And so it begins.

I will admit, we are running a bit late this year, but Sunday Pooka and I finally started working on getting seeds started. We didn't have time to get a full tray done, but we did have a chance to start some seeds in pots of dirt. We had the dirt inside from moving Cave, so it should of been warm enough to get things started.

We decided to start the things that really took the longest and that I have not had good luck with in seed starter cells. This meant the snap dragons and our beloved celery. The day before, Pooka got a letter from her Great Aunt B. She sent Pooka  package of butterfly flower seeds in the mail and Pooka jumped up and down for a good 5 minutes cheering for seeds. When we started the seeds, Pooka asked if we could start those as well.

Seeds

We filled some pots with dirt. Due to the cold, we had to do this inside. I will say some of this dirt is from transplanting the lemon tree as well. Pooka was all excited to get her hands dirty again. I have never had much luck with celery in a starter cell, but we have gotten better results putting it straight in dirt and just keeping it watered. This year we are looking forward to the celery more than most, since we have found more things to do with it.

Pots of dirt

Pooka sat there singing about how happy she was going to be to have snapdragons because she can make them SING. That is reason enough to keep around a flower we don't do much with. As you can see, we labeled with our favorite craft stick and sharpie method to keep track of which pots have which plant in it.  By the time we were done, we had 9 pots of seeds all ready to go. Next we need to get to work on the actual peppers and tomatoes, but I am hoping to do those this week.

Ready to grow.

There be Dragons.

The garden is showing some nice color. In fact, Pooka's snapdragons finally bloomed. We only have a couple to start, but more are on their way. It is great to see something that generally makes her smile every time she goes out there. Just like her mom. Hopefully she will always have the wonderful memories of them that I do.

Snap dragons

Easter Bunny left PLANTS?

Another holiday and more new ways for Pooka to think and learn about science. The Easter Bunny came on Sunday and left Pooka with a bug viewer, a bug house, a Pooka sized wheel barrow ("becuase we need to move mulch around Mommy") and 5 ceramic eggs. Brother even recieved an egg.


Surprise More plants... Just what Daddy wanted.

After some closer inspection from Pooka, we learned the eggs came with seeds inside them. They were set up to grow seeds straight inside these eggs. Pooka was so excited, but we waited until Monday to plant them. Pooka and I were way too worn out Sunday to try.


Seed filled eggs

Monday afternoon Pooka and I sat down and read the directions. Fortunatly, it was easy as knock the top off the egg, water and set in a sunny place. I love easy directions like this. It did say you may need to replant them once they get bigger, but it is a start.

Now missing the top

I will say getting the tops broken off was a bit harder then I originally thought it would be. We did kill one of the eggs in such a way it no longer held its contents and it got dumped into the grow um's muffin pans. Then you get to pull little bits of ceramic out of the egg so the seeds can grow.

Time to clean out the egg.

 Next you water it. It didn't say how much to water it, so it was a bit of a guessing game and it wasn't easy. In retrospect, I should of used a turkey baster instead of a glass. It worked, if a bit messy.

Egg has now been watered

For now, I have the eggs in the muffin tin (the extra egg got put in another tin). The tin of eggs I then put in one of our very full windows. Fortunatly, I had a shelf stander in one, and they fit on the bottom of the shelf which means they are not taking up too much space. But if it means Pooka and Brother get more snapdragons (The yellow eggs), and pansy (purple eggs) and marigolds (the blue eggs) then its worth it. Maybe I will let the 2 of them have one big pot to plant it all in. If we can find space for another pot. But that is an issue for another day.

Now to see if they grow

Deep thoughts

In the past, I have tried to keep this blog lite and fun, but today, I find it hard. The real world is closing in on our little Science Experiment. Not only is winter still here and arguing about leaving, but the world goes on out there.

Winter storm Virgil's little present

As I face the things around me, I find it hard to be cheery. I am sure come Saturday when I get at least the pea plants in the ground (it is suppose to be in the 50s by then), I will be cheery. But until then, I am just going to post things that make me smile. Things that I am hoping the foot of snow on my back broccoli beds melting will turn into a reminder that life goes on. So until then we wait to see....

Snapdragons from

Snap dragons that remind me of summers in my Grandmother's yard.

Stargazer lilies that remind me of the day I married the man I love.

 Butterflies that the kids raised and are looking forward to doing so again.

Tomatoes, tomatoes and fresh produce everytime I walk outside. Hopefully these images can get all of us through until we see some warm weather and some signs of summer.

It is done

On Sunday, we finally did it. We got all our seeds that are going to be started inside started. I thought I had it done Saturday, when Pooka and I finished starting all our herbs.

Pooka and I had picked up these peat pots at the grocery store for $1 each. I hate paying full price for things if I can avoid it. The sad thing is, they didn't come with any seed starting pellets or dirt. So we had to make a small trip out to get seed starting dirt. However, I could only find this size bag, which was a bit bigger then we wanted.

Seed starting supplies

Each pot got some dirt, some seeds and a popsicle stick marker. I had some extra colored ones left over from last year, and we had just enough to use all the peat pots for herbs.

The Dill ended up going into the extra tins with the parsley from the Growums. I figured it was already in use, might as well get my money out of it.  With that, I started to water all the peat pots and realized I forgot something to put them on since the pots would leak a bit of water being made of peat and all. So out came some of our cheap plastic serving trays for bread or family gatherings. But I didn't feel like having my serving dishes tied up long term.

