Working on New Garden Bed

April is here. I can't have flowers in the house and so I got this little plant with pink leaves. It's so cute. The pot and the plant came from Walmart.

 I'm starting to think about the garden. I'm not sure if I'm going to do a lot of vegs. this year. It seems to cost more than I reap.

 I am working on my new perennial bed that I put in last year. I found a cute bird bath at Walmart and I'm working on filling in the bed. A lot of the plants died in the middle of it last year and I'm not sure if the ground is polluted or if the sprinkler just wasn't reaching that spot, so I put the bird bath there, but I'm trying to figure out how to deal with the rest of it. I can't afford to spend a lot on plants and plan to move some of what I have around. I have another bed I want to redo and so may move some of those plants into the perennial bed.

It's a little early yet to put in frost sensitive plants, but I sure would like a little more color. I'm thinking about adding some colorful pots. I'm not in a hurry, I want take time to try different things.

Linda

Gardening Magazines and Seed Catalogues

I've been looking at old garden magazines. I'm still decluttering but it is getting me in the mood to think about the garden. My back porch is already full of pots. My kale is still growing and I have some onions in pots too. I really don't have a lot of room and I'm thinking maybe I should add some pots to my border in front of the porch. I don't plant in the soil because the lawn and garden service here sprays the lawn and I'm afraid that it seeps into the border.

I sent for a Territorial Seed catalogue and think I'll try starting some seeds this year. I found out last year at the farmers market that the zucchini with stripes on it is much milder and so I'd like to grow some of that. I would also like to grow some heirloom varieties, not sure what yet.

It's been discouraging the last few years because the summer heat has come very late in the season and the gardens have not produced much. You really need a greenhouse up here, but I still plan to try again. I think I need to look at cool weather crops like the kale.

Have you started thinking about your garden yet?

Linda

Summer Squash

I thought I'd repost a post I just did on my Reboot blog for those of you that don't follow it. It's about the health benefits of summer squash and has recipe links on the bottom. I'm doing a series of these posts on different healthy food, mostly veggies.

Linda

My Garden is Growing

My snowball is blooming, one of the things I love about spring are the blooming shrubs especially in the northwest. Everything is growing.

 I have zucchini seedlings sprouting. I don't do seeds very often, but my dd gave me some organic seeds. If I have success with them I may try some more, it's cheaper than starts. I'm having trouble making my food budget stretch so I may be depending on my garden more this year. I hope the weather cooperates.

 My pots of chard, arugula and kale are growing. I'm waiting for it to get warmer to get tomatoes and lemon cucumbers. Last year I tried bush beans and want to try pole beans this year. I'm gradually each year trying a little more. It's a learning curve growing veggies in containers. After hearing about gmo's I've decided to only buy organic produce, so that is not helping my budget, but growing your own is one way to help.

My new flower bed is doing well I added this petunia and the foxglove has opened up.

I've got to repot some things and fertilize my containers, but at least I don't have to worry about weeds.


Linda

New Perennial Bed

This is the new bed I've been working on. It was a mud hole before so I wanted to put in the stepping stones to get to the faucet. Everything is pretty small right now but I have a small lilac that will get to about 3' and the one with the white flowers in front is a small version of bridal wreath, it only gets to 18".

 I got it at the farmers market this year. The lilac I got last year on Tasha Tudor day. I used all perennials except the violas. I'm not sure about those. I hope to be able to take a photo again when things have filled in a bit. Now I want to tackle another bed that is looking kind of ratty, but I don't think I can afford to do it this year. I'd like to put roses in it.

Linda

Container Garden

I've been going to the farmer's mkt. for the last few weeks, mainly to get eggs and starts. So I have a few things to start my container garden. Now that I'm using those dark leafy green I will actually use the ones I grow this year. I have kale and arugula starts. The last two years have been terrible for veggies, I hope this year is better. My dd and I are looking for places we can get good eggs and organic produce that we can afford. The farmers mkt can get expensive but produce is beautiful. I'm eating less meat like a lot of people and so I want to learn to like a greater variety of veggies. I also got some herbs, basil and an apple mint. I'm enjoying using fresh herbs in my baking and I think the apple mint will be good for tea, but also a cookie or scone. Since I took this photo I actually got those starts potted. I'm running out of room already.

