Peas and Cucumbers

Just a quick photo update of my peas and cucumbers. It looks like they are doing well in their new ground:)

Playin in the Dirt... Again:)

Another Saturday... another day well spent in the yard. Today I sprayed a serious amount of Round-up, rearranged my raised beds (or the plants in them), made a trellis for my peas and cucumbers, and refreshed the soil in my raised beds with cow manure (Black Kow to be exact). I also switched out the pump in my overflowing urn  to an actual pond pump... hopefully this pump will last a while.

Here is a picture of my bean trellis (left side)

A new row of impatiens

the overflowing urn, once again, overflowing:)

My fescue is still coming in nicely, hopefully I will be able to mow the top half of the yard next weekend... it is looking a little unruly. I also bought 4 more pittosporums to replace those that died. I did have a reality check today. I realize I have planted way more seeds than I can possible grow in my raised beds... not to sure what to do with the extras. Maybe I will make a little "patio garden" for my mom and sister.

Part of my desire to fix my backyard stemmed from a sense of lack of control that I felt for my life last year. I didn't want to write a blog about how bad my day was, or how overwhelmed I felt in school, or how miserable I was at work... so I decided to write about something I love, and almost make myself accountable for maintaining my yard. Now my yard has turned into a sense of pride for me. On the weekends, there is no better feeling than to go outside with a cup of hot coffee and stand in the sunlight and admire the sweat and time I have put into creating a beautiful space. Although I still have a long way to go with my "peaceful place in the dirt" I certainly feel like working in the yard has been a sort of therapy for me.  

Hanging Baskets and Baby Fescue

I woke up this morning to a wonderful surprise- baby fescue! I would say it looks like about 30% of my seeds have little bitty blades of grass. Success! Needless to say, I spent the next hour an a half moving my sprinkler around to ensure the babies got enough water.

This past weekend I took on the exciting task or fixing my hanging mirrors. I learned a good lesson that glue cannot go from 110 degree summers to 20 degree winters. Below are some photos of my hanging baskets, mirrors, tobacco plant, fescue and bird/ hummingbird feeders:

Seeds day 7

Here is my seed update:
Everything has sprouted except the cilantro and the green peppers

Spring Cleaning

This weekend I decided to begin the arduous task of preparing my yard for spring. That may sound kind of silly... but for me that entails things like weedwacking the patio, blowing the leaves from the lower forty into the leaf beds, getting my overflowing urn ready to turn on, etc.

I started my Saturday morning at my beloved Grower's Outlet. I initially had the idea that I would replace 10 or so dead Pittosporums (Japanese Mock Orange). The Grower's Outlet only had the variegated version, or the compact version. I decided to buy two of the compact varietal and see what happened. I also, of course, managed to buy a few other plants: a new painted fern (only to get home and realize mine was still alive and coming back), a tobacco plant (no joke... and it has beautiful flowers!), a new Encore Azalea, and a few others.

After the Grower's Outlet I swung by a family nursery that was on the way home. I heard that they sold lime trees, so I stopped by to see. They do, and a whole bunch of other fun, random plants. I think Navel Orange trees are the most fragrant plants I have ever come across. I have decided that a lime tree, and an avocado tree will be my next big yard splurges... more about that later.

After leaving the nursery empty handed, I dropped by Lowes to look for a new electric weedwacker. My mother had found the highest rated one on Consumer Reports for me, and so I was on a mission to find it. No luck at Lowes... so I snagged some garden magazines, some ground cover plants to use around my bird house, and a new 100 ft extension cord. I loaded up the car, and headed to Total Power, a local lawn mower store. Total Power was a huge success. I walked in, asked the owner if they had a Stihl FSE 60 in stock, handed him my credit card and was on my way! He told me that the reason I couldn't find Stihl products at Lowes or Home Depot was because they were a family owned company, and they only liked to do business with other locally owned stores. He also offered to teach me how to rethread my weedwacker when I ran out of thread. Pretty awesome store.

By the time I got home it was 11:30. I had spent the whole morning out shopping! It was time to get to work. Before:

The birdhouse

The lower 40

The patio

The loot

And after 4 hours of weedwacking, mowing and blowing... the after:



It felt so good to work in the yard for a whole day! No baby fescue yet, but my seeds are coming along very well!



Seed progress, day 5

Almost all of my seeds have sprouted, and it is only day 5! I wish my fescue grew as quickly... Not a single seed has sprouted outside.

Day 3 Progress

It is day 3 for my seeds... And there is already a lot of growth! Lettuce, okra, carrots, peas and bell peppers are making an appearance!

Over Seeding?

I am so over trying to have a lush grass filled yard. As a child, I never quite understood why my parents were so angry when I left the slip n slide out and let the grass die. Now I totally get it. I feel like grass is one of the hardest things to grow.

My backyard is mostly weeds... But originally was planted as Fescue. Last Sunday I decided to invest $22 in the top half of my yard and reseed my Fescue.... We will see how it goes!

Starting From Seeds

I am trying a new twist this year; starting my garden from seeds. To do this, I bought a Burpee seed starter. Basically, it is a little plastic greenhouse:) it has 36 "pots" that sit on top of a cloth that soaks up water from a basin. The whole thing cost $10, and claims to "self water" for 10 days.

To get the soil ( a coconut husk mixture) to expand, all you do is add warm water. Then I planted two seeds in each pot. They even provide a grid to keep track of what is planted where.

Two days later, I already have some babies!! I planted two varieties of okra, three varieties of tomato, cucumber, romaine lettuce, cilantro, basil, bell pepper and a few others.