That Time of Year!

Time to start gardening! What are your plans for this year? Going all out? Doing a little bit? Changing it up? Or skipping it completely?

My plan was to skip it completely. I have more than enough on my plate right now. But, I (or should I say, my husband) was bit by the Springtime Bug and that was that. 

Previously, we had up a pvc pipe garden shade with a raised bed boxed garden.  Well. 1. PVC pipes around our food is NOT appealing. 2. it wasn't deep enough 3. it was a mess.  So today, my sweet husband built up the garden, built a new structure of shade from wood and added more dirt to raise it up a bit more. We transplanted a few plants, and will be adding some new seeds this week. Last year, I planted a big huge garden, only to get pregnant and have it sadly neglected. I also think I overcrowded everything in there. 

This year, we are doing:

• Herbs; because they are so very easy to grow and I already have a few in there
  
• tomatoes; because they actually grew last year
  
• strawberries, because I try every year
  
• lettuce; requested by my oldest
  
• carrots; requested by my middle
  
• and a "salsa" mix of 6 different veggies, because it was a kit and looked like I could handle it.
  
• I may add garlic and potatoes, because I have them started. 

Also, we have lemons, blood oranges, pink lemonade lemons and blackberries already going. Those don't really count, since we aren't starting it. Sam's Club has some nice avocado trees we had our eyes on, but I am hesitant on spending on an avocado tree if it's not going to grow well here.

Let's see how much I can kill....I mean, keep alive this year. My husband is claiming he will have more of a part in it, so here's hoping to "see some fruit" from our labor!

And because I don't have any pictures of the garden to share yet, and you can't blog without a picture, here's a bad picture of a blackberry growing on the bush.

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Hiding in my garden

Apparently, while I was busy growing a human since last Spring, my garden was busy growing carrots!

Poor garden; so neglected and forlorn. I should have taken a picture of what it looked like before I started weeding it! It still has a ways to go before I start gardening in there again, but all in due time. I am not really concerned about that right now :)

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What I came home to find in the garden

Since we have been out of AZ for the past week and a half, it has gotten CRAZY hot. Welcome summer. Not that I want to welcome summer.

This morning, I went out to see whats going on in the garden and found some good surprises and bad surprises. 

What I lost:

• most of my herbs. i think only the mint, basil, and maybe oregano and parsley made it. the oregano and parsley hanging out by a thread.
  
• pumpkins (really dont want to break this to Jaden)
• peas
• marigolds by the tomato plants
  
• radishes
  
• all my flowers in pots. 
  

What I found doing super well:

• weeds. UGH!
  
• lettuce (which shocked me because lettuce isnt fond of heat)
  
• carrots (another shocker)
  
• cucumbers are blooming like wild
  
• green beans
  
• a new little circle pepper (not sure why they always grow in a ring like that when it was supposed to be jalepeno)
  
• and lots of new tomatoes with the old ones getting bigger
  

everything else is so-so.

We planted 4 different types of sunflowers which are blooming now and have gotten to be as tall as me or taller. I am going to  even have to stake some because they wanted to bloom before their stalks were sturdy enough.

The first type we planted was the one I took a picture of here...a standard sunflower

The second is a giant sunflower, which are what we grew last year.

These are the autumn bouquet Sunflower...all different colors on one stalk

And finally is the Vanilla Ice Sunflower:

So nice to look out our two windows and see these "bouquets" of cheery happy sunflowers!

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First sunflower of the year!

Our yard is blooming with all sorts of flowers, but we were very excited to wake up to see this sunflower blooming. Sunflowers are special in our home, and its always neat to see something that started from a seed turn into a flower. Pin It

Oranges+Jacked=no more

Yep. Right after I took a picture of these two baby oranges, my son (appropriately named Jackson) came and jakked them off the tree....then tried to feed them to the dog. I found 6 baby oranges in his food bowl.

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Stop and Smell the Roses

Mmm they smell so good! I went and cut a bunch of roses from our bushes this morning after breakfast and arranged them in a jar for our desk. I am sitting here smelling them now.  I love Spring.

There is a lot to get done today and there is a lot of potential to get stressed out over some of the things that need to get done today, but I know that I don't have to. God is in control. 

Psalm 73:28  But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works.

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While I was focused on the obvious...

