Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Sorry all

Things got a bit weird this week or so. I promise to get something else up tomorrow. However, we have been super busy over the weekend since we have been harvesting the cucumbers and we were given some tomatoes on top of our cherry tomatoes that we had to learn to can and it bled into the week. So have a good day and a real post will come tomorrow. 

I swear I didn't forget about you. Sometimes life just gets in the way.

Friday, July 27, 2012

From yard to Jar

Well today was a bit of a busy day here. Aside from the usual insanity, Daddy was home. He is starting his vacation today so we are looking forward to having him around a bit more.

One of the perks was having an extra adult to help with the morning harvest (that I fully admit, I didn't do yesterday). Daddy being involved got Brother involved as well and we had a fairly large harvest. Due in part to people accidently knocking off ones still orange while trying to grab the red ones.

5 cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and a hidden strawberry

We had a ton of cherry tomatoes, 5 cucumbers (well, closer to 4 and a quarter), and 1 strawberry. However, Daddy and I weren't sure what to do with the cucumbers. We knew there were a few more going to be ready in a couple of days, so what could we do with them.

Fortunately, not to long ago when we did our FIRST EVER foray into canning (before we even had the blog this summer), I had found a Refrigerator Bread and Butter pickle recipe that had some veggies in it. It went over fairly well at the family thing we took it to, although it was a bit sweet for our taste.

Well on our second attempt, we had some pablano's sitting around with no real plan for them, but no green pepper, so we said "Let's see what if the kick of the peppers helps tone down the sweet." Will it work? I don't know for sure yet. But we are going to wait and see. I will let you all know what the verdict is.

Spicy and Sweet Pickled Veggies
This is the finished product. We got it all in the jars and mellowing nicely. It will take 3-5 days in the fridge, but it should hopefully turn out nice then. But I am proud of the turn around time. It went from Yard to Jar in less then 12 hours.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

One little, two little, three little plants

Yesterday I planned out this post, but then my interwebs decided to be weird. They are being a tad flaky still today, but here is to trying.

Tuesday evening before I ran to work, I went outside to grab some more Rosemary to make more of our Garlic Rosemary bug spray.

I walked outside to see our Rosemary plant looked rather sad....
Sad looking Rosemary plant
I don't know if you can tell it in the picture, but about half the plant has been harvested and it is not rebounding as well as I had hoped. Mostly due to the heat around here. It is making alot of things look kinda sad. 

Well since buying a plant costs as much as buying the sad little packs of the herb from the store, I made a quick phone call to the nursery up the street. They said they still had PLENTY of rosemary that was in great shape.

So I grabbed a Pooka and off we went. Turns out they had less mature Rosemary, but they are very healthy and at 50% off, I was willing to grab a couple. (I was thinking of it as buy one get one free). As we are checking out Pooka looks at the cashier and says "We need these for our bugspray." The lady looked really confused and I had to explain what it was. Apparently none of the 3 ladies working had ever heard of it. I said it seemed to be working for us so far and one of the ladies said she would have to try it.

We brought them home but were unable to pot them that night since I did have to go to that whole job thing.

Yesterday afternoon Pooka and I got them potted. They actually went into our new $0.25 pots that were a clearance find from Target. I know they are small, but I am hoping by being able to pick off all of them it will allow rest more.

New additions
Pooka has started calling them her "Baby Rosemary plants". I am shaking my head and going with "This is nothing like a horror novel, so long as it keeps the bugs at bay" I am pretty sure if Pooka goes outside and loses all her plants to bug, I may feel like I am in a horror movie with the amount of screaming and crying. 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

They are finally ready

This morning Pooka finally got to pick her first BIG tomato. She is so excited.  I had to talk her into not eating it on the spot. She had me take all sorts of pictures of her holding her tomato. This was today's harvest. She has already eaten most of the Cherry tomatoes. It still amazes me sometimes how the harvest gets larger and larger as days go by. We also had one tiny strawberry in there and of course the cucumber.

Tomato and friends. 

