Peeping on Summer Squash

Aaah! I am so excited! I am finally able to see the beginning of our summer squash. I couldn't believe my eyes. The flowers kept falling off and I was getting so discouraged. I did some research online and learned that squash plants have male and female flowers. Male flowers do not produce fruit (go figure!) and fall off. In this photo, you might be able to see the skinny stems with nothing at the top – the flowers had already fallen off. It looks like I have two squash growing side by side. YUM!





I read to harvest when the fruit is 3 to 4 inches long for the best flavors, so that's what I plan on doing.

The last photo is the full garden. I just wanted you to be able to see the difference of now and when I just planted it. It sure is rewarding to see the difference in growth! :) Yes!

Tomato Hornworm & the Flower Guy

Hello hello!

I have been meaning to write on this blog for about a week and just haven't made myself until this morning. Yes, today is THE DAY!

Garden talk: Our garden keeps growing and, unfortunately, so do the bugs in it! Every day I pick off these little green caterpillars that are munching away at my leaves. It's a lot of work, and a lot more work than I'd hoped for. Well yesterday I found this caterpillar munching away on a cabbage leaf.



I think it's a Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar. I haven't looked at my tomato plants closely since I planted them because I've been so worried about the cabbage getting infested. Today I will have to inspect the tomato plants thoroughly. One of my cabbage plants was so infested with caterpillars that I tore the entire plant out and threw it in the trash. I've decided to pick up some bt to spray. I'll keep picking until this weekend, and then I'll purchase some bt. I've read that people spray every 2 to 4 weeks.

Where do these little larva come from? Moths. They can lay 100 eggs at a time and if a person sees two moths flying around their leaves in the garden at night, that is 200 eggs they are laying!

Other news: I suppose this is “Art News”. I'm drawing a Flower Guy. I haven't finished yet, but this guy is also into flowers and gardening.



I thought I might try to illustrate the Flower Guy working in his garden and possibly riding his bike with a basket full of flowers and put a story to it. I haven't decided yet. I guess working with kids motivates me to a point. I also have great ideas and high drive, but the problem lies with having TOO many ideas to implement in a timely manner. :P I get around to some things, and not to others. Such is life.

Well, I plan to post the Flower Guy again when he's completed. :)

Note: The medium used to render the drawing is Prismacolor colored pencil.

Garden is Up & Growing!

Okay, I'm back with an update on the garden front. If you remember, I hate bugs—especially ants—so I tried to get rid of them with the Borax/granulated sugar mix. Well, that was all wrong! I needed to use POWDERED sugar. I don't know if I killed any ants or not, but I saw several crawling around yet. It wasn't quite the entire colony, but still gross! But here's the real issue. Not only are ants gross, they have eaten my seeds in the past and I wanted to get rid of them. Blah blah blah – I said all this in my last entry. So anyway, I tried the powdered sugar but I think they are just too darn smart and didn't go near it–blasted creatures!

So this next part is funny. I gave up on killing ants and planted seeds anyway. Did the seeds sprout? OF COURSE THEY DID! I was slightly worried, but that's because I tend to lean toward anxious thinking at this juncture in my life. :D (This too shall pass!) Haha. I got over the entire ant thing as soon as I laid my newspaper and straw mulch. Everything is growing nicely. I found a bug nibble on my bell pepper plants and sprayed them immediately. Since I sprayed, no more munchie-marks.

So here's the entire garden: planted, mulched, and all flowered up. I finished cutting sod for the gold stone and even planted some moss in the dirt around the edge (hopefully it will take off). Edward did a fantastic job on building the fence and Petunia shelves. I'm in awe every time I look out the window and see the garden.





Here's new garden-news. A new addition to our front corner garden is "Prickly Pear" cactus. It's a gift from a nice gardener-gal who lives just a little ways from us. I read that Prickly Pear is native to Minnesota, but I can't cite it, so …sorry. But it is all over the state. It thrives well in sandy soil and that's what we have here. The bloom is a big yellow flower – unlike other flowers I enjoy. The blooms are like a soft yellow wrapping paper tissue. I suppose ours won't bloom this year, but I'll be anticipating them next spring with camera in hand! :)



All right, tonight is “date night” at the local A&W for me and my Sweetheart. Time to go get all dolled up!

Learning The Garden Ways

Greetings!

The garden is coming along fantastically, but I have been running into some things that I need to add, change or discard. I have a small handful of photos to share.

To begin, the day I put my first set of plants in (tomato, jalapeño, bell peppers, cabbage, lettuce, & broccoli) I noticed all of the ants. Two years ago, I planted green beans for the post, 15 seeds. Six of those sprouted. I KNOW the ants ate them because the area was infested. So when I saw the ants, I was reminded of my experience two years ago. I decided to take some action this year! That's right, I'm in charge of my garden.