I've been sprucing up my front porch a bit. I got new cushions at Walmart and because plants get no direct light on this porch I thought I'd try a fuchsia. I really would like to buy new furniture for my porch but this is my frugal choice for adding a little color. That bench could use a couple of pillows too 

Linda

Agatha Christie's Garden

I was watching this dvd set I got from the library and was delighted to find on the last disk a documentary called Agatha Christie's Garden. It was about her home, Greenway. A retreat from her busy life as a writer during her second marriage. They described this wonderfully amazing garden that she had. I wanted to see if I could find a more detailed description of it on line, but didn't come up with anything. I did get a chronological list of her books. I have watched all the dvd's but have never actually read her books. I got interested after hearing them talk about her, so I think I'm going to try and read my way through the list, a little at a time. Here is a link to an Agatha Christie site. I noticed that this documentary is on U Tube.

Linda

Peter Rabbit Pillow

One of the Christmas gifts I'm making is a pillow with this cross stitch in the front. I'm doing the whole series, but not sure what I'm doing with the rest of them. I'm also working on a crochet project, so I crochet and watch dvd's in the afternoons. I've watched all the extended versions of LOTR and the special features. I was thinking yesterday how inspiring the craft work is. It's makes me want to go the extra mile. The way they detailed everything was extraordinary. I leaned so much from the commentary as well as the extra features, it was just fascinating.

It seems a little cooler this morning. I've been starting to get the fall vibe a little. This week I've been doing some deep cleaning and decluttering. Yesterday I cleaned off the front of my frig. It's like a bulletin board for me. It gets pretty cluttered because I just keep adding stuff to it. I think it's about time to degrease the kitchen, that means getting out the ladder and taking the stuff off the tops of the cabinets so I want to wait until I feel up to it. Last time I did it I replaced all the stuff with things that are easy to wash.

I'm still reading Silmarillion and it's hard going. I read a bio. of Tolkien it was quite interesting. This next week my gd and I are going to start watching Star Wars, I've never seen it. So I'm thinking I may start reading the series by C.S.Lewis for adults that was sort of an outer space trilogy. I tried to read it many years ago.

I cleaned up my pot garden yesterday, it never really did much this year. Everything seemed stunted and just didn't want to grow. I kind of started to ignore it and basically gave up on it. Well there is always next year. I think I said that last year!

Have a good weekend.
Linda

Blog Sharing and My Week

I've been going through all my blogs on my blog feeder and I was thinking I'd like to share some of the ones I enjoy on a variety of subjects. I'm also going to be redoing my blog page and the lists I have on it. I'd like to redo the look of it too, but not sure yet what I want to do.

The first blog I want to share is http://tigressinajam.blogspot.com/ It is from my canning and preserving category. I don't really can, but I would like to. I've always wanted to make mustard and though Tigress in a Jam I somehow found this recipe  http://localkitchenblog.com/2010/03/12/can-jam-roasted-garlic-lemon-mustard/ So maybe I'll try it one of these days. Tigress has some yummy recipes and links to other yummy recipes. If you have any good canning and preserving sites you like, please share.

I've decided to try going grain free for several months and see if any of my allergic symptoms go away or get better. I read a blog about a family that had several allergic symptoms, not just stomach, but rashes, dizziness and so on and this made a big difference for their whole family. I'm not really suppose to be eating grains on my low carb diet, but I cheat now and then and so I'm using this to find out is I'm really strict if I notice any difference. I've been dizzy a lot lately and I've always been allergic. It's quite common for diabetics to have problems with grains.

I'm knitting a fall scarf, with fall colors and I got a pattern for a hat. So when I finish the scarf I'm going to try making a hat with circular needles. I'm starting to think about what I can make for Christmas gifts. I can't say what but I've started one project already.