Planted seeds, with no way to hold water.

We went out Sunday to get some cheap aluminum roasting pans. These will be put in the garden drawer once we are done and we can save them for next year (with the muffin tins). Although I was silly and got the roasting pans with lids. Oops... At least the lids are still useable for holding the pots as well.

If you can't tell, apparently last weekend my brain took a vacation and left me here. I was not thinking things through very well. Which is why it was no surprise Sunday when I went to put the herbs in their new roasting pans that I realized that I forgot to plant the snapdragons.

Forgotten Snapdragons

Now I was really kicking myself since snapdragons are one of the 3 flowers I will grow, and with the 100 days till bloom, they take awhile. So here it is, Sunday, no more peat pots, plenty of seed starting dirt, and seeds. I could of gone back into town out for containers, but frankly, I was being lazy.


A red cup with a hole

However, this tower of plastic cups was sitting there. They were about the same size as the peat pots, but they wouldn't do much for drainage. Enter a nail that we popped through the bottom. However, I realized that the dirt would fall through the bottom, but we had the coffee filters sitting right there, and a Pooka got to cut them in half. It was the perfect Pooka job. The cut coffee filters are perfect in our cups and let water drain, but don't let the soil out.

Half a coffee filter later

Long story short (too late, I know), it is done. We now had a bunch of cups full of snap dragon seeds. However, it had the same "Water can get everywhere" issue as the peat pots.

Finished Snapdragons

Fortunatly, the roasting pan and lid had a bit of extra space. Now all our seeds we plan on starting (while it is still snowing) are in dirt, many have already sprouted and in some cases have been transplanted. Now to sit back and relax, or not since that pea plant is getting too big to not have a pot. But that was a project for a different day (or at least a different post).

Herbs and snapdragons all ready to go.

 

Happy holidays and snow

Well, the holidays are here and may I just say its been a busy few days around here. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I will post more on the holidays after sort through everything, but lets say the science experiment is going to continue for awhile.  Now that its over, maybe I can get back to doing the blog regularly.

A few days ago, we got our first big snowfall. And while it was more ice then snow, it was enough to remind me and the garden that we do get a winter around her.

The garlic were a bit harder to find in all the snow. It didn't cover all of it, but it covered a good chunk and fortunately got the weeds that had encroached into the bed. However the garlic is a bit worse for the wear. I will be amazed if the garlic is alive in the spring but I don't think it will be.

However, the snap dragon pot that refuses to die is doing well. Even with the cold and the snow, its just as happy as can be and about to bloom again. I don't understand it at all.

The snow did claim the broccoli. I got most of it picked in the days before the snow, but it won't be coming back anytime soon. We pulled it out on Sunday and come spring we will till it into the ground.

On one small side note, I need to wish a Pooka a happy birthday. While I was never sure what I would do with a girl (I am so not a girly person). I cannot imagine life without her. I love you big girl.

Cucumbers

Pooka's picture of her harvest

This morning we went outside to pull the 2nd strawberry and I realized we had some cucumbers ready. Our first cucumbers from the garden. We had 3. Pooka was so excited, she asked if she could have them after dinner as desert (gotta love veggie loving kids). They are a tad small, but with that heat wave we had, I am not as surprised.

Pooka's picture of her cucumber plants

However, I love how the cucumbers have started to climb the trellis on the bottom of the deck. Its going to hopefully make keeping on top of the cucumbers  and harvesting alot easier. 

Another Pooka picture of the other cucumber plants

So I ask you all: got any good canning recipes for cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers?? I plan on making a bit of salsa, and some pasta sauce. I have ideas of what I want but no real idea on how to do it. Now to figure out the procedure to go from idea to reality.

Hello. Ms. Dragon

Remember the snapdragons I told you about. Well they finally bloomed and Pooka loves showing people how they "talk". She is asking multiple times a day if she can take Sister S's baby out there "So I can have the snap dragon teach her to talk."
I have a feeling these may become a staple around here. (And for all those people I know are saying it "Yes, I know they are pink. The package was a multi-color, so hopefully the rest of them will be other colors" )

Finally, starting to see some results.

So after another weekend of neglecting the garden (and a huge downpour of rain during that) Pooka was finally excited to see some results.

We went out this morning and found our first tomato. Its still tiny and green, but its a start.


We also saw a strawberry starting to turn red. That required me to remind Pooka she can't pick it till I tell her.






The garlic cloves we planted only a few days ago are growing great guns. They have at least a few inches of growth on them and the lettuce is starting to show lettuce shaped leaves.


The Snap Dragons (which are a favorite of mine because my grandmother always grew them so they would "talk" to me) are starting to flower. I am kinda excited over this one.

Before this year, my general rule for gardening was throw it in the ground and forget it was there until like July. This year since I am out there, I am noticing spots on the leaves of different plants. Now, I still don't know what the heck that means, but my dear sister S gave me a book on organic type gardening so we will see how that works (and if I am smart enough to figure it out from a book).

Oh and for the record, the morning glory (Now referred to as Audrey) is in fact, taller then me (she keeps trying to grow off the top of the trellis even as I keep winding her back down). Big thing I learned from this plant is to READ THE PACKAGE.