A person could search all day long on remedies to rid the ants, but I tried one that I found in one of my perennial books and adjusted the recipe of destruction. :) The book suggested 3 cups of water, 1 cup of white sugar and 4 tsp of liquid boric acid. Bring these to a boil and pour into small containers. The other suggestion was Borax and icing sugar – equal parts. I used the latter, however, I chose white sugar instead of icing. I totally messed that part up, but ants ate like mad. Hopefully some of the Borax was ingested (and administered to the QUEEN!). I didn't seen ants in the garden yesterday when I looked, but I'll be planting seeds today and I will get a closer look.



I hate bugs. I hate them with a passion, but I love flowers and food so I must come to a truce so I'm able to work the garden. Several plants bring beneficial bugs to the garden (and some eat the bad bugs!) so I am trying to plant those. Since I'm broke, I'm starting everything from seed. Plus, it's more fun to watch the growth from the beginning stages of a plant. At any rate, what I just learned is that Chrysanthemum (Daisy) deters ALL bad bugs! I planted two of them in front of my broccoli and cabbage.



A list of other plants that attract beneficial bugs are:
Ajuga, Aster, Black-eye-susan, Butterfly weed, Coneflower (Echinacea), Feverfew, Goldenrod, Marguerite, Monarda (which is somewhat invasive), Speedwell, Thyme, Yarrow, Clover, Dandelion, Dill, Fennel, Lavender, LEMON BALM (which I have seeds for), Lovage and Queen Anne's Lace.

Hummingbirds are also beneficial for the garden because they eat insects! I have a Hummingbird feeder hanging near the garden post and I am setting up some pots on the high posts full of “Dreams Burgundy” Petunia. Apparently the birds are drawn to this plant for nectar. (I plan to dig in the gold stone for the garden entrance in the next couple of days.)


I also planted “Red Star” Petunia in 10 pots along the front of the house. This is somewhat of a problem area because it's shade most of the day and then from about 2:30 pm on the sun creeps along the front of the house and boils up the area! HOT. I tried shade plants there, but it's just too sunny at the end of the day. I love terracotta color so those are the pots I chose, matching the mocha house or not, I wanted it. :)



For the deciduous shade garden, I planted Vincas, Mimulus and Impatients. The mimulus is a guess because the label in the plant said it needed different light from the sign on the table they were sold on. They were in the greenhouse so I am inclined to think they would do better in the shade. I'll just keep fertilizing them and see what comes of it.





And finally, the mystery plant bloom REVEALED! California Orange Poppy! I hated the foliage at the beginning of the year, but thought twice before I weeded this creepy looking stuff. I have been weeding this poppy flower out of the garden for two years. I am uncertain whether it calls to beneficial insects or not. I did brush off a squash bug though. I think it was a squash bug at any rate. I will keep a close watch out, of course, to see what insects it brings in. But it is BEAUTIFUL! Ed loves the orange color too. :)

Took the Compost Down!

Oh my gosh, do I ever feel like putting a heating pad on my back! I've been doing garden work all day and I would use the heating pad if it wasn't for my sunburn! Today was so beautiful (after many days of rain) that I wore my swimsuit in the yard. I couldn't reach some spots of my back too well with the sunblock and since my Love is on his fishing trip, I had no help. :P

All right, this is what I did out in the yard today! I have been keeping a compost for the past two years in the back yard by our shed. Today was the day that I de-fenced it and used the rest of the dirt in the new flower bed. I smoothed the area out. I can either put more plants there, or we can just use that space for storage. It doesn't get many hours of sun, but it's the hottest sun of the day that it does get.



Our rhubarb seems to be doing fine in that space. I'm going to see if the chives do well in next to the rhubarb. This is why: Our doggy, Chubahka, has discovered that he loves chives and couldn't stay away from them. He ate most of them down to the dirt. When I saw him, I hollered at him to get away and he ran over to me, wagging his tail and panting. It was the first time that I actually loved smelling his breath. Haha! So, I moved the chives on his account. They now need to be fenced.



So now the flower bed! This garden has all of the little seedlings I started indoors now. I've been bringing them outside for a week or so, before the rains, so I know they've had some time to get acclimated. But they aren't ready for the cool nights yet. They need that added protection. That's why the milk cartons are over them. I plan to run outside as soon as I wake up to check on them. It's not good if they get too hot, either, so I'll take those off when I check on them – if the weather is dandy.



Off topic – sort of. When I went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, I fell deeply in love with Lemon Bee Balm. I want some! During my trip to Walmart today, I saw the seeds and freaked out (inside though). I might have jumped a little. Maybe a small pant or two. LOL! They were a buck! Into the cart they went. I'll put some of this Lemon Bee Balm in the flower bed because the foliage is just gorgeous and it SMELLS SO PRETTY!! Get some and grow it in your kitchen at the very least! :)



All right. I still need to locate the photos to post here and I'm really sleepy. I think it took me an hour to write this entry tonight. LOL! I gotta get to bed. :) Nighty night!

