Spring 2018

Good morning!
Some of these are from a couple weeks ago--I <think> the back and side yards are almost "done"....This morning I released 1500 ladybugs and hung two egg sacs of praying mantis..I'm hoping this solves the Japanese beetle and aphid issues of last summer (bonus if they eat the slugs in the garden, but I'm not holding my breath on that...I have my jar of Sluggo ready).  I've sprinkled the garden with red pepper to keep the creepy voles out (and the bunnies).  I'm hopeful!

 Side yard--ignore that last corner with the wheelbarrow...we have plans for it...eventually...the girl is relaxing on her chaise lounge..courtesy of a neighbor moving out who left it on the curb with a "free" sign.

 Plant starts, patiently waiting to be moved outside...sometime...tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, and flowers.  If the weather stays ok they might get a couple hours of outside time today or later this week.

 It's hard to see because the onions in the back are out of control, but there is a thriving blackberry (raspberry?) bush in the front--this is last week, it has taken over that whole corner this week.

 St. Francis and his livestock (birds, bunny, trash panda  racoon, chicken, frog...

 The peach tree and its blossom seem to have recovered from the cold weather and sleet last week, so I have high hopes for a couple peaches this year...

 Another "save" from the moving neighbor--a rubber tree..unfortunately, poisonous to house pets, so it lives on the front porch.  If it survives the summer it might get to go to work with me (and if it doesn't, I'll use the pot for something)

 The lone (of 5) surviving redwood from a family wedding a few years ago--it looks pretty good though!  Soon I guess we will have to find him a place in the yard (maybe in the front?)

 Godzilla leaving the gnome village...enough said..

 Old man beach gnome, not concerned at all about the village carnage (he's at the beach, man...)

 Geraniums, poisonous to dogs, so they have to stay outside, too. Morrison already sampled them and immediately threw up.  Fantastic.

 Garden is planted, except for the seedlings above (and a lot of them might go into pots)--carrots, leeks, spinach, beets, herbs, asparagus, garlic, onions, green onions, strawberries and probably things I've forgotten are in.  It rained and sleeted this week and I was a little worried about the seeds, but they have sprouted like crazy this week!

Ironically, the greenhouse has become a bit of a staging area instead of a plant growing area.  I considered moving the seedlings out, but is is so much easier to water them from inside that I left them for now.


So how are your gardens?

December Garden Update--Really

As you may remember, I'm conducting a complicated, scientific project in my greenhouse this winter. And by complicated I mean I planted stuff and am hoping for the best.

I am nothing if not cheap, so my heating system is water bottles, lots of water bottles, some covered with a black trash bag.  In theory, they hold warmth and since they are on the ground the heat rises.  I also have an automatic watering system made up of watering spikes and old soda bottles.  I go out every few days (in the dark, because I'm never home in the daylight) and switch out the bottles.  I haven't been able to check the temperature well with the flashlight, so I'm hoping to take a look during daylight this weekend. I would really like to have a solar-powered ceramic heater out there, but they are all expensive.  And a watering system, but that requires plumbing.  And maybe a greenhouse made out of something other than plastic sheeting...someday...someday..

Let's see...
Potatoes--fail.  I don't know if they froze or if my terrible potato growing skills just came through again, but, sigh...no potatoes from this round.  (Don't worry...I have a bunch in my pantry that are growing legs...I'll try again).  I put them on the top shelf of the greenhouse, you know, because heat rises, but apparently not so much. 
Although..when I went out today to plant the new ones, I harvested 3 (Three!) baby potatoes, even though the greenery above ground was dead!

Three tiny potatoes and two tiny onions...an exciting winter harvest!

Beets--optimistic--although they are on the middle shelf, I'm thinking this is working to their advantage and they are more protected.

Kale--it was kind of on its last legs when I put it in the greenhouse, and there's not much to harvest, but it's not dead, so I'm counting it as a win so far.

Onions-- ready to harvest

Mint--growing from the ground--dead.  Hmm.  I'm sure it will be back with a vengeance in the spring.

A Garden Update? In November?!

Yep...we have things growing in November....

I'm still working on a better mechanism to keep the greenhouse warm..if I could find a solar powered, ceramic tile chicken house heater I'd be done. The current system is successful enough though that it tempts me to build a bigger greenhouse in the current garden location and have growing things year round (that would require a better heating system though...probably one with actual wires and so forth.

Here's what we have:

 Not in the greenhouse..and not growing..but still pretty!