So this week I made the call about my cable. I was prepared to be without tv, but I was able to get the economy package for it and my Internet, they are the same provider. So I cut my cost almost in half. I don't get all of my favorite channels, but most of them. I've decided to tackle the rest of the things a bite at a time. This week I'm going to tackle the cell phone. I've also unplugged all the things that I can to see if I can save on power. I tried it once before, but not really long enough to tell, but I heard someone say they did it and saved a fair amount. I'm more motivated now, it's a little inconvenient, but I think I can get use to it. Another thing I'm going to do is go with a smaller garbage can and that will reduce that bill.

We (my gd and I) went on a hike with the Curves group today. They were planning to go a lot farther than I though I could go so we just went part of the way and then dropped out, but it's a start and now I know a new cool place to walk. I need to get back in the walking grove. I tired out pretty quick today and we were lagging behind the group.

The photo is my herb and pansy garden. It survived the winter and is growing well. I planted some lettuce this week.

Have a good week.

Linda

Granny Square Purse

I finally got my purse finished and I made a little coin purse to match. I lined it with fabric. It turned out really well. I'd like to make another one and maybe try some different shapes. I knitted the coin purse. I've been knitting again. I've done a wash cloth and am working on a second one. I'm also doing another scarf. I'm trying to use some of the yarn I have. I've been reading these knitting mysteries and that got me in the mood to knit again. The one I'm reading now is talking about felting and that is something I would like to try. It makes things warmer and more water tight. It's a good idea for a hat.

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I had all these medical, yearly apts., but they are done now and they didn't find any new problems so that's a relief. I've also been focused on trying to figure out how to make my budget work. I'm going to cancel my cable, just waiting for my current reality show to end, Top Chef. I don't think I'll get any reception without it. I'm tracking my spending at the groc. store and trying to figure out how to make it work on my budget. I've consistently gone over and I can't keep doing that.

I'm still reading Little House books. I finished the one written by Laura and am going to start the Rocky Ridge series about her life with her husband after they left their original home. I read about Rose and was sad to find out that she had a very different life from her mother and didn't have a happy marriage. By different life I mean her values seemed to be very different. All the things we love about her mom's life it sounds like she rejected.

Spring seems to finally be here and I'm going to start trying to get out and walk. One of the instructors at Curves is starting a walking group and so I hope to be a part of that. I've been struggling with my diet. I'm trying to get back on it. I gained back a couple of pounds, but I hope the walking will help.

I'm hoping soon to start doing some gardening again. My herbs and pansies seem to have survived the winter pretty well. The mints all turned brown, but they will come back I'm sure. I have bulbs coming up. I hope we have a better growing season this year.

I got a jar attachment for my Food Saver that you use on your canning jars to vacuum seal them. it works really well. I got it through Amazon for about $10. I've dehydrated green beans, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini chips and I'm going to do celery next. Come summer I'll do tomatoes.

We have sun today, I hope you all get some soon.

Linda

Winter Herb Garden

I've been cleaning up my back porch and pulling out all the dead plants. I decided I wanted to replant several of the herbs together in a container that I could pull back near the house when the frost comes. Last year I tried herbs indoors but that didn't work so well, so I'm hoping these will do better left outside but somewhat protected.                                                                                                                                                  

                

The signing party was lots of fun, unfortunately I forgot my camera. I made some new friends and we all enjoyed talking about our interests, several were Tasha Tudor lovers and of course they all knew and loved Clarice and her blog. Our dinner at the Tapas place was great. Everyone agreed the dates wrapped in bacon with a balsamic reduction was the best item. The next day were went to a friends for brunch and I continued to get to know some new friends. So it was a full weekend for me.                                                            

I made a great Asparagus soup yesterday I'm going to link it on my food blog here.                                       

I bought an extra comforter to put on the end of my bed so I'll be nice and warn come winter. I've noticed that I really needed a little more warmth on cold nights my red coverlet isn't really that warm and Penny's had them on sale, so I got a pretty robins egg blue one. I've been doing a little more shopping then usual looking for Christmas gifts and looking for bargains. I'm not usually a shopper, but I decided that once a week I'm going to go out and start looking. My dd is a great bargain hunter and I never have been so I think I need to learn, we've talked about that you have to know what's out there and what is a good price and when they have the sales. I knew that I would probably spend a little more just being in the stores so I have to watch myself. I saw this comforter last week and came home and thought about it before I decided to purchase it. 