Mother's Day Craft

Yes! My Sweetie is going to the reservation for his annual fishing trip with his mom. He's taking a long weekend. I made an assortment of goodies yesterday for him to bring and I plan on making Portuguese Sweet Bread and Crab Noodle salad also.

The reason for the post today is to share the craft in this plant I am sending home with him. I have had an itch to do something small and cute. The project I completed fit the bill. I got the idea from a plant that I picked up at the grocery store. The plant in the store was in a coffee mug. The designer tied a bow on the handle and stuck a wooden stick into the soil. Trailing off of the stick is a butterfly on a wire. CUTE! {I bought my mom one for her birthday. :) }

So here is my rendition.



Here's a closer look at the detail.



I used a wooden craft stick (a dowel would be just as cute). I painted the dots with enamel paint. I drilled a hole into the stick in order to secure the wire. I used wire that I picked up in the beading section at the local craft shop. To shape the wire, I wrapped it around a wooden dowel. The lady bug ornament is a bead that I made out of polymer clay. I didn't have any butterflies, but now I have ideas! I wanted a bow on my gift too, but I didn't have a handle. The next best place was the stick!

I looked up the plant care directions in a houseplant book. I don't think she would need the directions at all, as she has a green thumb, but I thought it would give it a “finished” look. :)

So that's it!

George

There is a new little man in the house! Yup, I got a fish. But this isn't just ANY fish, it's “George” and he's a Siamese Fighting Fish – or “Betta”.



Since they come in so many colors, I actually took a little time to decide which one I wanted. I thought the terracotta fins looked very pretty. He doesn't seem to be in too bad of shape for hanging out in a little cup for who knows how long.




I suppose I'll upgrade his bowl soon. Walmart had a neat round bowl and I think it was 1 gallon, but until then he'll live in this little bowl. I can make room at my work station for the 1 gallon bowl later. The plan is to make him my praying/journaling buddy in the AM. :D


Well, I don't know too much more to say about it. It's a fish. I won't eat this one. Heh. :|

Elna 945 Knob

Well, well, well. Guess what!? I got my serger knob replacement!

I called yesterday to see if it was in from the manufacturer yet and it wasn't. The owner of the store took my call and he was in awe that it wasn't in yet. He put me on hold for approximately 4 seconds. :| When he came back on the line he said “Yeah, I got a knob here for ya. We had an exchange from an Elna 905 and they use the same knobs. I'll put it at the front desk for ya.”

So I drove through the Twin Cities to the south side, about an hour away from home, to pick up this little knob. Two hours of my life spent for this knob. It was a beautiful drive—there and back again. :D

Okay, it's a used knob and it's cracked too, but it's a knob that is going to stay on my machine handle. And it was free. Yeah, no charge for a cracked knob that I can clean up easily. I'm going to swipe some epoxy into it before sliding it on the metal handle. Badabing-badaboom! Got my knob. Isn't it beautiful? :P Now I can move onto the next chapter in life. :)

Wild Lupine And Poppy

Happy May 5! Okay, I'd rather it be October 5 because that's my birthday. :)

Okay, if you've been keeping up with my blog here lately, I talked a little bit about the Karner Blue Butterfly (endangered species) and the host plant for the caterpillar – Wild Lupine. I really wanted Lupine this year so I planted some seeds. I don't know if it was “the” Lupine that the caterpillar prefers, but I was hoping.

After much hoping, I found some Wild Lupine behind our shed. I told my Sweetheart that I wanted to dig it out, but it's blocked off by boards and other “equipment” so it would take a little bit of work to get at. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the seeds I planted would be a preference for the caterpillar because I have some wild stuff that is attainable.

So—cool. But here's more good news. TODAY I FOUND SOME MORE IN OUR FRONT YARD! Look at this!


And, it looks as though it's a home for a baby caterpillar by the look of the holes in the leaves. YAY! I'm going to transplant it because it's smack-dab in the middle of our yard. LOL BUT HOW COOL IS THAT!? I hope I get some photos of the little bug. :)

And here's a photo of a poppy bud – the mystery plant. Now, I think I planted orange, but I'll find out what shade of orange soon enough. :)

Garden Posts Are In!

Boozhoo! (“Hello” in Ojibwe.)

We busied ourselves until after dark last night to finish securing all the garden posts. Okay, well Edward busied himself and I stood where he told me to to hold the posts while he drilled them in. LOL. And doesn't it look amazing so far!? I am in awe.

The idea big idea, for now, is to put lattice along the back posts—which would serve three purposes; it will look nice, provide a place to climb for a vine, and block the neighbor's junk.