This week, I studied John 14-John 16 by a suggestion from my husband. The next day at Bible study, these passages were referenced. I thought to myself, "wow, thats wild!" and tried to dismiss it. Maybe not intentionally....maybe so. Later, when my husband wanted to talk about how Bible study dealt with feelings and thoughts I have had this week, I kind of swept it under the rug. The thoughts and feelings kept coming up, and I kept praying about it.

This afternoon after a long discussion brought about by God no doubt, (certainly not from my own doing) , I came home trying to wrap my mind and heart around everything. Everything I have been feeling, everything that was talked about, everything I am focusing on.

I went outside to think about things (which I don't do minus watching the boys and watering the garden). I went and sat down by my garden. I needed to get outside and away from the housework, the computer, the other stuff that was wanting my attention. I needed to pray.

I started thinking again about what it is I focus on, and what I want my focus to be on. I looked at the garden, and saw what has been growing from seeds. I saw how much they have sprouted just from attention that has been given to them. Then I looked over at my tomato plants. I have three. A very tall one, and two small ones. All this time, I have been focusing on the taller one. Its always had more height and flowers to it. I was told it would produce a lot of fruit. So I watched it, not paying much attention to the smaller plants.

While I was focusing on the tall and obvious one....the one that showed itself more, but yet started to wilt.... the less obvious surprised me with fruit. Three small, but healthy looking fruit.


It took me by surprise. God then guided me back to John 15. Wow.

John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

What do I need to focus on? The answer is simple: God first, my husband and then my children. The rest will follow. I am one who can do 15 things at once. Micah laughs at me because I can sew and iron as the laundry is washing, cook while put dishes away, entertain the boys while sending a text and taking pictures of it all happening at once. I can get a lot done during the day. But I see my focus shifting. And while that might terrify me because of the changes at hand, I know that the less obvious will bear more fruit and become more obvious to me than before. Pin It

Garden Markers

Well the garden is slowly coming to life. Its taking a bit longer I think because I started everything outside, but its starting to make its way to looking like something! 

This year I wanted something cute to tell me what was dying...I mean growing out there, but couldn't really find anything 1. cute and 2. in my price range. Then I thought "Rebecca. Make them."

Let me rephrase that. My husband can make them. He cut out some wood and I glued them on some flat sticks and then, the boys and I took the cutter over to our friend Kelli's.  She was brave and spread out some newspaper in the kitchen and let all three boys paint the markers. 

If you can handle crazy Harold in your kitchen...you are a true friend.

After blood, sweat and tears (just from my two), we cleaned up and took over, finding that its not as big of a sin as we thought to mix the colors. 

The cutter came in handy to cut letters from vinyl. Then they are sealed with some uv resistant gloss sealer.

You could get really fancy with these..modge podge paper, paint fancy designs, etc...but I really like how the solid (the mixed paint colors by the 3 year old and the scribbly 1.11 year old) markers look. I still have more to do, but here are a few:

Publish Post

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Yes, I am a nerd.

Today has been a nonstop action day! This morning I picked up my fruits and veggies through Bountiful Baskets. I saw the prettiest sunrise (for me anyway, I never see sunrises) and thought about running in and getting my camera, but I was so afraid to wake up the boys, I chickened out. It was a good selection this week. All "normal" stuff that I know we will eat up fast.

Then I went and taught at Devine Memories for the Sweetheart workshop. It was a fun group and I really enjoyed seeing familiar faces and meeting new people too! Thanks to those who came out!

When I got home, I needed to go out and work more on the garden that we resurrected yesterday. The whole project has turned into a beastly nightmare. My husband is at Lowes for the billionth time as I write this. The chupacabra (our dog Blitzen) ruins the garden, so we need to put up a fence to keep him out. If this side ever gets finished, we will put one on the other side of the house to keep the kids contained. When you get out there, you start seeing more and more things that need to be worked on or changed. Its never ending around here, and it can get overwhelming if you let it. I am happy to report that all boxes are now in the attic from Christmas *happy dance!*

Before I went out to the garden, I made a super quick and easy gardening apron. Flower material, red bias tape, blue lace and three pockets. Totally fun, random and spur of the moment: (and this picture proves the fact that I am a nerd.)

Tonight we are taking the boys over to their grandparents' house to play. It was supposed to be a date night, but......this fence project is so out of control and it has to get done asap, so looks like the boys get to go play and we get to keep working. (Hurray.) Who knows..maybe we will go out.

