One small problem solved

It is fairly well known with as long as this spring is taking to get here, we are having a minor space issue, okay a major space issue. It is very hard to live in a kitchen space and let a dog out when you have 2 kitchen tables in your kitchen and along the back door. One for eating/homework/daily life and the other holding plants.

The plants are taking over.

Well, the other day at Target, I managed to find something on clearance that has helped solve a bit of the issue. Clearance is my friend. If they happen to have more next time I go, I am going to grab another one.

50% off even. I will take that

Daddy and our friend Uncle M got this put together after Brother's party. Now we have more room to let the dog out, and it even holds more plants. Sadly, its been a bit cold outside for the potatoes, so even they had to come in. In the next week or so, I hope to have most things outside during the day.

A tower of plants.

Busy and odd weekend

A flower for Ms. S. You will be missed.

I know I disappeared for a day or so. You see we had family come into town, and then when they left, we had a visitation to go to. As a result, I am going to spend the rest of the day with family, and then tommorrow I will be more chatty. Today just doesn't feel very chatty to me, but more a time to spend with those you love and give them a hug.

Math and Gardening and Brother

Sunday afternoon, even with all the people we had here, stuff still needed done. We decided on Brother's day to start Brother's blue potatoes. I also decided our potatoes were more then ready to go in the ground.

I think the potatoes have eyes

First we used the potato planter bag from Walmart. It was a bit smaller then I expected (but again, I have zero spacial relation ability). I pulled it from the bag and actually read the directions.

Potato bag complete with access panel for harvesting

It turns out, you are suppose to roll the bag down to about 12 inches tall. Yes, this meant I had to get a tape measure. Brother got to do the measuring which helps since he needs a bit of help with his spacial relations and measuring (sadly, he got this from me).

Finding the correct height

From there we needed to fill the bag 2/3rds full. Since Brother has been working on fractions at school, I made him do the math. He got the 8" correct and helped me pour the dirt and measure our height.

Using Math to fill with dirt

Then we had to dig a hole halfway down in the dirt. Again, I looked at Brother who has been doing fractions at school and he got the magic 4" right. He jumped right in and got his hands dirty. He had to be precise and measured the hole as well.

Brother and his hole, kinda

Next we placed the potato in the hole. Turns out the eyes need facing up. I did not cut the potatoes since I can fit 3-4 to a bag and I already had 6 potatoes. I couldn't see the point in needing another bag. The nice blue eyes went faced the surface and we covered them with dirt.

Time to grow little guy.

We covered all the potatoes with dirt and watered them throughly that day. I left them outside for a day or 2 but we are having pretty severe storms this week, so we brought them in. I did water them today since I read up on potatoes last night and oops, they need watered almost daily to produce well. Oops... good to know. Now to watch for sprouts and see what happens. Any tips on growing potatoes?

Rain, Rain, rain...Rain.

Like most of the Midwest, there is rain everywhere today. It has been raining or cloudy for most of the week and some people are questioning if there is a sun.

Me, I am wondering if this is Mother Nature's way of grieving over the events this week. While we have been lucky, and the rain isn't that bad where we are, I did walk outside to find the blueberry bush underwater.

Do you think it needs watered?

This is not the first plant that has had a drainage problem this week, but with it being fairly new and the fact that blueberries HATE wet roots, I decided to drain it. Now normally when I drain something like this, I tip the whole pot over, but I was nervous to do so with it being so wet and the blueberry bush so new. Instead I pushed in the side a bit and noticed a nice little waterfall coming out the bottom.

Waterfall

I managed to drain quite a bit of the water out and turned around to see this.

Mother nature 1 - Robins 0

It turns out a robin has been trying very unsuccessfully to build its nest on the light by the back door. The number of ways I don't want a robin there (not being able to use the door, fear of a robin coming into the house, ect) makes me glad Mother Nature decided to knock the nest over. This isn't the first time we have seen this bird try, but maybe not it will get the point.

Hopefully not the site of a bird nest

If not, I just hope the fact the light itself isn't very big which would mean not real stable will be enough to keep the Robin family off my deck. I may send Daddy out to put some vinegar or something up there to make it smell bad for awhile (nothing that would hurt the birds).

Mommy engineering

As for the blueberry, it needed to finish draining and I have stuff to do, so I used our little strawberry table to help hold the pot in place so the blueberry can dry. Hopefully soon the rain will end for good. Although it does seem to agree with the green onions. We can finally see the little guys.

Hello Green Onions

Lots and lots of updates

In the last few weeks, we have had alot of projects start, but I think its time to tell you how they are going.

A couple of weeks ago, we had cut the ends off some green onions to see if we could regrow them. While we did have to get rid of some that didn't look so good, we did have a couple of green onion cuttings that are growing like mad. Pooka is so excited that they are doing so well.  So maybe that is one internet rumor that works. I did cut a few more ends off another set, so those got droppped in the cup too. The more the merrier at this point and all are showing signs of growth.

The green onion experiment

In Febuary Pooka and I stumbled across a clearance herb kit. It was a nice kit and grew nicely at first, then the dampening off/gnat problem got to them. They seemed to do okay until I stopped watering them to combat the dampening, and then the rest of the plants really took off, and I kinda forgot about them. This probably would of worked if I had not forgotten about them. Black thumb scored there. However, I am going to retry putting seeds in this container in a few days after I get some of these plants outside of my house.


Oops, they got forgotten

Pooka's Easter bunny egg flowers are doing okay. So far only the two snap dragons and a pansy have sprouted, but we are watching the others closely to see if they do okay. Pooka found a red watering can at Target in the dollar section that we are going to transplant the flowers (or just regular seeds) into once they get a bit bigger. She is so excited to just have flowers, something I don't share. If I am going to do the work, I want to EAT the darn things. However, it makes her happy and it is not going to take up much space.

Pooka's flowers

Finally, the peas, oh the peas. How I am not sure what to tell you. I planted the plants outside, and they didn't keep dying, but they haven't really seemed to come back. Add to it the last couple days of rain and pretty harsh winds, and its just there. Monday, Pooka and I saw our first sprouts from the Pea seeds we put in there. Maybe there is hope for them yet.

Can you play spot the Pea sprouts?

Quiet Day

Today will be one of those very busy days on our end. I just thought in the wake of yesterday's events, I would be quieter today and just let us all look for the heroes and the bravery people showed there. I hope you will find a moment today when you can stop and think about the good that was shown in this bad moment. The people that either ran into the chaos, or the ones who helped where they could if they ran to the hospitals to give blood, or held a hand. Remember to look for the good, even in situations that seem bad. Somewhere in there, you will find something good, even if it is a bit hard to find at first.

Audrey the morning glory's flowers.

10 years ago

Ten years ago, I lost the ability to think only of myself. Ten years ago, was the first time I realized it was really time to grow up when Brother was born.

He has come so far in so many years. Not all years were good, and we have had alot of great years. We have had challenges, some are just the ones every parent faces, others are not. No matter what, I love that boy with all my heart, and I am proud to see the person he is growing into.

So with that, I am going to leave with a picture of Brother's blueberry bush (You didn't think you would get to see the kids did you?). The bush has adjusted to it's new pot flawlessly. I never saw it have transplant shock, so we are hoping it is all happy and content. Maybe we will get something off it this year. I know between that and Brother's blue potatoes, that boy is going to have alot more interest in what is going on outside besides who is around to play with.

Happy Birthday Brother.

Brother's Blueberry bush