Seedlings

Well, we planted our seedlings and potato cubes about three weeks ago. The kids got a great thrill out of planting the seeds and continuing to watch them sprout. We were unsure of how well the seeds would grow with minimal light on the deck, so we set about rotating them to different spots on the deck in order to find the best light. Apparently we were successful, and the mixture of stable watering and filtered sunlight was enough to bring about the spouts nice and healthy.

I had a miserable failing however in trying to create my own compost bin. I am sorry to say that it turned out to be a bucket full of briny mess. :) So, we are looking into new ways in which to compost in an apartment setting. If any of my Blotanical or gardening friends have any ideas, I welcome them! 

Right after planting:
Seedlings and potatoes (in the pink bucket)

Week 3: 

Apartment Gardening

Hello fellow gardeners!!

We are embarking on a new journey of apartment deck gardening! We've worked out the potatoes in a Rubbermaid container creatively, but haven't quite decided how we are going to work some of the heavier crops. I welcome any and all recommendations from my friends in gardening around the world!!

New Adventures

When I began my blog about gardening, I lived on six acres with a huge garden, herb garden, grapes, etc. Now that I'm in an apartment, I am not sure how much gardening that I'll truly be able to accomplish. I would welcome any advice or suggestions from you guys for great ways to utilize a small amount of space to grow vegetables.

With the weather cooler and snow flurries this week, I am happy to say that the advantage to the covered deck is that it forms a wind barrier, keeping things warmer in cool weather. Our herbs and even the flowers and cactus seem to be surviving well.

I am going to be creating another blog soon about a topic other than gardening, so keep your eyes out, and I'll link it to this one once it is complete.

MC

Moved.... to a land far far away...

Hello again everyone...

I write to you now from a lovely apartment in Atlanta, instead of at my 6 acre farm in the country. Recently, my two stepchildren were moved two hours away from us, so my husband and I packed up and moved to a more central location to be near to them. We have finally settled down, and are looking forward to new gardening endeavors on our deck. We gained some great prickly pear cactus, and a ground cover cactus from a dear friend, as well as a knock out rose that is still budding out. Amazing, since there is a chance for snow (yes in Atlanta) tomorrow morning!!

This move has wreaked havoc on our garden planning, but we are blessed to have a nice, 200 sq foot deck on the back of our apartment, that gets light in the morning and evening, and shade during the day. This is working out extremely well for the 10 herbs that we brought with us, and I think will work out well next spring when we put in some planters of veggies. No doubt our deck will look somewhat like a greenhouse, but hey, it will work!

I am extremely confused about what to do with my latest endeavor; my avocado plant. Yes, I took an avocado pit, stuck four toothpicks into it, and submerged the bottom half into a jar of cool water. That was seven months ago. About four months ago the pit split, and low and behold, roots began popping out of the bottom. Now, I have a two foot tall avocado tree growing in a quart jar of water!! I guess there is something to be said for hydroponics, because the tree is doing extremely well in its soil free environment. I'm trying to decide whether or not to plant it, or just let it continue thriving in the water.

I hope that all of my online gardening buddies will continue to keep in touch. I have missed working with my blog, as well as discussing many different subjects with all of you.

Hope to talk to you soon!

MC

Hiatus

Well everyone, after almost a month of being away, dealing with two family members in two different hospitals, and staying up to my elbows in gardening, I'm happy to say that I'm back!! Being busy is never a bad thing for me, however it has dampened my blogging somewhat.

An unusual situation presents itself before me at this time. Two years ago my grandmother lost her battle with breast cancer. One month later, my niece was born. Two weeks ago, my other grandmother fell, broke her leg, and was in the hospital for two weeks. Next weekend (making a month later) my second niece (same mommy) will be born. How ironic that the grandmothers and great granddaughters seem to be on some kind of same wave length. I'm very happy to report that my grandmother, who is now sporting some serious chrome in her leg, is doing well and ornery as ever. My sister will be about a month early, but she went into labor last week and they sent her home on bed rest with medicine to help the baby develop further.

As I have pondered this situation, many times while working in my garden or with my veggies, I think about how blessed we all really are in this life. Such a fleeting thing life is, a thing in which we have no control over, and yet we try so hard to stay on the "right track". Gardening makes me think a great deal of the time, the sights and smells remind me of days gone by when I played around my parents in their garden.