 Kale and green onions

 Potatoes (from potatoes in the refrigerator drawer that grew legs)

 Beets! (Yes, they need to be thinned out)

 Onions (from onions that grew feet in the refrigerator drawer

 The heat conservation system (bottles and jugs of water covered by a black plastic bag) and buckets of dirt, being kept warm for additional projects)

Outside, low 60's, inside greenhouse, 70...that will work for now...

Garden Update!

Ha ! Not the garden update I had planned,  but here you go!
We are in the midst of a spring snowstorm.  Luckily, we knew it was coming and covered lots of stuff and have the fireplace on for the peach tree. As you can see, the greenhouse is nice and steamy (well, maybe not steamy, but there is condensation, so I take that as a great sign that it is at least warmish in there!) I haven't planted much outside the greenhouse, but our trees, lavender, roses, grapevines, and butterfly bushes were flowering, so some of the lumps you see in the snow are various buckets and tarps.  The snow cover on the table (center this photo) is accurate though--about 8 inches so far!  When I checked the greenhouse Thursday night, the celery, lettuce, peas and kale were growing nicely (sorry, other veggies, I can't remember what else is in there!).  The tomato, cucumber, and squash plants are still inside the house, so they are fine....I'm just happy this is today, not two weeks from today for Lobstafest!

And...that's all folks..Spring Break 2017 comes to a (snooze of an) end...

I have to say that the rest of our week was just as crazy as the beginning...We wrapped up the week by (in no particular order):
*Making homemade pitas (twice...Mr. IM said, "How do they keep?" I replied, "Not very well. It doesn't matter how many I make, the children eat them before you get home....")
*Making homemade tomato soup and semi-homemade lentil soup
*Cleaning up the yard in preparation for spring planting and hanging out
*Shoveling snow from patio (both before and after cleaning up yard)
*Shoveling snow into buckets to use to water plants when it stops snowing (always thinking)
*Um...two? Maybe three? visits to the library to get cookbooks, novels, and movies
*Two calls to the library to find out why Hoopla doesn't work right (The answer? It just doesn't...try again tomorrow!)
*Sleeping until 7:30 more than once (But I'm not counting on that for today, as I am the only one home who will let the dogs out)
*Watching several movies (from the library and amazon prime)--Including Dr. Strange (The Boy loved it, I think it was weird), Pete's Dragon (Um, a lot darker than the first version), Ninja Turtles (I didn't really watch), Avengers Age of Ultron (I tried to nap and was caught), The Magnificent Seven (Not what I thought it would be, but it was good, a little violent, but to be expected), Joy (It wasn't what I expected either.  It was kind of strange, but good for a free library movie) and I think a couple Lord of the Rings movies, but that was really The Boy, not me.
*Drove The Girl around (she had school)
* Visited the Grocery Store at least three times
*A nice walk to see the red winged blackbirds at the wetlands and other explorations
Annnnddd...now it is the weekend and there is school on Monday. This weekend I'm supposed to retrieve the Girl from her sleepover, go to Life Group (guess I should read at least chapter one...), church, order lunches, pay bills, pack lunches...maybe pack my school bag?
Hope you all had a spring break and that it was marvelous...

BOGO!!! Cats?

The Boy pointed out that he hasn't even chosen a pet, since the original crew (MJ, Tigger, Indy) were all older than him, Alice belongs to The Girl and the dogs just kind of joined us.  I suggested he wait until he was an adult and get as many pets as he wanted, but it has been kind of weird with only Alice, the un-cat.  Mr. IM and The Boy got home early from skiing (because it was COLD) so we decided to go on a kitten search.  We really should know better, it is not kitten season for starters. However, we once again found ourselves at the Denver Dumb Friends League.  The Boy fell in love with a cat...who had a friend...ummmm...and then we discovered it was BOGO on cats (really?)....So the Suburban Ranch is now back to (full) capacity--2 adults, 2 kids, 3 cats, 2 dogs, and a whole bunch of fish. The cats will get their own posts soon--as soon as I can get a picture where they don't look freaked (it might be a while).  Both cats are over a year old--Obsidian (Sid) is about a year and Coco (Puff) is about 3 (if I remember right).  Sid was found wandering around an apartment complex (sound like anyone else we know)  and Coco was left in the pet drop off bin.  So far Sid and Alice met and are not happy, but Alice hates everyone, so I'm not worried.  Coco has settled into the "cat hole" (where kittens and old cats hide) in my closet.  

