Playing in the Garden

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When times are tough and it's hard to find beauty in my life, I take comfort in nature. I look for the beautiful moments I find in little things.  

This week I found a caterpillar munching on a two year-old, flowering parsley plant.  I've trimmed this plant down once already and thought of just pulling him out all together as he's in the center of my square foot garden and taking up too much space.  Just as I was contemplating this once again, I spotted this beauty.  We believe he is a Swallowtail butterfly in progress and we can't wait to see him transform.  

We agreed not to move him or try to watch him in a jar.  We talked about how the caterpillar needs a lot of nutrition and this plant was the perfect plant for him to eat in our garden as we are not using it.  Meanwhile, Owen decided to make him a home, a little fairy garden of sorts in the garden bed.  Owen played there for a long time.  When he finished he wondered why the caterpillar wasn't coming down to his home. This gave us an opportunity to talk about how much caterpillars need to eat to survive and find the energy to transform into beautiful butterflies.  

I loved watching Owen play here while I puttered about the garden.  

Until next time...

Oh October...

Oh October, my favorite month., it's just the prettiest month in New Mexico.  In October it finally begins to get cooler and the plants are full grown and happy after the warm summer rainy season.  Our tomatoes are finally turning red after spending most of the summer green. While we were visiting family in NY the garden exploded into a tangled mess of tomato vines & flowers, mixed with a pumpkin vine or two.  I've been planting morning glories the past two years in honor of my Grandma who passed on.  They are just beautiful, the colors are so varied and truly glorious!

Right now my family is going through a really hard time, my husband and I are separated & it looks like divorce is unavoidable.  I am so sad and grieving for our loss, yet my beautiful garden reminds me of all God's promises.  My garden reminds me, "Be still, and know that I am God".  The God that creates this beauty and wonder, miracles in their own right, will heal our broken hearts and show us the way.

Before we left for New York Owen was super excited to plant this giant pumpkin.  I'm not sure if we'll see giant pumpkins before the first freeze.  We shall see.  We've harvested lots of sugar pie pumpkins though.  I can't wait to process them and get them in the freezer for all things pumpkin; stew, pie, breads and muffins. I've processed and frozen zucchini too for our yummy zucchini chocolate cake.

Our tepee was supposed to be peas & beans last Spring, it didn't really take off until I planted pink morning glories & butternut squash.  Now it's just gorgeous, creating a little hideaway for the boys.

I've also been harvesting lots of basil, making my favorite pesto and freezing it.  Pesto is one of my favorite flavors, so comforting.

If you think of us, friends, send out a prayer or two for us.  Until next time...

Seedlings & Sprouts, an update...

So much of the garden is volunteer this year, I'm not completely sure of some of what's growing. I love that!  I love learning to recognize seedlings.  French Marigolds & Nasturtiums are popping up everywhere and now that I've grown them from seed for the past few years I can recognize them.  This time of the year is so exciting.  I have the memory of how the garden looked last year at its peak and I want that!  But that time of the year is just a fleeting glimpse of the very hottest point of summer. It's such a reminder to stop and enjoy this moment when everything is beginning anew. 

This looks to be zucchini.  I had wondered if it was summer squash but I compared pics from last year and it appears not. This is where I had wanted to have a butterfly/ bee garden.  The Borage is
coming up beautifully and there are a few flower seedlings under the right zucchini. I wonder what they will become?  Perhaps the zucchini knew right where it would be pollinated best. 

Cherry tomatoes are popping out already, green and full of potential.  Last year I tried yellow pear & grape tomatoes and I guess I decided I didn't like them much. I did try to enjoy them but we're back to cherry this year!

 

My  other "sprouts" are growing well too.  Lately wherever we go Owen has been asking women, young and old, for their hand, kissing it and then telling them they are beautiful. I'm learning this boy LOVES getting a reaction.  It's pretty darn cute.  Whenever he sees me annoyed or getting stressed about something, he forms his hands and forearms into a heart and says, "Mom. Hearts & love".  It always melts my mood, how could it not?

Both of these little sprouts melt my heart and drive me crazy everyday.  If you're a Mom, you'll know exactly what I mean by that. 

In our front yard where the Spring bulbs came up, we threw shade flower seed.  I can't wait to see what these seedlings will become. I love the idea of perennial flower/veggie gardens.  I want to see this effortlessly beautiful all throughout the season. 

There are plenty of other "seedling" projects going on here, including some really exciting Homeschool developments.  More on that another time. 

Until next time...

Vanishing of the Bees

 

This season I'm looking especially to our beloved pollinators, bees & butterflies.  I recently watched, Vanishing of the Bees, a fascinating documentary of the plight of the honey bee in this country.  Let me just say, I had no idea.   Did you know that giant farms are creating farming monoculture, making it hard for bees to survive?  That bees are trucked all over the country to pollinate crops because of monoculture? Or that queen bees are artificially inseminated & later killed by pulling off their heads so that a new queen can be introduced to the hive?  Did you know that bees are being killed by all the pesticides & herbicides that we use at home and on farms?  Yikes!  

