Meet Our New Puppy!

Meet Chase. He is an 8 week old Border Collie we picked up this morning from NelsonBorderCollies. He is a joy! We are so in love with him already.

 

His big sister Teagan is so excited to have a playmate! They already discovered they both enjoy digging. 😟 They also had a game of chase (Teagan runs faster than any dog I've ever seen, so Chase gave up pretty quickly), and several supervised doggy play sessions.

 I'm sure Chase will be  a wonderful addition to our family!

 

How I plan my Garden

January is when I typically plan my garden. This post is a bit late, but there may be some of you who have not yet begun your planning, so let me tell you what I do.

The first thing I do is stockpile the seed catalogs that begin to arrive around Christmas.

Once Christmas has been packed away, I fix a cup of tea and pull out the catalogs and do a first go through. I put post it tags on everything that I want (which is always more than I need!) Then I go into my leftover seeds and eliminate any duplicates and make notes of things that are low or missing.

The next thing I do is pull out my garden notebook from last year and pour a second cup of tea while reading over my notes and making new notes in this year's notebook. For example: In 2017 we tried one Black Krim tomato plant for the first time and loved it. So in my 2018 notebook, I write buy seeds for Black Krim tomato. I buy my notebooks from the Dollar Spot (or whatever they call it these days) at Target. 

Then I start my Garden Notebook with some goals (cough cough, Restart blog didn't get done) and a list of what I ordered, from where, and how much I spent. I'm not sure why I track what I spend, because even if gardening put me at a negative balance, I'd still do it. 😉

 In my notebooks I keep track of what I planted, what it needs in the garden and, if I gathered some information from watching You Tube (💓) or reading (💓💓), I make notes of it in there. Eventually, I will make an index so I can find my onion information, or leek information without having to read the whole book. (This year I've gotten more colorful - lol)

Then comes the fun part - trying to fit it all in my garden. This year I came up with an idea that I really am excited about! I started out with a map of my garden, as always.

It's not totally to scale, but it's close enough.

Then I put tracing paper on top and planned out my early spring plantings.

This is a game changer for me because it helps me to visualize what beds need to be prepared. I can tell you in the past I would have prepared beds all over the garden because I wasn't thinking seasons.

Another piece of tracing paper for April planting. The photo doesn't show it as well, but I can still see to my original garden plan, and the March planting plan.

Here is my May plan - these are all subject to change up to a point. For example, I still don't know what I'm doing in front of the cucumbers ... but I am excited that this actually works and it will help me use my space wisely throughout the gardening season.  

Another thing that I always use, and I will give a shout out to Niki Jabbour, who wrote two of my favorite gardening books, The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener and Groundbreaking Food Gardens, is my  "what to plant when" notes that I wrote in the cover of my well worn copy of The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener.

It's my own personal guide based mostly on Niki's advice and some trial and error.

This is how I plan. I'd love to know how you plan! Send me a note in the comments below.

  For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 

- Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 

Friday Favorites - Compost Pail

Welcome to Friday Favorites, the day in which I share something I use and love.

Today's Friday Favorite is my Compost Pail, the OXO Good Grips Easy Clean Compost Bin, available here.

This was a gift from my son and daughter-in-law this past Christmas and there are many reasons I love it.

The first and foremost is that there is nothing to rust or get stained on this pail. It is easy to carry out to the compost pile with the attached handle and the lid snaps on and off easily. The lid has no seal, so there is no gasket to get full of nastiness, yet there is no odor when the lid is shut. OXO says that the " lid closes but doesn’t seal, locking in the smell while allowing in a small amount of oxygen that prevents bacteria and mold from immediately forming. "  Yay, no mold! (If you've kept a compost bin on your counter in warm weather, you'll know this is a big deal!) And it is so easy to clean - it can go into the dishwasher!!! The interior has rounded corners, so no nasty compost is getting stuck inside. Warning: nasty photo coming up.

It holds enough for a day (12 cup capacity) so there is no running out to the compost after every meal.

This absolutely gets my seal of approval. If you need a compost pail for your kitchen, I highly recommend this one.

A Greenhouse Full of Orchids!

I'm not a big lover of houseplants. I have a few scattered around the house because they are supposed to be good for one's indoor air quality, but they don't excite me like a garden does. They look the same day after day - no new vegetables, no sudden growth. Sigh. In fact (true confession time) I have been known to "accidentally" leave them outside at the end of summer. 😳

My friend Sheila grows orchids. Beautiful orchids that bloom each year for months on end. I admire her. Because while I think orchids in bloom are beautiful, they spend a lot of time looking like this:

This is my sole grocery store variety orchid. Or as I call it, "the orchid I haven't given to Sheila in frustration yet." But today I became inspired to care for it a little bit longer. Sheila asked me if I wanted to join her and her friend Sandy on a trip to Dearborn Market in Holmdel for their annual Orchid Show . The show runs through Sunday February 11th if you're in the area.  You can click on the link for more information.

Spending a few hours in a green house in February was enough enticement,  but I really wanted to meet Sandy Greig of Bringing the Farm Home. She is so talented and has such a beautiful blog.  Check it out when you have time! Sandy was as down-to-earth and friendly as she seems in her blog.

So off we went to spend time with the orchids. In the dullness of February, the colors and fragrances were almost startling. And the warm greenhouse was the perfect place to spend the afternoon. We bought lunch at the market and found a cozy little table for three and just had a wonderful time!  It was a perfect winter break! I came home and looked at my poor little orchid with new respect. As long as I hide it next to the primroses so it doesn't just look like leaves, it may stand a chance! If not, there's always Sheila.

But enough of my sad looking orchid, here are some beauties from the show. I know nothing about orchids and wouldn't even try to name them, so I'll just let their beauty speak for itself.

