites that terrain offers.  i was thinking along the lines of mothers day, perhaps? 

cutest earrings!  my ears might actually let me wear them!

honey derived from fruit plants (namely: blueberry, raspberry, cranberry and orange blossom).

can you say butter and bread too, please?

this one i actually bought.  for whom?  not telling!

i admit to "needing" this.  i know just where it could go!

cow glass?  check!  cookie?  check!

a french tiered plant stand.  oh, how i long for a home to put stuff like this!  one thing at a time, brooke.

one thing at a time.  {sigh}

more of the harvesting

nine beautiful carrots, right in a row.

my little girl, so happy to sow.

a few wild flowers to brighten the day...

...more jumbled carrots, i know...what the hey?

my citrus tree blossoming reminds me of spring...

...the local gopher nibbling, the new garden king.

and then there's zucchini, it's growing with ease.  i can't wait to eat it, it's sure to please!

if you're hungry and don't want to spend a few bucks, vegetables i have and will share- they're not yuck.
(thanks for slowly tolerating my lack of rhyming abilities...you're the best!)

garden update and harvest!

a bee visits our huge head of lettuce.  we actually pulled this one out and ate some for dinner last night.  twas wonderful!  i'm amazed at how easily it grew.  i'm also amazed that the gopher wasn't interested in eating it.  he frequently visits the pumpkin and takes a nibble. 

then there's the carrots!  yay!!!  they turned out to be so awesome.  after planting them, we didn't see much growth at first.  it took a long time.  but then, as the green started showing, we noticed that there were indeed quite a few making progress.  they say you should pull it when the diameter from above is about an inch.  this is about an inch and a half.  we probably should've pulled them out earlier, but we didn't really find that information til yesterday.

below are the action photos of stephen pulling a carrot out.

gg

hh

i don't know why it was so amazing to me that a real carrot came out of the ground....where we planted it.  it's not like i didn't expect there to be anything underneath all that greenery.  i could plainly see the bits of orange around the soil.  it's just that i usually kill things, not grow them!  i got so excited.  i made everyone smell it immediately.  "see?  it even smells like a carrot!"  we ate them for dinner last night too!

sienna's cute stubby toes, as she watched the carrot harvesting.

we even had a freaky carrot fingery one.  it was a three-in-one carrot.  i really liked it!  i'm guessing this was a result of putting more than one seed in one hole.  even though that's what the directions said, i promptly ignored it.  i figured that not all the seeds would survive, so why not up our chances?  i've learned my lesson.


more to come!

garden life

i've been considering (very strongly) growing hydrangeas in my garden this early summer.  i've been reading a little bit about them this morning.  here's a great hydrangea website that I found.  i appreciate their careful explanations for how and when to do things, to aide my weak gardening thumbs.  i'm learning. 

 i also just read about martha stewart's 1990's coming-out of her love for hydrangeas.  she has some interesting historical backround about them and how to care for them.  it's not as helpful as the first site i mentioned, though.  apparently the woman has a serious thang for them.  can't say i blame her. 

my garden needs some hydrangeas...preferably the blue, which means my soil needs to be more acidic in order for that to happen.  here's to hopin'!  i suppose i could test the ph of my soil, but i'd rather just see what colors they turn out.  if they're more pink-ish, your soil is more alkaline.

next on my list to learn:  tulips!  my other fav!

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totally random gardening tip of the day:

• 
  
  if your plants start to develop powdery mildew (a white/gray powdery fungal disease) on it's leaves, you can make a homemade fungicide.  Here's a quick recipe:  1 T. baking soda, 1 T. horticultural oil (or 1/2 tsp. liquid soap- per another recipe I found) and 1 gallon of water.  it did stress, however, to not spray on the leaves during extreme heat (90 deg F or higher).

garden update

i know, it's been a bit since i showed our garden.  it's really quite sad, because we haven't been able to spend as much time there.  the holiday's had us all over san diego's christendom visiting and being happy.  our garden was indeed neglected.  and i'm also not as happy to report that when i stopped by yesterday after picking up the girls from school, that a forest had grown in our absence.  seriously, a crazy mini-forest.  i had just weeded it all away a few weeks prior.  in vain.  i know, i know...two weeks prior.  but come on!  i'm not even going to show a picture of the small rainforest in our walking area and surrounding our zucchini plants.  it's just sad.  the garden protective services would surely have been called already, had they existed.

the good news?  oh, oh....we are actually growing things!  not a lot of them, but we have grown some lettuce (as seen above).  isn't it beautiful?  i'm praying the neighboring gophers don't decide that they want it for dinner before i do.  it's mine!

and then, after all the rain that dumped on so-cal last month, our carrots finally took flight!  there are several that are growing with zest.  i even pulled one up prematurely, just out of pure excitement.  it was part of dinner!  the whole one bite of it!  but still! 