In other news, I assembled the greenhouse that we received for Christmas--it can have its own post as well, probably after the cats.  Time to get started on the garden!

Late summer garden update

We didn't plant much this year, and so the updates haven't been very exciting.  We did finish one more small area with succulent plantings and a new patio and put in an arch to train the mystery tree to cover (A bird was in there yesterday and flew out right at Mr. IM's head...it was funny....)
The first frost is possible this week (forecast says low of 35...but that is pretty close to 32...) so it is time to start wrapping up this year.

I think the only crops this year were:
Cherry Tree planted this year--two cherries total
Peach Tree-3rd or 4th year since we planted--4-5 peaches (they were yummy)
Potatoes in a trash can--not harvested yet
Potatoes in the garden--planted for spring harvest, per internet advice...we'll see
Early lettuce--we ate it....
Scallions, onions, chives--harvested and eaten periodically.  All volunteer plants from earlier years..yummy
garlic--some volunteer and some planted using garlic that was sprouting in the kitchen.
Basil--Morrison keeps trying to kill it...but I did use quite a bit during the summer.  We'll see if it gets to come in for the winter.
Lavender--none harvested, because Morrison keeps pulling it up.  We'll see in the next few weeks if there is anything worth saving
Oregano--inside, on the kitchen window sill--will let it keep growing, use it occasionally
Sage--didn't use it much, also in kitchen window sill.  Will probably freeze what is left.
Asparagus--didn't get to eat any of it--it came in and flowered before I realized it was ready
Peas--rodents ate them all :(
Cucumbers--had quite a few--not as many as some years, but enough for a couple new jars of pickles and lots of eating.
Cilantro-planted it in the garden, it has gone crazy. Used it a lot this summer and will let it re-seed itself for next year
Mint:  As always it is going. nuts.  I need to harvest and preserve some before it frosts
Catnip:  Had a slow start, but is going nuts now...should harvest and preserve it as well!
Tomatoes--had a lot--many are still green, so we may have green tomato relish this year if it does freeze soon
Peppers--I think we planted green peppers and jalapenos, but I think they cross pollinated.  There could be some habaneros, too.  All the peppers seem hot.  We haven't had a ton, but have had steady production most of the summer.

I recently saw kale growing in flower pots as an ornamental object, so I think I might try that next year!

Hello, Garden and Yard

We've been doing some work on the yard and garden--first priority (after "the usual") is to clean up the side yard. We've been able to use a lot of our leftover materials from other projects and it is coming along nicely.

First up--using the pavers left over from the "along the driveway" project (adding a path so people can walk from the sidewalk to the front door).  We added a little to the front of the porch--connecting the front walkway, to a walkway leading to the back gate.  We trimmed the tree and shrubbery as well--it turned out nice! We are about two pavers short, but have some ideas (other than buying more pavers).  Now people can come from the street to the backyard!


Next project--improving the drainage, adding a path, and cleaning up the side yard.  Water has a tendency to collect near the tree in the distance and the dogs were constantly digging in the area to the left.  Last weekend we added some more fencing, that will eventually hold gardens, this weekend involved moving a lot of rock.  Next up is putting in drain pipe and a small side yard patio, as well as extending the existing path to the front gate.

 The entrance from the front is looking pretty good--I'm happy with today's progress!
















Welcome to the backyard!

Garden 2016!!!

Yeah, its way too early to really garden, but we did start some yard clean up and I planted a few things inside and potatoes outside.  This winter was rough on the yard...correction...Morrison is rough on the yard...

 Before our clean up started, a lot of those pink rocks were on the patio, and in the garden, and everywhere.  Even with no greenery yet this is a major improvement!

 A few fake flowers keeping the owl colony company--this view looks pretty good!

 A nice view that doesn't quite show the chaos that is the side yard--or the nicely budding peach tree--see better view below!

 Yes, out little red wagon still gets use.  In other news, Morrison likes to look through those open squares and keep an eye on the front yard.

 Ah, a better view of the side yard chaos...this is on our agenda for this summer..doing something to minimize the chaos...

 Budding peach tree--the only fruit tree that survived.  The apple and cherry will have to be replaced later this spring/summer--but was are still expected to get snow, so we're going to wait.  We think the peach tree survived because the out vent for the fireplace is right there...keeping it warm in cold weather!

 Potatoes in a bucket.....that is all I have to say about that.