Thats it for today. I know that was such an exciting post.

:)

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Remember the glove incident?

Ya know....the horror, the bruises, the weirdness...

Well, I came home today to find a box with this waiting for me! Happy Anniversary to us! Woo hoo! Midwest Gloves Co sent us this package to replace the yucky 99 cent gloves that went nuclear meltdown on me.


Inside was: a pop up hat with case, a carry bin, a knee pad (and its so cute!), a brown tote, a polka dot bag holder thing with a mini shovel and trowel, another hat, a bucket organizer, oh yeah and 20 pairs of different types of gardening gloves!! All the gloves are made for different things, and Micah even scored a few pairs! Some of the gloves here are gloves they even want us to test that haven't been released yet. The bags are so much fun! I think that's my favorite part of the package.

This rocked my socks. The company was so awesome about this.

And the best part was, coming home and taking a peek out at the garden! I will post pictures of the garden this week! A lot of things were hit by the heat, but some of the stuff we planted from seeds are growing like crazy! Time to put our new gear to use! We have a lot of yard work to catch up on and this will make it fun! Pin It

Gardening Glove Update

Since contacting the glove company with pictures of the experience I had using their product, I have been in touch several times with a very kind woman that has taken over this problem. She promptly sent UPS to my house to pick them up (it was really odd to have someone show up and take them for me like that unexpectedly) and after a couple of weeks she emailed me today to tell me she agrees it is very strange, that she is finding a lab to take these and to also pick out any two pairs in the catalog that I want since she knows I wont want the same product!!

I asked her to go ahead and pick them out for me (one of her suggestions) because I felt weird going in and picking out the most expensive ones since I spent 1-2 dollars on them....but then I do realized my arm skin was practically ripped off! Ah well. I trust her judgment. :)

So there ya have it. Stay tuned for the lab results. I am anxious to hear back about it!
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Hanging Tomato Plant

Micah saw this cool idea online the other day and my mom happened to give me a tomato plant at the same time, so we made this together.

What you need:
tomato plant, preferably a small one 2 liter clean bottle hot glue hole punch wire heat gun (or you can skip that step) and pliers fabric, burlap, whatever potting soil tomato plant

optional:
flowers to plant on the top ribbon to finish the edges

Directions

• cut off the bottom of the 2 liter (you can reuse the bottom by making into a flower but thats a whole different post)
• punch four holes for the hanger
• carefully heat plastic and use pliers to invert the neck of bottle into itself
• cover bottle with fabric *and ribbon, this will dress it up and also help the lifespan of the bottle in the sun
• carefully place tomato plant at a bit of an angle inside the part you just inverted (the bottle opening) and fill up with potting soil. on the other side
• attach hanger
• water and hang!

You can also put flowers at the top to make it a hanging plant as well.

Here it is in its tiny glory.

And the best part of this was, we don't need a tomato plant cage/stand because of gravity, we recycled and we used everything from what we already had! Pin It

Pictures of our little sproutlings!

Hello baby pepper! Nice to have been watching you form! I remember when you were just a wee flower and a twinkling in your mommy leaf's eye!

Some of our corn from our neat straight row!

Look at this crazy sunflower plant! The seed is attached to the leaves...it came through the dirt like this and never dropped!

Sunflower Row

Maybe someday I will post pictures of the whole thing! :)

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Gardening Question

Update~ I knew I planted carrots~ I googled it and was right, ha ha Micah! He is still mumbling about the seed grouping though :)

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I went to check on the garden this afternoon and found a nice surprise. I planted three types of seeds a couple of weeks ago, in addition to the sunflowers. I planted corn, lettuce and what I thought was carrots. Everything is sprouting! Now that the carrots have sprouted though, we dont think they are carrots....because the one carrot plant that survived the dog a couple of months ago doesnt look anything like the new ones.

If anyone or the first person who can tell me what it is, I will send some seeds to you!



And I know its all clumped together, Micah told me next time I plant seeds, he is going to help me plant them, even though everything else is in a nice straight line :) Except for the lettuc. You think thats bad, you should see the lettuce! Pin It

Sunflower Row

Last week at Jaden's party, his great grandma (Granny) gave him a new watering pail and sunflower seeds. While he was sick, I went out there and planted them for him, and he finally got to go check on them. It is hard to tell, but there is a nice line of sunflowers happily enjoying the hard sun in this spot.