Have a good weekend. I still have some clean up to do outside if it doesn't rain.                                       

Linda                                                                                                                                                       

                                      

Fall Flowers

I think aliens have taken over my laptop today. It's driving me crazy. Well I'm trying to just touch bases for the week. The photos are some of my fall flowers that I'm still enjoying. We have had sun on and off. I haven't cleaned up my pot garden yet. I'm waiting until we get frost. Last year at this time I was big time into herbs. Trying to grow them inside didn't work out too well. I'm not sure why, but it was messy and after a while buggy. They didn't grow much. I'm not sure what I'm going to do this year. I'll try and keep the ones on the porch alive as long as I can and give them protection. I'm not sure what kind of winter we are going to have. I thought it might be a nicer one, but I've heard rumors of a cold one. So far it's cold one day and warm the next.

I've been into British mysteries which always puts me in the garden mood, as I read about their veggies gardens and lush flowers. I enjoyed all the flowers in pots I planted this year and think I will do that again next year. The veggies didn't do well, but we had a cold wet summer and when we finally got some sun and heat it was too late for things to grow much. I've always had good luck with my tomatoes and this year they just didn't produce anything. Well come spring I'm sure I'll be raring to go again.

My life has been so dominated by this diet and fitness program I've been trying to do I have felt like my creativity and fun projects have just been put on the back burner. I am making some Christmas gifts, but can't talk about most of them. I've decided to ease up on the diet and fitness for a while and get some balance back into my life. I was reading something about the importance of balance. I know that I tend to go full bore when I get into something and everything else suffers, so I'm trying to get back on track with the rest of my life. I'm cutting my Curves down to 3 days a week and plan to go in a little later instead of getting up at 6:30 like I have been and the diet was so restrictive that I just lost my appetite so I'm backing up on that too and just taking another look at what I really need to do for my diabetes, but still be able to enjoy cooking and eating.

I'm looking forward to a busy day tomorrow with my dd's signing party and dinner out with family and a few friends. We are going to a Tapas place.

Have a good weekend. Hugs everyone.

Linda

Ladies Mantle

I have this very large Ladies Mantle. I love the lime green color of the flowers. This is another flower that I like to cut and bring in for bouquets. I like to let it dry and use it all winter long. It look lovely along with the lavender.

Here is a link about drying although I just put it in a vase and let it dry.

It does have medicinal uses when made into a tea, but it also has warnings, so I don't think I'll be trying it.

I took a class is drying flowers several years ago. It was a lot of fun. Here are some of the various ways to dry different flowers. This site tells you what flowers are best for drying and has several different methods like microwaving.

I haven't done this for a while, but I'm thinking of trying it again. I also have a press for flowers that is fun or you can use an old telephone book.

I wanted to let you know my laptop screen has been fading out on me and so if I disappear for a time it's because I've taken it in.

Linda

My Lavender is in Bloom

My lavender is in bloom, so I can start harvesting a new bunch. I just like making little bouquets around the house.

I also enjoy seeing them in the garden so I won't cut them all. Unfortunately I can't use these in cooking because the ground near them is sprayed by the landscapers and I'm afraid it might be getting into the lavender, but I can still enjoy them in other ways.

I may make some sachets for the bath or to put under my pillow. I never did make a sleep pillow last year, so I might do that.

I do have a lavender in a pot which I'll be able to cook with, but it hasn't bloomed yet. I will use it for the flavored honey and teas. You can also use it in foods, but you have to be careful not to overdo it, it can take on a medicinal taste to some people.

What is your favorite way to use lavender?

Linda

An Old Fashioned Rose

I wanted to show you my beautiful old fashioned rose that is blooming now. I don't know the name, someone gave it to me out of her yard as a housewarming gift. I love old fashioned roses because they are so effortless and beautiful.

Another beach find the large shell. I thought it would make a good vase or even planted, but I need to figure out a little stand for it, so I put one of my roses in it with some water and just stuck it in a pot with an herb.

