Help!

Something has been noshing on my baby broccoli and lettuce! I've also noticed that some marigold petals and a few nasturtium leaves have been nibbled.

What could be wrecking havoc in my little garden?

It's completely fenced in--so it can't be rabbits.

There are lots of birds in and out...quail, doves and others, but birds don't eat plants, do they?

Could it be some kind of bug? I've seen little black ants and those "roly-polies" as my kids call them. (I don't know what they really are called, but they roll up into a ball when touched.)

Oh, and so far, it's just one brick raised bed that's been affected. My herbs, tomatoes, and other marigolds are in different beds and are fine.

Any gardeners out there? Can you help? What should I do?

Garden Notebook

I've been away from here for too long. Enjoying spring...day trips to the mountains and the lake (Tahoe), working in my little courtyard garden, sitting in the shade of my peach tree with the scent of lilacs drifting on the breeze. As well as all the daily rhythm of laundry, cooking, cleaning, dishes, diapers, and child rearing--all more sweet and peaceful with the spring sunshine and breezes flowing through the house.

(Oh, and celebrating...my daughter turned eleven. Eleven! How can I have an eleven year old? When she first came into my life, she was scrawny, sweet and six. She was missing her four top teeth and looked like a kitten when she smiled, which was often. Due to a speech disability, I couldn't understand a word she said...she pantomimed fluently for the first three months until, finally, through the grace of God, I understood most of what she was saying. Now, she is tall, almost as tall as me (which isn't saying much, actually), beautiful, and full of life as

Anyway, I'm stopping in to record some notes for my Garden Notebook. I will try to keep up on this through the summer.

***********************************************

Garden Notebook

May 22, 2009

Back courtyard garden

Planted last week:

~marigolds

~impatiens

~Spanish lavender

Planted this week:

~Broccoli, butter crunch lettuce, and nasturtium seeds

Herb garden:

Four inch pots planted May 20: basil, thyme, dill, chocolate mint, and chives

Peach tree-lots of fuzzy green globes, getting bigger by the day!

Oh, I forgot to photograph my tomatoes. One Big Stripy heirloom and four Sweet 100's.

To do:

~seeds to plant: peas, swiss chard

~buy and plant: bell peppers, onions, potatoes, garlic, and green beans

~buy ladybugs for roses (covered in aphids!)

***************************************

I know it isn't much; budget restraints are keeping me from going hog-wild at the garden center. But little by little, it's becoming my sweet little potager. Wasn't I blessed to inherit this little space already outfitted with brick raised beds, a peach tree, and two rose bushes? It gets a good amount of sun throughout the day, but gets nice and shady around five. It is all fenced in, so I can easily keep an eye on the little ones while I work. I've also been going out at nap time to sit under the peach tree to read. So peaceful!

Doves

In my visions of my dream house there have always been doves, living in a dovecote, in a courtyard. You see, in a book I once read the family had a dovecote. For some reason, this resonated with me. This was peacefulness and serenity right in your own back yard. Later, I came across more imaginary homes with doves in the courtyard.

Well, sometimes dreams do come true. I don't actually have a dovecote, but I do have doves. Wild mourning doves. A pair of them are nesting somewhere around our property. As it happens they like to hang out in our courtyard! I've even seen two younger doves; offspring, I suppose. And I hear their cooing all the time. I love it. Especially when I am waking up in the morning, sunlight filtering through my blinds...so peaceful. I love how God can surprise us with wonderful little blessings like that!

Someday, maybe I'll even have a dovecote, (like the one above!), for our doves.

I just realized that this post would work for Chatting at the Sky's Tuesdays Unwrapped! Head on over there for more simple gifts!

Happy Spring!

Can't stay. Gotta get back outside!

Hope you are having a lovely first day of Spring!

Garden Dreams

This photo is from last May. I wish it was this year, but alas, I haven't even started any seeds. It is on my to-do list for this weekend. Well, "Plant Seeds" has been on my to-do list for a couple of weeks, so that doesn't really say anything.

I have big garden dreams for this year. I live in a new location with more land and planting possibilities, but I also have one more child this year. I picture myself with a baby in a backpack and a toddler at my knees, planting, weeding, and harvesting--just like Caroline Ingalls must have done. I can do it, right? I'm hoping to enlist the help of my big girls (ages 6 and 11), too.

I have a head start here. We have 5 apple and 2 plum trees, 1 cherry and 1 peach tree. I want to add raspberries and strawberries to the fruit list.

In our back field, my plan is to have a pumpkin patch and a sunflower house for the kids.

Someday, I would like to have big vegetable garden out there, but I am trying to be somewhat realistic!

For now, I am planning a small potager/kitchen garden in our back courtyard. There are already lots of brick planters and raised beds to work with--yippee!

Here I want to grow herbs, veggies and flowers. I want to start from seed as much as I can to save money.

I'll be sure to share my gardening adventures with you!

Now, children are calling...I'd better be off!

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday:

Today:

Late winter/early spring is always such a finicky time of year. Makes life interesting, I guess.

Oh, I have to express a little joy today. I feel very blessed lately. Last week I won Jessica's giveaway--a cheery bag that she sewed herself; and today I found out that I won Andrea's giveaway--a beautiful scarf that she knit!!! How cool is that! And so funny that I found Andrea's blog (and giveaway) because she found my blog after I won Jessica's giveaway! Uhh...does that make any sense? Well, very neat, no matter what.

Maybe I should get a babysitter and hit one of the casinos in town....

Ha! Just kidding...