From what I've learned it is especially important to know what kind of seeds and plants you are planting.  Many companies are now selling genetically modified seeds & plants.  This means, among other things, that they coat the seed in pesticides or other chemicals. This can potentially kill bees and butterflies, all the good bugs as well as the bad.  Then if you eat the plant those pesticides are now in you!  Again yikes!  I knew some of this before watching, Vanishing of the Bees, but this film really brought it home.  (By the way it's available on Hulu.)

So at any rate, this year we're planting a butterfly blend of flowers, Echinacea, Borage & lots of other herbs in hopes to attract loads of bees and butterflies. 

 

You've heard of the bird's eye view, well this is the bean's eye view!  I planted these beans weeks ago but it was still a little too cold, so they waited and took their time. 

 

The greens and beets we planted here are coming up & seem happy.  I'm interested in experimenting with this bed.  I recently watched a video that explained how to create a perennial "food forest" garden.  This is a garden that is basically untouched.  The veggies are planted and then allowed to go to seed. Mulch, add a little compost, keep moist and leave it alone and when the seeds are ready to sprout they will.  This leaves it all to Mother nature.  The earth is never turned.  The dead plants will keep it composted long term.  I wonder if this can work in the desert? I think it will require covering for our Spring winds. 

And those Spring winds are most definitely here! I hear the wind howling as I type.  I think some row cover will be next on my list of supplies. 

The onions, carrots, greens & leeks in this bed are coming up too.

Here's my current project.  In my last gardening post I mentioned I had dug out a new bed that was really shady.  So far the plants seem happy there, everything is coming up slowly.  The rest of this side yard was old dry weeds from last year.  I carefully burned them and dug them up & then thought why not plant all along this wall?  So I'm currently digging out, sifting the sandy soil & sheet mulching.  It's quite a job but I'd rather see flowers and veggies here than weed grass reappear. & I have some interesting squash on their way from Cedar Ring Circle's, Heirloom Seed order!  I can't wait to see if they might like this area.

I wish I could turn my sandy, desert yard into beautiful right away! But alas, Mother Nature is teaching me patience.  She seems to be saying, a little at a time will do it. 

So everyone, watch Vanishing of the Bees.  It's so important to have pollinators.  It effects not only gardeners & farmers but anybody that wants to eat!   Everyone can do their small part to help. 

Until next time...

Fairy Garden Accessories...

We've been in miniature mood lately.  The boys and I began by making some sweet little bowls and cups out of acorn caps.  They are surprisingly easy to make with just a file.  Then we had to set the tiny table and of course Mommy decided a couple of place mats were in order. To be honest I'm not sure the boys really cared about the place mats.  That's ok, Moms can play too.

We also played with some of the other miniatures in our craft stash.  We made wreaths to decorate the fairy garden and our gnome tree house.  We also made a little bird nest with wax eggs.

Then I happened to see this post & video, at Anne of Green Gardens.  It's a whole fairy village!  The video tells all about her process of putting it together and what plants she used.  Anyway, in the video there is a cute little hanging basket behind them while they talk.  Since I had a few of those baskets lying around I decided to make one!  Owen and I went and bought little rosemary & lemon thyme "trees" & tiny peppermint ground cover along with some teeny tiny gravel.  Where the pine cone is I want a little house.  Perhaps I'll make one.  I can't wait to see it once the plants have filled out a little.  I can see the basket from my place at the breakfast table and I kind of love it!

We also bought some herbs for the boys' fairy garden or as they like to call it the "gnome garden". So far they have put it together all by themselves. When we're finished with it, I'll post some pictures. 

Until next time...

Baby Lettuce Lesson...

So recently we found these little guys, Gourmet Baby Lettuce growing in the oddest of places, between two railroad tie steps.  Is life not amazing?!  It's survives and strives & pushes through! I tend to baby my garden.  I fret and fuss about the soil and how much water is enough or too much.  This little lettuce had a lesson to teach me and Mother nature seemed to be saying, "look here's where baby lettuce wants to grow".  The steps here get very little direct light. So, this set us on a new course.

My goal is to someday have enough vegetables to feed us, year round.  I would love to can tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, salsa, pickles, all of it! To do that we'll need a bit more garden space I think. So I'm observing our yard anew to see where we can grow and how we can grow using what we already  have.

This led us to dig out a new, in ground garden bed.

I'm so excited about this bed.  It's on our side yard very near a large pine tree in our front yard.  It's easy access from the kitchen, yay!  Because it's so near the pine tree the soil seems to be perfect.  It was easy to dig out.  Michael and I finished it all including placing the rocks in under an hour. The soil is so rich and wonderful feeling, we didn't need to add a thing to it.  We already had the rocks that we've been pulling out of the back yard in order to make more room for flowers and veggies. This area of the yard gets mostly indirect light so I researched plants that might like that (besides our baby lettuce) and today we planted Everbearing Strawberries, Purple Bush Beans, Contender Bush Beans, Lemon Thyme, Chamomile, Greek Oregano, Onions, Italian Parsley, two Spinach varieties, Kale, some of that rougue Gourmet Baby Lettuce and red cabbage. 