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Life Cycle

Remember back when I talked about how the heat had won against the Cilantro. Do you see something missing? 
One sad little Cilantro
We pulled out the flowered/seeded Cilantro. Pooka was not as upset as I expected telling me "Its part of the life cycle Mom". I did some research online and it said to take the cilantro and hang it upside down in your garage so that it could dry out. So that's where our cilantro is now.

Hanging around
I promised Pooka in a couple of weeks or so that we can replant the seeds we are getting from her cilantro and regrow it with the other fall veggie we are trying this year, carrots. Stay tuned to see how this works out for us (and cross your fingers the coriander doesn't get lost on the garage floor before we can get into a bag for Pooka).

Friday, July 20, 2012

A Special Experiment

Yesterday was an unusual day. It started normal enough, the kids and I went to run an errands. Well one of those errands involved stopping at Hobby Lobby. As I am known to do (luck and clearance and me tend to get along quite nicely), I wandered over to the Clearance stuff to see if I could find a cute kit or project for the kids to keep them out of my hair a bit. However, that's where things got weird.

You see in the summer clearance area next to the projects were colored wire hanging baskets. Only Pooka didn't ask for those.

Brother looked at me and said "Mom, they have a blue one." (Blue being his all time favorite color since he was 6 months old. Everything is blue).
Me: Yes, yes it is. 
Brother: Can we get it for the garden? It's 66% off.
Me (looking dazed since the kid who wants NOTHING to do with the garden is asking): What would you plant in it?
Brother(Thinks for a moment): Strawberries???
Me: Well it's a bit late for strawberry plant from the store. (Noticed the dejected look on his face) However, there was a special experiment I was thinking of trying if you want.
Brother: Oh, what is it.
Me: Grab it, I will explain when we get home.

Brother's pot
So we come home with a bright blue $8 hanging basket. I had Brother come outside and let Pooka stay inside since this was "HIS" project.  Brother filled the pot with dirt.

Brother did a good job with the dirt
As he was filling it with dirt I explained that I wanted to see if we could "start" a new strawberry plant using the tendril of an old one, letting it establish itself and then we would cut it. He was worried that we would cut the plant till I showed him we would cut the tendril connecting them and where we would cut it and he decided this was a grand idea and a project for a big kid.

So we MacGyvered a way to prop the new hanging basket on top of the existing strawberry plants and use the chain to anchor it to the railing. To ensure the front didn't fall we used our friend kite string and tied 2 anchor points to the front of the basket then to the railing. (Lets just hope my kids don't plan on actually flying kites anytime soon).

I never said it was pretty
I will say before I propped the basket up on the other 2 pots, I made sure there were no leaves or tendrils that could get squished. That wouldn't be very useful, however the pots are all a tad friendly right now. I also warned him and Pooka this isn't a pot for them to be getting to rough with due to the way it was propped up. 

We then took the end of a tendril that had a small bud on it. This bud I had seen on top of the soil on the plant and it has a VERY small root, but it wasn't actually in the soil yet. Brother then "planted" his strawberry plant and its tendril. We did place it a bit deeper just to make sure it stays there and doesn't wander around at this point. It has now been watered and we are just waiting for it to establish itself. Then Brother will get to cut the tendril. But first, I want to see a new tendril or growth on it.


The plant's new home.
This garden has always been "let's try this and see if it works" project. I am so glad Brother wants to be involved now. He's still not running outside in his PJs, but at least this way its something they can share or at least I won't feel like I am leaving him out anymore.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

To Buy or to seed....

I will be honest, I bought the pablano plants and the yellow pepper. I kinda thought this meant they would be the first to produce, but its hasn't been the case.
Pablano Pepper plants taller then Pooka

The store bought plants are growing great guns. I had to support them awhile ago. One of the pablano plants is bigger then Pooka.  But I realized today the store bought plants have yet to show an actual pepper. They have flowered (in some cases, this is the pablano's second set of flowers) but they haven't actually made a pepper.



Today I found green peppers on my tiny green pepper plants. They are good sized peppers that were hidden in the leaves.  Now the green pepper plants are smaller then the rest. We started them from seed, I knew it was just a waiting game. The same with the sweet pepper mix we had bought. Those are in some cases smaller, in other larger then the store bought, but they are doing well. 