 

our corn is doing suprisingly well.  i really hope that it continues on it's path of growth.  i'm nervous for it though.  i'm gonna give it all the love i can, cause most plants hit a point, later down the road, where it stalls...and then dies. 

the cucumbers are lookin' good!  the leaves are turning a little yellow, which have yet to investigate.  i hope it isn't a horrible thing that can't be reversed.  after all, i'm new to this gardening thing.

our mandarin tree is blossoming some cute little flower buds.  it's confused, you see.  it thinks that spring has rolled around, cause it doesn't really get cold in san diego.  after all the rain, it warmed up (a teensy bit) and made all the plants think that it's spring. 

my pumpkin plants aren't having any problems whatsoever.  i think it would be hard to not have one thrive.  they're like weeds.  they just grow and grow.  same with the zucchini.  but that thrills me to no end!  i just love anything with pumpkin or zucchini in it!!

chloe showing me a leaf she plucked off our mandarin tree.  thanks chloe.  her hair-line boo-boo is looking better, although better doesn't mean great.  it still looks gross, if you ask me.  poor thing.  she ran straight down the grassy hill next to our apartment building, and fell, forehead first into the stucco building.  ouch!

gosh, i love growing things.  brings such a nice peace to my mind and body.

garden update

 

as you can see, my cucumbers are doing quite well!  i can't believe how fast they're growing.  every time i stop by to check on the garden or water it, i'm amazed at how different the cucumbers (i now call cucies....pronounced "coo-keys") are.  can't wait to have those in my salads and mouth!

corn!!  it's time to move the corn farther apart, but i'm scared.  yes, you read right.  i'm afraid i'll ruin the whole operation.  plus the other thing i'm concerned about is the pollination.  i did see some other corn stalks in another garden nearby, and i'm hoping that will help.  eek!

as you can see, my pumpkin plant is flourishing, despite the new residence of a gopher.  hopefully we can keep it that way!

then there's my beautiful first sprout from my zucchini plant...yay!!!!!!!!  took for-EVER.  okay, maybe i'm not the most patient either.

and then there's my romaine lettuce plant.  hip hip hooray!!  why do i get such a kick out of growing something?  i don't know, but please pinch me before i get too excited.

carrots!

and my neighbor's lone apple on their tree.  i didn't realize it was an apple tree until i saw this little darling start to grow.  so i water their plant for them, so what?  they're never there.  they left her all alone to fend for herself.  so i've been cuidar-ing her (a spanglish way of saying "i'm taking care of her").

garden update

gardening is so gratifying!  i just adore it.  really.  i can't wait to spend even more hours in my future garden at my future home (whenever that may end up being).  plantlife is just so beautiful and unique and divine.  the genetic make-up of a plant is fascinating to me too.  does that make me a science geek?  cause i never did all that well in science, even though i loved what i was learning.  strange, i know.  i'm not a good test-taker. 

our pumpkin plant continues to grow, inch by inch.  i love that i recognize the spade-shaped main leaf that defines the pumpkin plant so well.  i feel a small sense of accomplishment by having grown it, although it's probably not much.  i'm sure that it will grow like a weed whether i do anything to it, or not.  we shall see!

as you can see, my cucumber plants are thriving and continuing to love me back.  i may have put more than one seed in each hole when planting, resulting in more than one plant growing together...whoops! 

and would ya look at that?  something to show on the first row!  corn!!!  i almost didn't see the sweet little sprouts when i stopped by.  being that i really kept hoping for something, i looked a little closer and i found these two buddies ready to make their big debut.  now here's to hoping for good growing and future pollination!