Come back tomorrow for my 1 Year Blogaversary!! I'm cooking up some sort of giveaway...it's only fitting, I think.

A Garden Tour

I took these photos earlier this summer. I just love our yard. We have great trees and so much space.
Behind the trees, above, we have a large, undeveloped field. It get lots of sun, so I'm envisioning a vegetable garden, a cutting flower garden...oh, the possibilities! And somewhere, of course, we have to fit in a sunflower house for the kids, and their own little garden plots.
Below is our back yard/patio. I guess it isn't really a "yard". There are lots of brick planters, walkways and trees. Even a peach tree, with nary a peach this year...I hope we can convince it to produce next year.
This little "courtyard" will be really fun to fix up. Things need trimming, and lots of planning and planting needs to be done. Any suggestions for the planters? There are also brick rimmed beds around the house and fence.
If you look closely, you can see white, fluffy stuff from the cottonwoods. This piled up in drifts like snow in July. I'm guessing a leaf blower will come in handy next year.

I am hoping that I can get some planting done this fall. Poppies, peonies, and drifts of daffodils under the cottonwoods.

MMmmmm....I was all excited for fall, and now I'm already thinking spring!

My Little Garden

Ok, I've been so bad at posting. But I've been waiting to get my USB cord from my husband's office, so that I can post a bunch of photos. Don't know why it took like a week to finally communicate the fact that I NEED MY USB CORD, BUT YOUR OFFICE IS LOCKED. I guess I wouldn't really remember until he had left for work. But, now, I am ready.

We had great weather last weekend...Oh, my gosh, I think I just felt the baby! For the first time! Wait a moment while I hold still and see if I feel anything else...Hmmmm, I don't know, I'm only 13 and a half weeks...was that the baby or gas? I'm gonna say it was the baby. How cool! I love being able to feel the baby. It's so reassuring and special. Anyway, back to my post...

My little garden has gotten off to a good start. Here is a list of what is growing on my back deck:

from seed:

green beans

sugar snap peas

little finger carrots

sweet bell peppers

eggplant

tomatoes

from seedlings, my little herb garden:

lemon basil

thyme

sage

dill

chives

lavender

peppermint

still to plant:

lettuce

broccoli raab

cucumber

(I'm not sure where these will end up, I'm out of pots and soil, unless I break down and buy more.)

I also bought a few pony packs of these pansies and cosmos.

I have sweet pea and nasturtium seeds to plant as well. I'm trying to be very frugal with this gardening stuff. I would go hog wild buying plants if I could. But it is kinda fun to -ok, definitely feeling the baby now, more than one movement, and it feels just like my son did. Yeah!, but no one is home to tell!!! Baby boy is napping, and he wouldn't get it anyway. I'm gonna have to call my sister when I'm done here.

More photos:

Our view. I love watching it get greener and greener. It changes so much with the light. At sunset, the city looks so much closer. Here is a rather grey day:

And here is today, much brighter:

Hmmm, so bright, you can't see the green very well. Bummer.

Last week the girls did school outside:

They had a lovely snack of strawberries,

Well, the little man has woken up, time to go and play...

Have a great day everyone!

Nice Things

Baby is sleeping.
Girls are at school.
Husband is at work.

The house is actually quiet. I can hear the hum of the fridge and the clacking of the keyboard; oh, and a few birds chirping.

It's so nice.

I just ate my third breakfast, so my tummy is actually full; not a common occurrence these days.
My dishes are not quite done, but they're close.
It's a grey day, but not raining, and it's supposed to be in the 80's starting tomorrow and all weekend.

I have a veggie garden to plant. It's going to be in containers, because we have a bit of a marmot problem. They seem to think it's ok to run all over our backyard and eat whatever they fancy. I'm not taking any chances. My veggies are going to grow in containers on our back deck. I've already planted sugar snap peas, green beans, carrots, and a tomato plant. I have eggplant seedlings to transplant, tomato seeds planted indoors, and a few more seed packets to deal with. I think this kind of garden will be better for me this summer anyway. Much less maintenance to worry about.

Oh, another nice thing: on Monday, I had an ultrasound and got to see "belly baby"! (Trying to differentiate between baby in utero and baby who is currently still referred to as "the baby" by his sisters.) It was amazing to see this little life, only an inch and a half long, but looking very baby-like, kicking and moving its arms. So cool! This is early to have an ultrasound, but my midwife wanted to find out how far along I really was since I'll be having another c-section. Baby looked fine, and due date stays the same--Thanksgiving Day! But we'll schedule the section for a week or so earlier.

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their own "nice things" today.
I'm off to plant some more seeds, or do my dishes...or play with my baby boy who I hear waking up as I type.

Have a great day!

Waiting

Come on sun. Come on warmth. We are so ready for you.

Ummm...Spring...?

Happy first day of Spring! Here is what we woke up to:

A nice little dusting of snow. Spring for us up here is like this. We really can't start planting for a while yet. We will have lots of nice sunny days, but the nights get very cold. Still, it's much better than January:

No, that tree is not in bloom. It's snow. Yes, we experienced a January miracle: our maple tree blossomed with snow. Beautiful isn't it?

Anyway, we had quite a bit of snow that month. A storm every weekend. Then the last week the schools were closed for the whole week! School almost never closes for snow up here. For the 12 years I taught school, we had maybe 4 snow days. Three of them during an ice storm, so they were because of power outages, not snow. So, the first year I'm not teaching, a whole week off!! No fair.

Ok, enough about snow!! Come on Spring! I'm so ready for you.