Surprise Peppers
Pooka's little seedlings that she has nurtured and sent Green Thumb to play with have peppers.  The plants from seed I actually thought I started late, thus why they were taking so long and were smaller. 
  
Sweet and Green peppers from seed (With cucumbers visiting). 

What does this mean?  That I think from now on, I may stick to seed. It will probably also depend on what kind of yields we get, but for right now, the seeds are winning . 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Yikes

The cucumbers have been growing, and growing and maybe eating small mammals. I spent a good chunk of yesterday out there putting more stakes in for them to climb in the front of the bed. I was afraid if I put a string or a trellis there, I will not be able to get to our wonderful cucumbers.  However, I do not want them deciding to grow into the yard since we may still need to mow at some point (if it ever rains or the heat lets up, or if I actually get grass seed in the dead area in front of the bed).

The original bed location
The cucumbers have filled their bed and have climbed the trellis up to the railing and are half way up that. Upside, I don't have to leave the deck to get cucumbers. Downside... It may be taller then me. I know its taller then Pooka. I may have to look into pruning them, but I dont want to lose any actual Cucumbers (or potential cucumbers).
The cucumbers are wandering off.





This picture shows how it has wrapped around the deck and is following the trellis halfway down that side. I had to put more stakes in this area so that the pepper plants that are finally starting to produce don't get strangled. I think I spend more of my time right now collecting and directing the tendrils of the cucumber away from things I want. If you have really really good eyesight, you will see the yellow flowers that are all over the thing, if not, well trust me, they are there.

Oh and we have even more pepper shaped things on the pepper plants. That made a very happy Pooka.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Another reason I should never give up on plants...

Today, I was surprised by 2 of the plants in Pooka's garden. One I was hoping I was wrong on, but the other I thought for sure was a waste of resources at this point.

I had long since given up on the broccoli. I thought for sure it had bolted and we would never get anything out of it. I was actually contemplating pulling it out soon so I could start figuring out where I wanted to plant some garlic for fall.  In fact, after planting it, I realized I had planted it too late, so that was a good chunk of the reasoning behind the fact I thought it wouldn't produce and I should pull it.  Pooka on the other hand kept telling me that she wanted broccoli off it. Especially since it had the butterflies on it that one day.

So imagine my surprise this morning when Pooka and I went outside to look at the plants and I glanced at the broccoli and actually saw a head starting to form. It is small and it may only be one bite, but I am going to leave the broccoli and see what happens. Who knows, maybe the plant that is almost as big as Pooka will sprout some next. Maybe we could have Garlicky broccoli for dinner yet using our own broccoli (Or at least partially made by home grown broccoli).
I see you....

We then walked over to the pepper plants. We are a huge pepper family. Pooka and brother love to sit down and eat one as a snack, with or without dip. At this point, we knew it was still a tad early, but I was really worried that they just weren't going to produce at all since they had been attacked by the bugs pretty early on. 

We finally found the beginnings of an actual pepper on one of the sweet pepper plants. Let's just say Pooka was rather excited. I have had to tell her a few times now she needs to wait till it gets bigger.  Now the question is what kind of pepper is it. We had planted a Sweet pepper mix, so did the green peppers and the sweet peppers cross pollinate with the pablano? So will we have a orange or red pepper that is spicy or will it be sweet? Only time and patience can tell.  

The new question will be what will this taste like. 

This is yet again another reminder that I need to let Mother Nature do her thing on her own time. She is a busy lady and I can't force it, but I really wish she would pay attention to what it says on the seed pouches. Or better yet, I could look at the "Days till harvest " information then worry. I guess this is another moment of "Gee, if you read the packet, you may not seem so silly."




Monday, July 16, 2012

Jammin time

Pooka can add a new thing to her "Things I did this summer list". This morning Daddy, Pooka and I made Strawberry Jam. The recipe said it would make 8 half pint jars, we came in at 10 and a half.

We had a friend give us a big container of strawberries and then there are a few from our plants and a half a container from the strawberries. We knew we would never eat them all before they went bad,  so we decided to make Jam. 
Strawberries awaiting their fate. 




Pooka starts mashing the strawberries
Daddy took the stems off, while I got the equipment together. Pooka got to mash the strawberries. She had a blast getting to smash them all.