Linda

Herb Markers

While my gd and I were walking on the beach I saw these shells and got the idea to use them as markers for my herbs.

I have 21 herbs now.One of the interesting ones I got this year is Lavender Scented Thyme. I love thyme and also have English Thyme and Lemon Thyme.

This French Mint is from last year and I loved it because it is not too strong, it has a real nice mild taste. I have three other mints, Pineapple Mint, Curly Mint, and Peppermint. I would like to get Spearmint, I like the flavor of it.

I got a Lavender to put in a pot this year because the landscapers spray our lawns and I don't know if it is getting into my Lavender that are in the flower bed. I use those for potpourri, but I wanted some for teas.

I wanted to get some of the herbs I used last year and got a second lemon balm because it is used in a lot of things. I also got lemon verbena for tea and sage for tea and culinary.

So those are some of the ones I'm growing this year plus several others. I have the usual parsley and chives, rosemary and oregano for cooking.

Linda

My Back Porch

I've been working on getting my back porch pulled together. I've been planting a lot of herbs and flowers along with a few veggies. I decided this year to mix the plants together in some of the pots. So I have herbs and flowers in the same pots. I usually separate them. We'll see how that works. I use the old step stool as a place for some of my herbs.

I started thinking about how many herbs I had to buy last year for my teas and remedies I wanted to try. I can grow them all, but I'm definitely growing a lot more herbs this year. They don't get that big in pots and with our short summer, so I'm getting more than one of the ones I use a lot of like lemon balm.

I have a few veggies, but not a lot. I've done well with tomatoes and lemon cucumbers in the past so I'm doing those. I'm trying bush bean this year to see how they do in a pot. My garlic hasn't been harvested yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they did. My porch isn't very big as your can see so I can't do things that really spread like squash.

If the garlic does well I would like to try onions next time. So far we are having a cool year, but hopefully we will have enough heat for these plants to thrive.

Linda

Container Garden in Process

I'm buying plants, but the weather has been rainy and cool.

I love the pink petunia it looks kind of purplish in the photo but it is a pale pink.

I got a blue pot to match my blue grill that I got at Target.

I had this little willow rocker and decided to use it as a plant stand for my chives.

So I'm working on my container garden, but it's slow going with this weather.

Linda

Snowballs

I love my snowball bush. It was one of the first things I planted when I moved here. We are past our frost date now and so I'm starting to work on my back porch container plants. I've planted one of those upside down pots for tomatoes. I put a Sweet 100 in it with little mini petunias on top. I also planted in regular pots two more tomatoes a Roma and a Yellow Pear. One of my other favorites is Lemon Cucumber so I got one of those and I'm going to try some Bush Beans this year. I replaced some of the herbs that died.

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I've been reading a gardening book that someone suggested called "Gardening Anywhere" by Alys Fowler. She suggests that if you are starting a new garden you go slowly and find out what works for your garden before you spend too much money. So I'm going to think a little more before I do much more. I really need to do some cleaning up of some asters in my garden that are taking over and my large rosemary keeps dieing a little more each year so I'm thinking I should take it out.

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As you can tell we have had some warm and sunny days lately, but that doesn't mean the rain or grey is over. You have to take advantage of the nice days because they don't alway stay for long.

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Linda

This and That

I'm sort of in the middle of a few projects and so didn't really have a post today, but I will say I'm getting ready to try some of the natural bath and body recipes. I've been a little under the weather so I'm doing a lot of reading.

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My garden has a few flowers in it but not much. My trusty pansy is still blooming. I love pansies, their little faces are so cute and the colors so vibrant. They really are a cheerful flower. I always have a pot blooming. I'm waiting for the frost date to start my pot garden. My herbs from last year are starting to slowly get leaves, some didn't make it. I had tried to grow them indoors and they didn't do that well. The best ones were the chives and parsley. Some of the others started to get buggy and so I put them outside.

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I've been posting a lot on my other blogs. Check them out if you don't go to them, the links are on my side bar.

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Also wanted to say I watched Young Victoria yesterday and it's wonderful.

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Linda