Such a simple time then. No worries of grandparents passing or babies being born too early. The only thing I knew then was that I loved the dirt, the seedlings, and the wonderful way that the air always smelled after dad cut grass and tilled the garden. Now, as I face these grownup challenges, I find myself stopping to smell the air after my husband cuts the grass, or we're working in the garden side by side. It's almost as if, for that moment, I can be a kid again, free and simple.

Not much has changed I suppose in those years. I have loved every moment of working with my garden this year. The squash and zucchini are playing out. The corn stalks are drying in the heat, and the watermelons and pumpkins are nearing their fullest. These are those tale tell signs that summer is here, soon to be followed by cooler days and new crops. We are looking forward to planting cool weather crops and are totally open to suggestions about what works and is yummy! We are about to embark on yet another adventure, and looking forward to every moment. One day, our kids will tell someone about their days of helping us in our garden when they were little. I truly hope that they remember these days fondly and with great smiles.

New Adventures

Life has been full of new adventures these days. The veggies in the garden are keeping me very busy. Tomorrow I try my hand at canning dill pickles, which I haven't done in years. I also have beans, squash, zucchini, and more tomatoes to put up.

One recent find that caused my husband and I to stop, scratch our heads, then laugh mercilessly, was when we realized that we had trellised the watermelon vines on fencing, and now have what looks like softballs hanging from a fence. How we did this, I'm not sure. I think it happened somewhere between stormy weather and being out of town. So, now we try to fix that situation, which is proving difficult. Hopefully pantyhose will help!

I've been baking more and more lately, and have been very successful in my endeavors. I'm hoping to do even more and branch out in different areas.. maybe even start a business someday.

Craziness, storms, and veggies everywhere!

So, one lesson that my husband and I learned recently is that when you are gone for a few days and the weather channel calls for "rain" be prepared to come back to mayhem. The storms we had last week and weekend took down a bunch of corn stalks, several tomatoes, and trampled the beans pretty well. We had a lot of wind and hail, and unfortunately, no way to protect the baby veggies. So, between being out of town working, planning parties, and in general being busy, we must now strive to regain order to the garden.

On the plus side, I froze two meals worth of seven top turnip greens, one meal of yellow squash, and have two meals of bok choy greens waiting for freezing tomorrow. I have also gotten over a half gallon of blackberries off of my patch, and they are still full of red berries. We started trying to count the cherry tomatoes that we are harvesting, but have lost count somewhere around 25 so far. The vines are crazy loaded and we are enjoying a constant supply of tomatoes now.

Gardening has given me a great outlet to be creative and to learn more about foods and herbs. I discovered today that if you blanch bok choy greens in a bit of oil and garlic then let them sit until cool, then saute them in a bit of butter until crispy, they are delicious! We eat the bulbs quite often, but have never ventured into the world of the greens. What a great discovery! Another great discovery lately was a hash of finely chopped fresh zucchini and red potatoes, sauteing them with chopped, seasoned chicken breast. The result, a one dish wonder! I would never have paired those three together in one dish, but it was fantastic! Everyone wanted seconds.

The herbs are doing fantastic since the pruning I did when I dried many a couple of weeks ago. I cannot believe how well everything has bounced back and is growing new leaves. The basil looks better now than it did when we bought it, and the sage is wonderfully aromatic. I never knew growing herbs would be such a wonderful tool in the kitchen. I have learned a great deal about them, and how they fair with other ingredients.

One recent weekend I thought a lot about God, nature, and the scope of all that is. As I sat on the beach next to my husband at sunset, he took my hand, and every worry I could have in the world disappeared among the crashing waves, gulls singing, and the gentle breeze surrounding us. Everything that is natural in this world is magnificent, but is taken so for granted. At such moments, I felt completely connected to God, as though I could feel Him in every breath. Such wonder.. such solace.. such perfect love. My husband and I both have one place that is very special to both of us from our childhoods long before we knew each other. Whenever we get the chance, a week, weekend, or even a spontaneous day, we go there for a reprieve from our everyday craziness. The connection that we have there reunites us on a level unseen, and takes us back to the days when we got engaged and married, and spent our honeymoon in that very special place. It's like being there is a constant reminder of what our love has overcome, and how far we have come in the love we share. We are beginning new journeys and adventures, and all along the way one truth stands stronger than any other; we have the love of God leading us, and binding us to one another as ultimately we are one. No matter where these adventures take us, we will overcome any challenge and will be stronger for it. He's my perfect love; my heart, body and soul long for him constantly and completely. My husband, my hero.