Boil, boil, toil and trouble...
Then we cooked them. Auntie (My adopted sister) Steph gave me a recipe book for canning over the weekend and some pectin. She is a wonderful woman who is so glad that Pooka is learning these things.  Anyway, the Jam recipe came from Auntie Steph's book, it was Sugar, lemon juice, pectin and strawberries. This is it boiling. 



It looks like Jam
After we filled the jars, we came out with 10 jars and a half a jar. The half a jar only made it long enough to cool (and it had jelled some) before Daddy cracked it open and we all had slightly warm jelly on bread. Even Brother was impressed.  We processed the jars for 10 minutes (per directions) and here they are cooling. It looks like jam. 

 As Daddy likes to say is it looks good, now the test is waiting a few weeks to crack one and hope its not furry. Thanks for the vote of confidence Daddy.  But he's right. Now to wait and see if it tastes better in a few weeks. 



Friday, July 13, 2012

Making a friend a home


About 3 weeks ago, Pooka came to me and said "I have an imaginary friend. Her name is Green Thumb and she lives in the garden with 10 friends". I shook my head and wondered where this idea came from. The best I can come up with is that someone told Pooka that she must have a Green Thumb from the way her garden grows.  Well, not understanding this, she decided it was a fairy that lived in the garden and helped it grow. 

About a day or so later, I was surfing the interwebs and came across this tutorial on Tiny Fairy Villages. Apparently the blogger turned wooden bird houses into a fairy house. So I asked Pooka if Green Thumb needed a house. She said yes and then told me about all 10 of Green thumbs friends, some of which were babies. 

Doors have been added
We realized that one house wouldn't be enough so we bought a couple. These were original birdhouses that I took a utility knife or a small saw for the big one and cut straight down to the floor on either side of the bird entrance. Pooka also asked if the big house could have some windows (a quick bit of drilling accomplished this). One other thing I did differently from the original post was I took the "stick" that the birds sit on and glued it in the holes the where the ropes were to hang it. I then sanded it level on 2 of the houses and left it on the 3rd as a chimney. 


Ready to paint


I then gave them a quick coat of white spray paint and (yes there is a 4th house now).  Instead of painting these myself, I wanted Pooka to make the houses. She had some shaped stamps from another project and a ton of brushes. It took over an hour, but she loved the results.





Waiting on Varnish


 These are the finished houses. They are very Pooka covered in color. I gave them 3 coats of varnish to protect against the elements. Sadly the varnish did give it more of a yellow color, but at least I know they will stand up to being watered or whatever.
All that was left now was to put the houses out and then Pooka put Green thumb and her friends in their houses. She said they all loved them and that now they can help the garden grow even bigger. It might be a good thing Daddy didn't hear that part. He is still threatening a blow torch if he hears anything say "Feed me". 


2 little houses in the container garden
Pooka decided the 2 little houses fit in her containers quite well. Her beloved cilantro got a house and she said that since my Stargazer was new, it might need a bit of help to grow bigger.

Green thumb house








Green Thumb's house is now living next to her Green bean plant and the Cherry tomatoes. That space was kinda empty since everything we had put there died, so I thought it was a great idea.


The Ruby Strawberry house





This little red house is in the middle of the pepper plants. Pooka hopes that putting it here we will finally have a peppers. we have flowers but right no fruit yet. Hopefully later this weekend we will see something



Pooka had to walk each of the fairies to their house and show them the door. It was so cute watching her place fairies in there. It should also help Pooka telling me Green Thumb is lost in the yard and she has to go find her. I have a feeling Green Thumb may still get in a bit of trouble.


This was alot of fun to do with Pooka and it helped her keep a bit more interest in it. Total time was about a week, but there was alot of work, glue it, leave it, come back and paint, leave it, ect. As it is, Pooka also painted a little Castle for Green Thumb to live in her room on nights it is too cold for Green Thumb to stay outside. Pooka while she loves science has a bit more of a creative side, so we encourage it where we can. This is just one more way we use Art and Science together to make a Pooka smile.






