Bloopers

Every gardeners goes through triumph and tragedy. It's part of the cycle of life... things can't go perfectly every time. It seems that this year I am having more than my fair share of difficulty, but I think I can blame it on not having consistent irrigation (a.k.a sprinklers!). It has been challenging to get out every day and make sure everything is getting enough water.

Here is a little list of my bloopers:

1. Crazy cucumber! It started on one side of the trellis and grew through! I picked a great big juicy cucumber the other day only to find it was really bitter. Why, when they look so perfect, do they taste so awful??!?!? I did a little research online to find that cucumbers are more prone to bitterness when they have uneven watering or cool weather. I have to admit I have watered them a few times after they have wilted in the afternoon sun. I need to be more careful!

2. Just when my beautiful hanging basket was beginning to recover from the very hungry caterpillar, a gigantic windstorm during the night spun it like a top until the hook popped out of the eave and sent the basket flying. Not only was it wind whipped, but now the root ball is all skiwampus in the container. I'm not sure I'll be able to resurrect it this time.

3. The saddest of all... my blue spruce is turning to dust. I'm not exactly sure what caused its demise but when it got so hot I probably should have watered it every other day instead of 2x a week. The root ball was disappointingly puny when we planted it, but it seemed fine until about the 1st of August. Apparently Home Depot will give your money back within a year, but you have to pull it out of the ground and take it to the service desk! Not even kidding! Who wants a dead, messy tree at the service desk?

The sprinklers system is almost finished and hopefully next year water will not be as much of an issue in my horticultural success!

Producing Produce

My garden is going a little crazy. I'm happy it's healthy, but I might need to recruit some neighbors and friends to help me! The pumpkin patch is taking over the south end of the garden and I'm glad I didn't plant anything else there so it can sprawl to it's hearts content.

We have about 4 pumpkins on the vine already and this one is getting pretty big!

My cucumbers have taken off and a few are almost ready to eat.

My first tomato turned last week. There are hundreds of green ones and I can't wait to eat some tomato sandwiches.

I still have tons of lettuce that we should eat before it bolts, and my carrots and beets are densely planted and could probably feed 5 families (especially because Mike doesn't like beets). I already feel like I have zucchini coming out my ears, even though I am trying to pick them small! We also had our first garden beans for dinner. It's so fun to eat from our own garden.

THE Tree

We have had a huge maple tree sitting in our front yard for 4 months. Everyone from the neighbors to church members to my sister's father-in-law have been asking when we are going to get that thing planted. Everyone had an opinion as to how we should do it too. Thank heavens it finally happened!

Mike got about 4 feet down and 8 feet across with a shovel, but it was tough going. Our clay soil is super duper compacted! Our goal was 2x as wide and deep as the root ball, so we had about 4 more feet to go.

It sat like that for awhile and Maddie and Ella tried to refill it with clods.

Here's our saving grace! Our friend Jesse borrowed a back hoe from work and brought it over free of charge. What a good guy!

Maddie and her buddy Preston stood in the hole that was ready for the tree.

Hallelujah! A hole in one!

Isn't is beautiful? Looks like it could have grown there.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful hanging basket of petunias that looked like this:


Then one day, it started looking very ragged. At first I blamed myself for not watering carefully enough in the heat, or thought it might not be getting enough sun under the eaves...


But within a matter of hours, every last flower had holes in it.


It was time for action. I turned to google and typed in "petunia pests" to find this:

Well really this:
The geranium budworm caterpillar (dun dun dun). It feeds on the buds and flowers of many common plants, including geraniums and petunias. Well I'll say! That also solves the case of the pretty pink geranium that stopped blooming.

I found a very good article on the subject on here. According to them, a biological insecticide called BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) should help, as it's a bacteria specific to caterpillars. I liked that idea because I am kind of against synthetic chemicals. I couldn't find it at Home Depot, but I did find an organic insecticide called Eco Smart made of rosemary, thyme, peppermint, and clove oils. (Click on image for more info.)

I doused the sad hanging basket with Eco Smart, and that evening found two disoriented caterpillars roaming the front porch. Just to make sure they wouldn't find their way back, I squished them. Harsh, I know.

I am happy to say my petunias are making a slow but steady comeback. And I really hope that is THE END.

Here We Go Go Go Go on an Adventure!

As Cat in the Hat would say, we are up and away! (Have I been watching too many cartoons? The songs get stuck in my head.)

Mike bought the poly pipe and fittings...

Marked the yard in rainbow heirogliphics...

And hired the trencher. Now begins the fun of laying out the sprinkler system. I am thrilled to be one step closer to having a yard!

Let us eat Lettuce

That's kind of a running joke at our house... we often say "Let us pray" and Ella will always respond, "No, not lettuce pray, let us pray!"

So this year I planted a row of mixed lettuce with trepidation. I had never grown greens of any kind and wasn't sure I would be successful. I am happy to report this lettuce is the easiest thing to grow ever, and it looks and tastes just amazing! We are struggling to keep up with it even when eating a big salad every night!

Aren't the mixed colors pretty? With this much salad I'm glad we have found a dressing we love... not the healthiest by any means... but we like the Hidden Valley ranch packets that you mix with mayo and buttermilk. Mmmmm.

My favorite salads are sweet ones. Last night we used blueberries and peaches and topped with a homemade cinnamon vinaigrette. Delish!

1/8 cup oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
A few shakes of cinnamon

With the abundance of greens I have resorted to making green smoothies again. When I was first pregnant they made me throw up and I've had a hard time getting over it. I am trying to add new things to change the flavor so I don't gag. I was at Costco today and I saw the VitaMix guy use carrots and cabbage in his fruit smoothie so I thought I'd try it! The kids love them and never care what's hidden in the concoction.

Today we even made green smoothie popsicles! Now what else can I do with all this lettuce?

A Pea Story

Since I planted my peas at the beginning of May I have been asking my husband to build me a trellis. We had one from the old house but he thought it was too rickety and cheap looking. Sure enough, we put it up and a windstorm blew it over that night.

The peas were getting tall and starting to flop over on each other. It was time for action! Mike took some work off last week and one of his projects was to work on the garden. He didn't really tell me what his plan was, but when Mike puts his mind to something, he goes all out.

He came home with a pile of lumber. After cutting each piece to size he did the decorative cuts on top. He measured, dug, and cemented each post.
Then he proceeded to build the fanciest pea trellis I've ever seen. Each panel is screwed into the posts and can be unscrewed and removed in the off season.

These are some lucky peas.

Incidentally, it was just in time for the setting of the first pea pods. The girls and I enjoyed a little snack yesterday morning.

There is something thrilling about opening that first pod and seeing the sweet morsels inside!

While we're talking about Mike's projects, I'll also mention he rented a Bobcat last week and cleared the weeds off the whole lot! He did a bunch of grading and built me a burm/island on the corner. This is the first step in the sprinkler installation process... now we have to keep the weeds clear while he works on trenching. He's been working hard!