In the Southwest the biggest garden hazards, that I've noticed at least, are the sun and Spring winds.  I'm learning that the rules of Sun/ Shade & where veggies like to be planted are very different here than in other parts of the country.  Now when I pick up a plant that says "plant in full sun" I chuckle a little bit.  Unless it's a cactus almost all plants like a little shade here.  I'm hoping these veggies will be happy.  Eventually I would love to see the strawberries take over. 

New in the garden this year are potatoes! I've never grown them before so I am super excited to see what happens.  We started them in the mostly shady side yard in a big pot and coffee sack. 

Last year, despite excellent soil, the plants in this bed did not do so well.  After observing it for awhile we notices that the sunlight is spotty.  Last year I tried planting nasturtiums, Sunflowers, cucumbers, zucchini and watermelon here, all sun loving plants.  This year I'm trying some of the colder weather root crops like onions, Carnival Blend Carrots and leeks.  We've planted spinach and lettuce here as well. 

One of our square foot garden beds is also planted with Spring veggies, beets, spinach, Red Sail lettuce, Kale & Red Cabbage. This bed is in full sun so it will be interesting to see how it does. 

Our tepee is planted with Peas at the moment.  Purple Triumph Pole Beans will be planted around the poles.  We're hoping for a play tepee by midsummer!

This bed at our front door is all about Spring flowers at the moment.  The boys were so thrilled to plant flower bulbs.  We're going to scatter seed here soon for Summer flowers and see what comes up. 

We've been working so hard at getting our garden beds ready and I'm tired but it hardly seems like work to me, I love it so much.  Are you beginning your garden planning? Any planting yet?

Until next time...

harvest time & fresh bread baking...

Well, it's harvest time at our little garden.  Tonight is supposed to get into freezing temperatures and so in came all the green tomatoes we still have growing.  From quite a few people I've heard that this has been an odd tomoato season.  Many of us had tomatos hanging out green all summer and then ripening in Autumn.  Recently the plants have gone crazy with tomato production, just in time for a freeze.  Well darn, last year we were putting tomatoes on everything, giving some away plus I froze bags full.  This year not so much.  So, now I must decide whether to try ripening them inside or try some green tomato recipes. Green tomato pie anyone? 

We also had Thai basil still hanging on & a bunch of green peppers to pick. We'll definitely be having the last pesto of the season but what to do with all those green peppers?

It's always a little sad to cut everything down.  I've been working on it gradually.  This year I'm covering our gardens with pine needles.  A wonderful tip from the winter gardening class I just took at the retreat.  We had these needles piled and starting to decompose.  Now they will keep the soil covered so that our harsh sun and Spring rains don't dry it out and carry it away.  And what to do about our soil?  I thought it was nice, rich stuff until I volunteered at our local co-op farm.  Digging out weeds along a patch of earth I had ample time to study their beautiful soil.  It was so absolutely rich with compost and manure, it's hard to describe it's feel.  It was truly apparent to me that our soil is paltry & dry in comparison.  Next year I need to find some good, aged poo I think.  I'm also going to work on those weeds this season.  This is the perfect time to do it.  After the cold snap, it will warm again and then I can start digging weeds out.  I want to see a peaceful, sleeping garden when I look out or windows this winter, not a tangle of weeds!

The coziness of Autumn always gets me baking bread again. The summer here is just too hot to think about heating up the kitchen but Autumn is when it calls to me.  Usually I bake a loaf a week for awhile until I begin dreading the kneading.  I have a love/ hate relationship with kneading.  Well, after reading, "How to be an Extreme Eco Housewife in Just a Few Hours a Week",  at Old Recipe for a New World blog & hearing about the no-knead 5 minutes a day bread making method, I knew I had to try it.  This bread recipe is so easy (no knead) and makes a lot of dough.  After sitting out for a couple of hours it goes into the refrigerator where it is stored for up to 2 weeks.  You can then take a little dough every day and have fresh bread daily.  My first attempt was ok.  The bread was yummy, a bit chewy but the real issue was that I put the water (for steam) into a heated glass pan in the oven & it exploded!  It was no fun clearing my oven of hundreds of blue, glass shards.  Ah well, my oven is clean and ready for Thanksgiving baking.  Strike that from the to do list!  My second attempt was much better.  The loaves were much prettier if not a little small, but the crust, ooh that steam really does make a tasty, crunchy crust.  Anyway, I'm hooked on this recipe, my family loves it and I'm dying to make some homemade pizza with it.  Forget store bought, this bread is too good.

Until next time...