Thursday, July 12, 2012

Thinking Thurs

I had hoped to post about a project Pooka and I had been working on today, but without going into details that are not mine to share. Let me just say today has been one of those days you swear the world is telling you how hard it can make things for you and those you love while being completely unfair to everyone involved.

Instead, I am just going to show you the one thing that I am looking at to remind me of good times.  It may be awkward and it may not be the most beautiful specimen, but it is here on a day where I need something good. I walked out back this morning to find it had opened, right after the world decided to be dumb. It was nice to have something good to think on besides the bad. 


My first stargazer and bringer of good thoughts
So here is to happy thoughts and holding hands with those who care.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Surprise

I somehow surprised even myself. It was one of those weird "This is a great idea moments." I get them often, and only about 50% of them are actual good ideas. But yesterday I actually had a good idea. This is the container part of the garden... See if you can spot the surprise. 
Can you find the surprise?

You see I have a magnolia tree in my front yard. It was given to us for our wedding. We have even gone so far as to move the poor thing, and it holds on. Anyway, when it was planted here it tilted a bit. It has been straightening itself out, but this year we decided to give it a bit of a hand and put some stakes in to hold it.

My job yesterday was to replace a broken stake. I had tried the local Lowes, but they didn't have any. So on my way home from running errands, I decided to try the nursery up the street.

Did I mention I had Pooka, Brother and a friend?  They love this nursery since it has a fairly large fairy village and a small pond to show their water plants. So of course a trip to the nursery wasn't a get out of car, find what I need, leave trip.

Nope, we had to go look at the fairy village, and the vegetables, and the pond, and then we walked past the last of their perennials.  They had some nice lavender that was small but would be good next year for when we redo the front yard into an herb garden. Right behind that was a Stargazer lily plant. It hadn't bloomed yet, but I could tell that it was about to.

A flower, I actually wanted a flower. Why would I want a flower you ask? Me, woman of "I better get something out of it" gardening. Well, The Stargazer lily was the main flower at my wedding. Not roses, not silly girl flowers but the wine and white "This is my wedding colors" Stargazer lily.


Surprise Flower

So I bought it. Turns out that it was 50% off which makes buying the plant cheaper then if I bought myself a bouquet of them and this one will come back year after year. 

Pooka had to adorn it with one of her Dragonflies the minute we got home and potted into a new plant. It is one of the 3 plants we have that I can't feed myself off of, but it means something special. It reminds me, this year, after 10 WONDERFUL years of marriage of that day. Just like the Lilacs are a reminder of my grandmother, and the snapdragons of a time when I was young and would help grandma garden year after year and the snap dragons always talked to me that I swear Grandma kept around just for me.

Those 3 flowers will always be welcome around our house. Even if they are just flowers because sometimes the memories will be worth more than food (or at least a bit more sanity).

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Seeds and Ends

Well, the heat finally found a victim I was willing to surrender. For awhile now, the cilantro had been trying to bolt to seed. I had fought it, being out there every day pulling flowers off it, telling it that I refused to let it go. Once the week plus of 100 degree heat hit, well, I couldn't justify frying my feet on the deck to save it and let Nature take its course. Nature came all right, and this is sadly what is left. The upside is that when cilantro produces seeds they are actually called coriander (something else we can cook with). Which we are thinking to replant at least some of once the weather cools a bit. Daddy is looking forward to being able to roast some for cooking. In the meantime, we have one little cilantro plant. Apparently it had reseeded itself when I wasn't looking.  

Pooka is sad over the state of her cilantro. It was the first plant she was able to harvest, and had given some to everyone for Mother's Day. She was so proud of that plant, she tried to give some friends of ours fresh cilantro for their wedding. Seeing the new plant helps, but when I told her we could replant it when we plant her carrots in the fall, she was better. I think she is already thinking about getting all dirty making a new pots.

The cilantro or more precisely Coriander.

Today we harvested another cucumber. We have had some so far, but we have yet to be overwhelmed, partially due to the fact that both Pooka and Brother LOVE LOVE cucumber. They will eat it raw with or without dip. However, today we harvested this little guy. Pooka's comment "Mommy, It looks funny. What happened to the end?" I told her that's just the way it decided to grow. Pooka: "Well, can we ask the rest of the cucumbers to not grow like that, I don't like the funny end."