Ed's going to cut the front posts down lower and I'm going to screw down pots that I can set plants in—much like the mobile greenhouse nurseries do on their wooden fences when they set up in grocery store parking lots.

I put in the little brick garden in front of the veggie garden a while ago, but I am not certain what I will plant there—perennials, annuals, herbs, veggies or a combination of any of these. I like digging and moving plants around and adding, so maybe I will only need to decide what I want there THIS YEAR only! I still have some tidying up to do with that setting. I'm excited to continue through the season and watch things grow and come together for a pretty and cozy place for us to spend our time. :)

Garden Seedlings

O si yo! ("Hello" in Cherokee for those of you who don't already know.)

Well, we still have some time before we move our seedlings into the garden here in the Twin Cities. We had frost on our yard furniture yesterday morning. DOH!

I am way too anxious to get everything going. I planted seeds in buckets from previously purchased plants and set them out around the raised garden two days ago. I hope the seeds faired well enough through the minor frost to sprout at least ONE seed! I planted at least 9 of each seed: Marigolds, Painted Daisy, Pink/Red Daisy, Alyssum, Columbine, and a couple Sunflowers that reach over 7 foot. I'll post photos on that if any come up, of course.

So the photos today are of my seedlings that I constantly trail back and forth from under the lights in the house to the sun and back again at night - “hardening off”. I will continue this process until it's time to plant them in the garden. It's going to be more work than I thought it might be. I'm already having ideas for a cold frame and a $400 greenhouse from a local hardware shop. I think that's the key to raising beautiful seedlings, really.

So the following photo is my Wallflower Siberian seedlings. These are going to be beautiful soft orange (like the meat of a Mango) in color – and delicate in appearance, much like a pansy. They are perennials. I have already replanted them in large pots because they were getting extremely leggy and falling over. I didn't want them to die. This is my second year trying to grow them from seed. I topped the pots off with moss to prevent root rot - “dampening off”. I hope I am successful with this and I hope I don't suffocate the seedling. I'll soon find out. So far, it doesn't seem like they've grown since the transfer.


The Marigolds look like they are thriving. Not too much to say there other than I wish they weren't so tall.


Lupine are next. I read that Wild Lupine is a host plant to the Karner Blue butterfly caterpillar, which is an endangered species in Minnesota. I see a couple butterflies each summer, but that's because my neighbor has Wild Lupine in her deciduous shade garden. I hope my Lupine become a host plant. The seedlings look to be doing very well.


My basil is doing wonderfully! I actually planted 12 seeds. Six are in soil which contains compost and the last six are in a soil mix of: perlite, vermiculite, and peat moss. The basil I planted in compost mix sprouted almost immediately. The other seeds sprouted some time after, but caught up quickly. I hope to give basil plants to friends and family, if they want some. I'm going to have so many plants that I won't know what to do with them!


All right, time to go pick up some straw for the garden with my mom. Sweetie and I are taking a short break from the garden fence, but all the vertical posts are up now. We have to mid to late May. That leaves me time to plan for cold frames and greenhouses next year! :)

Garden Prep

I've been doing a ton of work out in the yards and I wanted to make sure I get some photos online to share. My Sweetie cut out 144 square feet of space for a new vegetable garden. This is the beginning stage.

We have posts in, but not all of them. When the fence is finished, I'll post again. I learned how to use a "post hole digger." Well, that's what I call it, and I think I call it that because it's what Ed called it. LOL. I'll have to ask him again to make sure I have the name right. God forbid I post something on the internet that is not true. :| Heh.

I started seeds about a week ago and many are up, almost all of them. I'm waiting for the sage, mint and parsley to sprout. I think we keep the house too cold for them yet. One day, they will sprout – unless I need new seeds. Here's a photo of the vegetable/herb tray sprouts. This was taken about three or four days ago, so they are much larger now, of course.

My complete list of seeds that I planted is as follows: 

FOOD

1. Dill
2. Sage
3. Thyme
4. Parsley
5. Sweet Basil
6. Mint
7. Iceberg Lettuce
8. Lettuce—Grand Rapids
9. Cabbage—Copenhagen Market
10. Brocolli—Green Sprouting Calabrese
11. Squash—Early Prolific Straightneck    

FLOWERS

• Lavender
• Marigold
• Wallflower—Siberian
• Yarrow—Summer Pastels
• Oriental Poppy—Brilliant Red
• Lupine
• Hollyhock (yes, I am trying AGAIN this year!)

In addition to seeds, I plan to plant tomatoes, peppers and onions. I've already planted some garlic in my container with the chives. My chives are established quite well. :)

I swear on my life that I will take photos to post here. :) Okay, if they die, no photos. If that is the case, I may just move right into another hobby! LOL
All right, I'll get this published.