 A little clean up in the secret garden--Morrison even got in there and dug some holes (grrr).  She also was carrying around my little blue hippo, so now it will live in the (hopefully more protected) garden.

 I told someone the other day about our pallet "bar"--here it is, with fresh spring flowers (fake).

 A few tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs, planted inside

 And some lettuce. Unfortunately, Alice and Morrison like lettuce.  At least they're happy.

And the gnome village has returned.  Mr. IM says "they have no cover!" (Interpretation...the neighbors might see we have gnomes...)

 St Francis (a birthday gift from my mother-in-law) and his racoon finally got to go outside.  Now Morrison can bark at him outside instead of inside.

And of course, the Purdue stepping stone that no one is allowed to step on and some green onions (there is garlic, too! So some greenery!)



Stay tuned...snow is predicted, but spring is coming soon!

Good bye 2015 garden....

Between the month of rain, the Japanese Beetle invasion, an apparent bunny infestation, and the 90+ temps in September...the garden was pretty disappointing this year.  My organic pest control worked when I did it well--insecticidal soap and cayenne pepper are just a couple of my methods--but I wasn't very good at keeping up.  I'm a lousy homesteader, what can I say.  We had a few tomatoes, some beans and peas (not enough for a meal), a few cucumbers (not enough to pickle, just enough for eating) and some peppers--oh and two okra.  We may still have a few more tomatoes and peppers, but it looks like everything else is done (as evidenced by the dying vines and plants).  Here's the final "big" harvest.

Notice that the oddly shaped carrots are as big as the butternut squash.  Sigh.  There are a few more carrots out there, too, I'm leaving them for now. There are a few onions and two sad little tomatoes there...  Mr. IM posted a slightly different view of the carrot on Facebook with a slightly obscene label.  Men.  The good news for the carrots and onions was that they became part of the yummy veggie gravy that went with our pot roast on Sunday.  (Now that's a recipe I should share--it is one of the Mister's specialties!)

Now here is the success story of the summer, ironically.  You may remember the previous "potatoes in a bucket" projects.  (See here, here,  and here).  Partially due to the rain, I didn't start the potatoes when I should have.  Sometime in June, I cleaned the refrigerator---like take out all the drawers and shelves and scrub every surface cleaned--and found...wait for it...two little potatoes growing legs.  So I chopped them up, threw them in a plate of water overnight and threw them in some dirt.  I did add more dirt a couple times., but nothing else. Over the weekend I realized all the potato stems were dead, so I dumped them out, expecting, well, nothing, like the past two years...but...surprise--from my two pieces of potato I harvested 4-6 reasonably sized potatoes and a bunch of little ones.  Hmm.  This is an idea for next summer perhaps.

I would starve as a real homesteader

I feel like I've said this before and it's undoubtedly true.  This has been a rough year for the garden so far--I didn't do a good job of planting and then the beetles came.  The photo here isn't mine, it came from an exterminator's website, but the leaves look just like all of mine.  Yuck.  I haven't seen too many beetles, but their damage is evident.  I've invested in insecticidal soap, and had some limited success, but it also appears that there are slugs/grubs/something blechy eating the plant roots as well. Ugh.  Oh ,well, it's just a hobby, right?

Recently the topic of chickens has come up again. On the plus side, if they survived the dog and the coyotes, (and the bears, and the cougars, and the cold), they might eat the beetles (score!)....but on the negative side, well, they're chickens.  I think I'd rather get another dog and buy eggs at the store like always.  I kind of like the idea of chickens, but I really don't like actual chickens much...they are prickly and require attention and care.

We harvested the sunflower heads tonight--because of the ongoing bug and mouse and bird infestations, the sunflower heads are in paper bags on the patio covered in cheesecloth for a few days--hopefully by the time you read this they will be ready to detach the seeds!

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll see if there are any carrots and potatoes...I'm waiting for it to get cold!

End of the school year...or not?

I read the best blog last week--Jen Hatmaker's "Worst End of School Year Mom Ever" and couldn't stop laughing because it is like she is in my house.  We are also limping to the finish line...not sure exactly where/when it is, or what will happen when we get there...but we're getting there...

Once again, The Ranch is a one car household....about a month ago, on the way home from a late volleyball game with The Girl, Mr. IM's car "threw a rod through the short block".  Now, please don't ask me what all that entails...all I can tell you is that the car shop said 3-6 weeks and we are on week 4.  Thanks to the generosity of friends we have managed to get everywhere we are supposed to (school, work, music lessons....)--I realize again how wonderful our village is--one of my friends not only got me to and from work for almost a month, but loaned me her car often so I could get my kids (and I) from point A to B to Z...