The "interesting" cucumber

Monday, July 9, 2012

The first tomato

On Sunday, Pooka was able to harvest her first cherry tomato. It was a bit orange still, but since I had found it in the middle of the plant and deep in there, we harvested it early.

Sadly, I don't have a picture of this tomato, since Pooka ate it within a minute of it coming inside (She washed it first, but barely).


Oops, little hands were a tad too rough
Instead, here is a picture of what else she harvested that day.. A small green tomato. She was trying to take a picture of it on the vine, and well, it fell off into her hands. Now she is being forced to wait for it to ripe in the house.

Now to see how long it takes the rest of those tomatoes to ripen.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Rascally Wabbits part duex

Yesterday you all heard how we found a burrow of baby bunnies.

After talking to a Master naturalist, I did some more research. I found the Department of Natural resources list of approved animal removal guys. I called one at our local Orkin. I talked to him briefly and he told me what the master naturalist did. They wouldn't survive if he moved them, it would cost a pretty penny, and he recommended just fencing them in till they were big enough. 

He did say he knew a lady that took in orphaned animals but that given the time of year it is, she is probably too full to take them. He said he would call me later Friday with her number. I decided it was going to be fencing in, and I was trying to figure out how when the phone rang about an hour or so later. 

It was the Orkin guy. Apparently he had found the number of the lady that took in animals. Turns out he had called her on my behalf and she agreed to take them if I could get them in a box and across town in an hour. 

I said "Sure, this is wonderful, thank you so much." Hung up and went in search of a box. The hard part came in telling Pooka and brother that we had bunnies, but we had to move them so they didn't get hurt playing with the dog. 

Brother was more excited that we had bunnies and wanted to see them. 

Pooka had a hard time wrapping her head around how our gentle dog might accidently hurt the bunnies. But I explained that she wouldn't mean to, but the babies were super fragile and Dog doesn't always know how big she is. I put some gloves on and tore apart the burrow. Turns out we had 4 baby bunnies in there. From the looks of things, the dog never got anyone (thank goodness), she had just torn part of the burrow's protective fur out. 

Why hello little Bunnies...
Now I brought the box to the back door, showed the kids who immediately fell in love, and we all went to get in the car. 

Off to be saved.. and in the front seat.
That was probably one of the longest car rides in my life. Pooka and Brother decided to name the bunnies. Martin, Aviva, Blur and Spotsquatch (They said it has something to do with Wild Kratz). Pooka also asked if we could please keep them and raise them ourselves. She promised to take care of them, and when I explained they were wild bunnies, she said "if I raise them they won't be."  

With a Pooka's heart broken, she helped me carry the box of babies into the building, they said goodbye one last time, told the poor receptionist their names, and we left. The nice lady would be there later to collect them. 

Goodbye little ones and good luck
I would love to tell you Pooka was okay, but she cried for a bit. In an vain attempt to cheer her, we stopped at Target and I wanted to show her toys to take her mind off it. Turns out Target also had a toy baby bunny that was a bit larger then ones we just dropped of. I let Pooka have one to remind her of the bunnies and that cheered her up. Spotsquatch has now gone just about everywhere with us, but at least if we leave him in the car, it won't hurt him. 

So Pooka is happy, the dog has free rein of the yard again, the Bunnies are safe and with someone who will care for them. The burrow was destroyed. All in all, this is the best end to this story.  

Martin, Aviva, Blur and Spotsquatch, Good luck. To Momma Bunny, PLEASE find a new yard to nest in. 

Friday, July 6, 2012

Rascally Wabbits

A couple of days ago, our dog got a bit sick. Vet thought it might be from Rabbit poop. We live a bit in the country but in a subdivision. Okay, rabbits happen. We got her meds, we moved on.

This morning, I was out walking in the garden. I had no idea what I was going to talk about today, and hoped inspiration would strike. I noticed some gray fur in the middle of our yard. I had Pooka with me, and I sent her in the house. Our big dog has managed to catch a rabbit or 2 in her past, so I figured we would have to clean it up and move on... But there was no blood, a relativity small amount of fur or anything else...


