Dinner

It's fun to go outside and just pick what you need for a meal!

The carrots are still at "baby" size, even though they've been in the ground for a good 70 days, but I decided to eat a few anyway. The three snap peas were the only ones not pecked by the birds (grrr). And the zucchini is my very first one of the season!

I ate most of this raw, but then decided to saute the last bit of the zucchini. It tastes SO much better cooked!

Even though it's late in the season, I decided to try some new things from seed. Today I planted some Minnesota midget melons (cantaloupe), New Zealand spinach, broccoli, soy beans, and swiss chard. I also planted another set of carrots. I want to keep those going all summer long if I can, just 8 at a time.

That's it for me. Hope everyone has a good week!

Garden update

Wow. I've been absent for longer than I thought! But here's an update on the garden:

Carrots

Green bean on the left, 3 snap peas on the right, second crop of carrots in front of peas
Zucchini

Spinach in top square, Kale in bottom

As you can see, we divided the bed into square feet with string. That helps me with spacing the plants out. The zucchini will get really big, so it gets its own 3'x2' section.

I have some more pictures of baby lettuce and such, but I can only upload so many at a time.

More updates to follow!

Happy Friday!

Garden update

It’s exciting to see my baby transplants doing SO WELL in the raised bed! So far I’ve transplanted kale, spinach, and snap peas. I direct-sowed some chives and carrots, which are starting to come up. I have a few more plants in containers that are ready to go into the dirt just as soon as we’re past the threat of frost (around April 15th).

And speaking of…We’re in for some freezing temperatures this coming week (down to 30!), so I’ll have to bring in the tiny tomatoes, cilantro, and pepper containers for a few nights. They are all warm-weather plants, so it’s risky to leave them out when it’s so cold. I’m probably being overly protective (which defeats the point of winter-sowing), but I just can’t risk losing my little babies!

Here's a little glimpse of some of them:

Snap peas:

Kale:

Cilantro:

Spinach:

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Seedlings

Look at my itty bitty babies!

From the top there's spinach, shasta daisy, and hollyhocks. The other seeds are germinating, they just aren't tall enough to take pictures of yet. I can't wait to transplant in a few weeks!

My latest obsession

I like dirt. I like growing stuff in dirt. I like eating stuff that I've grown. So my latest obsession has been the raised vegetable bed. Look it has dirt in it finally!

I'm using a method called "winter-sowing" to plant seeds pre-season. (You can read about it by clicking here...) Typically, Nashville weather doesn't allow for direct sowing until mid-April, due to frequent late frosts. But with winter-sowing, it doesn't even matter what the weather is like. Once the seeds sprout, get a few sets of leaves, and harden off, I'll transplant them into the bed.

I hope this method works, since seeds are SO cheap!

I ran out of take-out containers with lids, so I had to start using old planters. The only issue with this is how to secure the plastic wrap on top. I didn't have any rubber bands big enough around. But I got a great idea, and it worked like a charm.

Do you notice anything odd about these planters?

Perhaps they feel PRETTIER than the other planters? HA HA!!

Silent night

We got a surprising amount of snow this evening. It's so pretty and peaceful. I figured this was a good time to try using my camera for a night shot. I only recently read (on someone's blog, of course!) about how to accomplish this. It takes a very slow shutter speed, a 2 second delay, and a tripod (a tiny one, set on top of the grill). The shot turned out nice. It really captures the way the snow and clouds reflect a pinkish light.

So pretty.

Fall

I love our backyard this time of year...

Raised bed, Part Two

Hooray, the bed is finished! On Saturday morning, Lance secured the rest of the side braces and put boards across the middle for stability. Cedar is really light and flexible, so we didn't want the heaviness of the dirt to make the sides bow out. It's not going anywhere now!

As you can see, I put down pieces of cardboard along the inside. It's sitting on top of the expensive landscaping fabric. You can never be too careful when it comes to keeping Bermuda grass at bay. Once that stuff gets in, you might as well give up.

With the leftover cardboard (which all came from big boxes during renovation), I folded up pieces and laid them around the perimeter of the bed, even in between the bed and the fence. I then went around and laid a good 4 inch deep layer of mulch on top of that. I'm serious about my grass control!

You may notice a little red bush at the end of the bed on the right. That's my blueberry bush, which has been in a pot for a couple of years now. I'm hoping it will do better in the ground. I'll have to amend the pH of the soil some, but hopefully it'll be happier there.

Well, Dad is going to help us get good compost to fill the bed with in a few weeks, so stay tuned for more!