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."

 - Matthew 6:28-29

Could it be... almost two years since I posted? 

Yeah, it could. But in the two years since, things have changed. For one, I retired.  Starting this blog back has been one of my retirement goals. 

Our empty-nest family has grown to include a rescue pup, named Teagan,

who is 20 months old and soon to include a puppy ( yes we've lost our minds) in addition to the two cats. (Doesn't Teagan have the cutest face ever?)

Last summer was my first retired summer and we are still eating things I froze and canned from the garden. I had some successes and some big failures last year, but I learned a lot and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences in and out of the garden with you this year.

So let's get started!

Today is about 12 weeks before the last frost in my part of New Jersey.  This is a good time to start onions and leeks from seed. I planted my leeks two weeks ago and they are up and under the grow lights.

This morning I planted onions. I planted 72 cells of Ailsa Craig Exhibition Onions, seeds from Pinetree Seeds. Ailsa Craig onions are sweet onions that can grow really large. (We'll see how that goes.) I was happy that there wasn't a ton of seeds in the seed packet. Onion seeds don't keep (you have to buy fresh every year) and I don't need  500 onions. 

I filled my trays, which I bought on Amazon here and the under trays here, with Espoma seed starting mix. I have much better results with Espoma that the one sold at the big box stores and Wal-Mart.There was enough for each cell to have two, and some have three and some have four because.... just because. 

I then covered the seeds with dry soil. The dry soil is a different color than the wet soil and it's easier to see if you've covered all the cells.

Once covered the soil got a good soaking. I use a spray bottle of room temperature water for this.

Then the tray was covered in plastic to prevent moisture loss, and since seeds need warmth, not light, the whole tray was popped into my kitchen cabinet that sits above the kick space heater.

I will watch the seeds daily and when they first start coming up they will be moved to light.

Look what I dragged home

Last week I drove down our street and saw a "brass bed" head board that had fallen out of someone's truck on a dump trip, lying on the side of the road. When it was still there two days later, I pulled over and picked it up. It didn't fit in my car so I drove home with the tailgate open in my small SUV. And it was quite heavy. I'm thinking it is cast iron, perhaps? Twin sized, I think.

Isn't it pretty? (I need to think what my background looks like before I shoot pictures. Ugh.)
I want to use it in my garden without being too corny.  I am not thinking Flower "bed" like this:While it is cute, it's not what I want.

 

Here's one used as a garden gate. That could work. (from funkyjunkjennifer blog ) 

 

 

Or how about turned into a garden bench? (from  Southern Revivals.com )

Vining flowers? But I don't know any that are short enough to use with the headboard.

It was a happy find. I'll let you know what I come up with. 

Keep your eyes open, you never know what you will find on the side of the road!

Another bad weekend - weather wise

I keep saying "Next weekend it will be warmer, it can wait one more week." And then again we get a freeze warning for our area.
Last week I covered the seedlings with straw and they survived well. Some of my other plants did not fare so well -

Last week

Today

Still good things are happening in the Potager. My son gave me an early Mother's Day gift yesterday by giving me a day of manual labor. He and his Dad built boxes, hauled dirt and just about finished the garden for me to plant in. I left work early and my son and I planted one of the beds. It was so cold outside. My son said, "It might snow tomorrow. Will the seeds be okay if it snows?"
I told him, "I think so. I don't really know." He said "I thought you know these things."
 I smiled and replied, "What I lack in knowledge, I make up in joy."
It is true. I may never be a master gardener, but I am all smiles when I am in the garden.

My early Mother's Day Gift

Today is cold and rainy, no snow yet - although occasionally I see large white frozen rain mixed in.
I put the straw back on my beds to protect the young plants. Even without snow, the temperature is supposed to drop to 26 tonight.

I love the smell of straw. It's so ... earthy. I also put straw over the emerging asparagus. I didn't do that last week and lost them all.

Last week when it was too cold to work in the garden, I transplanted the bell peppers that were failing to thrive into bigger containers and used potting soil. What a difference!

 They doubled in size and their true leaves finally came out. I planted these on Valentine's day. Peppers can be so slow growing! I'm sure they would be better in a warmer environment under grow lights, but I have what I have at this time. Hopefully they will continue to do well and be ready for transplant at the right time.
I also transplanted my tomatoes, which were getting leggy and they look happy now.

I had to put some pots upstairs in my sewing room because I ran out of windowsill space in my dining room. The dinosaur kale and spaghetti squash I planted last week just came up through the soil today.

I took advantage of the rainy day today to sew a bit. I would like to show you my sewing room - non garden related, but lovely nonetheless.

We just redid it this winter. I am thrilled with how it turned out.  

It is so organized and easy to work in.

I painted an old frame, had hubby secure some pegboard and added pegs for my threads. 

We hung my embroidery hoops on an old coat hook.

All my scissors are hanging right above my cutting board. And bulletin boards for ideas. 

Um, I guess I'm idea-less at this moment.

This was a Ballard Design rip-off. Hubby cut out the arrows and I wood-burned them.

The other side of the room has the old antique rope bed my daughter slept in while growing up. 

It's tall and only 3/4 size.  

Above the bed hangs a ladder I took from my Dad's shop when he retired. It's old and worn and splattered in paint. I love it. I bought two different styles of picture frames from IKEA which fit in each rung perfectly. I still haven't printed out pictures for them yet.

And over the bed I painted a definition of Selah I saw on An Oregon Cottage

in another IKEA frame. (Don't you just love IKEA? My sewing chair is from there also.)

There's plenty of room for the ironing board when sewing. I also do yoga in this room in the morning. All my fabric and supplies are neatly stored in the closet.

But my favorite part of this room is the view I have when I am sewing.