Hey! There's an escapee by the composter!

He enjoyed checking out the rest of the garden, especially the "barries" as he calls them. Micah got me a new strawberry plant since the other one was trampled but it might make it after all. We will see!

I am still doubting anything will stay alive while we are gone. I sure hope it proves me wrong!!

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Gardening Drama....again.

Ok, I am starting to think that I need to quit trying to garden.

Today I went to check on the plants, and saw that the chupacabra got into my strawberries, trampled them, then ate the only red one. SO SO mad. He knocked our shade over too.

I was wondering why he was hiding when I went outside. The poor plant looks like its in shock. It probably is. I am so sad!!

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Gardening Drama!

Micah has been wanting to transplant our garden so that it is run on the drip system for when we go out of town, but I was hesitant because I didnt think anything would live this long anyway. And to tell the truth, I hadnt even thought about it all dying when we go out of town until my mom opened my eyes this weekend. Plus we have had hose and watering prblems with the system I had shared before. So this week we have been working on getting it all planted in the ground, rather than in its cute little container.

Its been slow because Jaden is sick right now (AGAIN) but during naptime this morning, we went out and worked on it. I didnt want to ruin my nails today so I put on these cheap garden gloves I bought at lowe's last month that only cost me a couple of dollars.

Soooooo, I took a break and I crossed my arms talking to DH but when I went to pull my arms away to work again, much to my horror, the gloves had melted themselves to my skin!! That sensitive skin underneath your arms skin!

I instantly started crying (because you dont realize the amount of force you use to pull your arms out from being crossed) and looked down and saw I was still stuck to myself. I couldnt move! DH ran and got water and it wouldnt release so he had to run in and get cooking spray! Haha!! Once he started spraying it, it would slowly release, little by little. So here I am, soaking wet, greased up and dripping with cooking spray, and oh yeah, my skin was on fire! It was hilarious and PAINFUL!

Well, the gloves went straight into the trash. My arm is so bruised now and I have NO idea what happened! These are the type of gloves they were (I dont know if these have the coating on them but there was a grip type coating on them)...oh and mine were pink of course. :)

And here is my arm, the skin is super tender (the whole part where the glove was) but the bruise is where I intiially ripped the skin away. I didnt get a good picture of it but there is a super faint bruise that halos it about two inches out. This picture makes me look like a big baby, but I dont care. It doesnt do it justice. It was wicked!

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Lovin' the Rain

I wish it would rain more here. I know I live in a desert though, so thats not really possible. Maybe we could move to a place where it rained more, wait, we did that and it definitely wasn't my desert guy's cup of tea.

The plants have been enjoying the rain as much as I have. Cloudy days just don't get me down. I take after my grandfather with that. He used to be so happy on a cloudy day!

I think I have said before that we started out our garden as a container garden. For one thing, the soil is HORRIBLE for gardening, and I didnt feel like all that hard work would be worth it when I am just starting out gardening, and I know from past experience that one thing I did not inherit was my grandfather's green thumb. Its small right now, but as it grows, we keep thinking about doing a whole different garden on the side of the house. Micah built a little mister system for it now for the time being and its working pretty well!

Jaden's pumpkin plant is browing a bit, I don't know why yet though, but I better figure it out before it takes a turn for the worst. He would not be a happy boy! Anyone have any ideas on this?

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Mother's Day Gifts

Here are belated pictures of the mother's day gifts we gave. minus one.

Everyone got a framed picture of the boys (this one had black glitter framing it on the edges)

And potted flowers, so that they last a long time! We thought they were pretty "green" this way :)

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Are you sure we didnt skip Spring? Because it sure feels like Summer.

Geez! It is HOT HOT HOT here in Sunny Arizona already! And I am scared and sad to say I am sick of it already! Only 7 more months of it! I am all about going green, but one thing I can not do is cut out my ac in the upper 90 degree weather. I keep the windows open as much as possible until it hits about 82 in the house and then the ac has got to come on and the windows get shut.

Everything is blooming like crazy, well, all but my sad little flower pots on my porch. I think early next week, I will be transplanting all my baby veggies to their spot of growing glory! Hopefully I can figure out how to keep our insane dog out of it.

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