That's when I rounded the corner and saw another Rabbit against the house... I had the mental thought that she was kind dumb being that close to what could be a dead relative. I took one more step and she bolted... That's when I saw movement behind her...




Guess whats living in our yard? A burrow of baby bunnies. Now while these pictures don't show it, there were maybe 3 of them, all with eyes closed. I will admit to telling Mom she was very very dumb since I have a 80+ lb husky lab mix. Great place to put a nest in the open. No protection what so ever.   

I just got off the phone with a master naturalist friend of mine. She said I can't call the city to come collect them but we can move them as soon as they open their eyes and are hopping around outside the nest. Which could be 10 days to 2 weeks. The city won't move them.

Meanwhile, I am worrying for the bunnies, the garden and my dog (I don't need to relive the last time she had raw meat... I almost went vegan after that.).  Oh and did I mention I am watching my mom's rat terrier this weekend... Or worse, the kids finding either dog bloody or having the dog trying to share with them.

I know the fur will need cleaned up, I am leaving that to Daddy. Beyond that, well I guess I get to make more phone calls. I found a link with some phone numbers of people Department of natural resources says can remove nuisance wild life. I may call to see what it would cost to get them removed to a safer location. 

I guess this should teach me to hope inspiration would strike. Be careful what you wish for.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

After only a month...

So I was flipping through some old pictures yesterday and I was shocked how big everything has gotten. I guess by looking at things day to day, you don't notice as much as if you only see it once and a while. You would think I would know this, I mean I have kids, but that's a whole other issue. 

Today, I am just going to look at what has changed in a month.

Pablanos and Broccoli 6-5


A month ago, the pablanos and broccoli were growing but still looked small.  









Pablanos and Broccoli taken 7-5-12



Today the Pablanos are getting to be good sized. They are flowering like mad, but have yet to have a pepper on them. The broccoli looks to have gone wild, but it hasn't produced any florets yet either. Turns out Broccoli does not like summer, but we are leaving it to see what happens with it in the fall.




Sweet and Bell peppers 6-6-12




The Sweet and bell peppers still had a struggling plant, but were small due to me not starting them early enough. But they were finally starting to show some growth. 





Sweet and bell peppers today 7-5-12


Now the Bell peppers are doing well. They are getting large enough to need some help with supports and while they are getting there, they are starting to finally flower. Again, one day I will learn when to start these suckers since I think alot of the science aspect for Pooka is seeing it grow from seed and not just going out and buying an already established plant (and it is cheaper). 





Cucumbers 6-6-12

The Cucumbers were smaller, but getting good sized. They were just waiting to have enough room to sprawl. 


Cherry tomatoes 6-6-12

Big tomatoes 6-6-12
The Cherry tomatoes were beginning to go nuts. Just like their big Tomato cousins. They had room and were going to make use of it. They had started to really sprawl but were taking some time. 





Cucumbers and Tomatoes 7-5-12



Container garden 6-6-12
Today the cucumbers have begun climbing the trellis, they have reached the deck in a few places and are starting to climb the railings. The Tomato plants (all of them) are quite happy and have green fruit on them. Just a bit more patience and we will have tomoates coming out of our ears. Did I mention the tomatoes plants are probably 5 ft tall? Yeah, they are quite happy.
Container garden 6-6-12




The containers were few and small, but they were started. The cilantro was going nuts, the herbs had been bought since they decided to not start this year. 








Container garden 7-5-12
The lettuce had just been planted, we never expected anything out of it. The chives were in the ground, the herbs bought to replace ones that had never sprouted.







Today the containers are overflowing. We have fresh strawberries daily. The morning glory is ready to eat us (although it looks sad here, it has been super hot and it needed more water). The herbs are all growing, including the seeds we had given up on. We have added more plants, rosemary, purple basil, thyme, a second lavender, Dill. ect. All in all, this are is becoming as much a jungle as the tomatoes (although you can see those behind the strawberries on the table on the far side). The chives are finally growing. I am glad this is one plant that will be back next year since I have yet to get much out if it this year. 



Isn't it amazing what can happen in just a month. Hopefully this time next month, I will have food coming out my ears. Or at least a super happy Pooka since that is the only real goal. (Getting something for all the work is just a huge bonus.)