School is fine, busy as always, but I think that all my end of year paperwork is done (or at least mostly done), so I can start working on plans for next year.  Unless things change (which they will) I will be teaching two US History classes  and two Government classes and probably a Freshman Orientation class.  One each of the History and of the Government classes are labeled "foundations", so I'm spending some of my free time surfing Amazon for great deals on the (almost) 20 year old text book that I love (1 cent plus $3.99 shipping?  Used--Very Good?  Done!!). I'm also continuing on the Advisory team--which is technically one more prep (but a fun one!)

The Girl "graduated" from 8th grade last week and we had both sets of grandparents here for the weekend. The Girl is going on a trip with her Grandmother next week, so Grandma is back this week. They've been busily packing and getting ready.  

Another indication of the level of crazy is that my garden is still in plastic crates in the living room--although it hailed again tonight, so I'm celebrating that it is (mostly) inside and not smashed...

I suppose the next post will be "What I read in May"....Stay tuned!

The yard is pretty...

Because we continue to have random hail and snow (not kidding...had a foot of snow last weekend), the plants are still in the house--tomatoes, cucumbers, dragon fruit, peppers....Hopefully I'll get them all in the garden soon.  

 The back yard looks pretty good, all things considered--this is before Mr. IM added some mulch today--notice  the new flower boxes with herbs and flowers in them

I think they turned out very nice!

Hope you are enjoying lovely spring weather!

Spring?

This is the first weekend since November that the family hasn't skiied/snowboarded and everyone is home (together) the whole weekend.  Yesterday we all slept in.  The Girl and I ran some errands while The Boy and Mr. IM worked on The Boy's science fair project.  Today after church we did a little yardwork, trying to get the place in shape for planting in the next couple weeks.

 In the continuing saga of the pallets, here are four new planter boxes, designed to mount to the fence.  They hold small flower pots, or can have a bottom put in to hold dirt.

 The front yard looks better--we cut back the old growth (from last summer) on the butterfly bushes and removed some leaves and trash from around the daisies and roses.  The shrubby things (what are they called?) have been trimmed, so our neighbor can get into his driveway and we can get to the side gate.

 The maple tree definitely has some buds!  The grassy area beyond the tree is on the list of "things to deal with".  We need to install a better drainage system and probably remove the sod and put in some kind of rock (there is a ton in the side yard that can be used for something).

 And the lovely ground cover (that eventually will be the setting for the fairy village, with little white flowers) has started growing.

 Inside, we're trying to get the garden going.  I think the greenhouse was too wet, so some of the plants were moved into slightly bigger pots--so far we have okra, tomatoes, yellow squash, jalapenos, banana peppers, and some flowers.  The cucumber seeds are not cooperating, but I will try again after the greenhouse dries out a bit.

 I transferred some of the flowers (they are a sad little group) into a flower pot that can go outside eventually.  In other news, my cactuses look good...

 Outside things still look pretty blah--we did harvest some dirt from the composter and toss it on the garden.  No sign that the peas and lettuce planted last week before the snow are growing...they may be a wash.  The yucca plants are showing a little new growth.  I cut back the mums, we'll see if they come back.

 I do have some produce (or will soon!)--spinach!!

 And scallions....lots of scallions...in fact, they have escaped their fence there are so many.

 We were worried about the apple tree--Liberty has spent the winter trying to dig it up--but there are buds.  We staked it (it was leaning) and are hoping for the best.

 The cherry tree has a few small buds--no leaves yet, but buds...

 and the peach tree has lots of leaves!  You can also see the side yard, which is on the list of projects to deal with...someday...maybe this summer, maybe not.

 The duck family is happily strolling through the garden--the lavender bushes are starting to leaf!

 The little pine trees seem to have survived another winter.  We started with five and now have four, but they look pretty good.

 Mr. IM discovered that these pots will fit in the new planter, so I will be on the lookout for more so that I can still have flowers  by my sink window/tiki bar.







And here we have the dilemma of the day--a brave little plant growing up through the patio pavers.  It is so cute I want to let it grow...but I don't need anything else making the stones uneven...eesh.

Since we've started working on the yard it is a guarantee we'll have one more snowstorm--maybe if it is a big enough storm we'll have a snow day and I'll get the pantry cleaned!