Our little forest

This year has been our first real garden and I’m very happy with the results. This morning I got out of bed and when straight out to see what the garden has in store for us today.

I found many more green beans. They will be great with our salmon tonight. I found 2 pickling cucumbers and one squash. Both have more on the way.I picked some more lettuce. They are going to bolt at this point so we probably won’t have it for too much longer unless we plant more. We have harvested at least a week’s worth recently. I also decided to harvest some of our herbs. I bundled up lemon balm, parsley, dill, and stevia. They are happily hanging in our pantry as seen below.

To see an entire set of our garden from start to finish click the following link. I will be adding descriptions here and there :) Our Garden of 2011

Now to get ready for my day. Off to see Harry Potter with Your Mom and then home with the boy for trying to get the tomatoes supported, dinner, and True Blood. Awesome Sunday for me!

Weekend Update

So this weekend was amazing. Saturday was a day of Roller Derby. I drove to Fitchburg, MA for a double header against CMRD. The Brutals may not have won, but they fought hard. Then DQ lost by only 2 points. Nail biting and white knuckles were abound.

I seriously can't wait to be voted in to the league. They should be finishing soon. I was itching to leap on the track while I was watching. I <3 my new Derby League. They really have been fabulous at making me feel welcome.

Then Sunday was a day of brush clearing for Rose. I love how my little community helps each other so much. I love her place and I want to replicate a copy of her office. This is why I need a Star Trek replicator. Stuff shows up for free that way.

Now to eat some dinner and keep knitting!

Seedlings update!

So the little plants are doing well. After all this time I only have one lemon balm so we will have to take very good care of it. I will probably pick up one or two plants at a nursery or farm so I have more. I really love lemon tea.

This coming weekend we will be setting up our raised beds. We scored lumber for free since it was the warped and unsellable stuff. We are going to get topsoil from a farm down the road, and finally some fertilizer from Shreiber's Farm in Oxford. I'm very happy to be getting stuff locally rather than from the big chain hardware stores. It will be a lot of work but totally worth it. I hope to be able to make it to the CT Rollergirls bout on Saturday as well. Another busy weekend from me.

Now on to plant photos. Of course you can click to enlarge.


  

Yay for spring!

My First Real Garden

Well it's about time. I get to have a garden! No potted garden that gets eaten by aphids. No teeny tiny garden that has limited sun. This time it's the real deal. At first, the boy listed the various scary expensive stuff we needed to do. It was an intimidating thought. But each hurtle has been jumped so far with savings and new knowledge.

At our place the landlords are letting us use the land at the end of the driveway. It will be quite a bit of work but I think we can pull it off. We have gravel and weed blocking plastic to remove, but we're hardcore. That is something that will be done soon. Right now though we got to start the new life.

The first expense that we were fretting was the fact that we may need a grow light. The apartment has very little light. If we didn't have the screen porch I would really dread the lack of sun in the summer. Thankfully I have a boy that labors over things that bug him and comes up with a great solutions. This nice high metal shelf that we had stashed away from the move takes advantage of our ONLY south facing window. It's in the bathroom and fits just right where it doesn't block the towel rack or get in the way, keeps them far from the cat, and gives our little seeds the grow-the-f-up notice with plenty of sun.


We also saved money by using newspaper for our starter pots. Not only are they pretty much free if you get the paper from your newspaper obsessed father, but they also bio-degrade safely in the garden so you don't have to mess with the root systems. The $10 of bricks of soil we got also expanded a ton and filled all the pots we needed. We still have extra.

 

Aren't they cute?

I'd like to thank my friend Bruce for saving us from starting way to early and possibly before the last frost. I have no sense of that since RI is all coastal and warmer. The middle of CT is a little different. I also <3 the farm and Bruce again for making it easy and inexpensive to get loam for the garden. Saves a ton of effort and money. I'm really excited to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Well now to get back to knitting. I'm hoping this loofah design works out. Night everyone!

Productivity!

Between daily things I've been trying to catch up with household stuff. Nothing like spurts of getting shit done!

Yesterday after work I got home and cleaned out my car. It was getting a little overrun with stuff. After that, I finished weeding around my tomatoes and basil. They are much happier, I'm sure. My first two tomatoes are ripening as I type. Then it was off to Phury's work for some sushi and a pomegranate margarita with some derby people. When I got home I did a bit of organizing then crashed.

I woke up at about 6:30 this morning and proceeded with the things to do. I cleaned the litter box and used a pet odor spray on the cat carrier finally. It has been hosed down. I finishing putting mulch in the garden, I harvested some herbs, and got my stuff together for a sleepover tonight.

Tonight is a big night. Providing the rain gods are polite and hold off till we're done, there will be the second Providence Roller Derby home-team bout at the Bank of America track. Please cross your fingers for us and hope for the best. Worse comes to worse we have the bout indoors at the rink in Narragansett Ocean Club tomorrow but that's not allowed. My team, the Mob Squad is playing but my knee isn't quite healed so I can't play. Big =(  face. They have to beat those Old Money Honeys so that I can play two bouts this year. =) But yeah, doors are at 6 and the bout is at 7! Be there!

I'm back!

So I was on a bit of a hiatus. I went on vaca and when I returned I discovered that I had to move. That was a big WTF moment but it turned out for the better.

Old place: 3rd floor, peeling plaster/paint, annoying second floor and basement neighbors, no yard, uneven and old gas stove and nowhere for me to park my car in the driveway. It did have some pros like location and huge room with a huge closet but it wasn't ideal.

New place: Cute little bedroom with a water view, the bay is literally down the road, there is a cute village down the road with a cafe and ice cream, it has a nice oven, farm with fresh eggs and local goods, a nice porch, garage, yard, a place for an herb garden, and a cat that tolerates my cat. Cons: the closet situation is not as amazing as the last but all the rest makes up for it. =)

So the last had many cons obviously. The new place wins. My roommate is nice and helpful. I don't feel like I have to do everything. He even waters my garden. It's a cute little garden. That and I have cat grass in the porch.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="180" caption="Chocolate mint, parsley, lemon balm, yarrow, basil, and tomatoes. "][/caption]

For Zeus it was a bit traumatic of a move. He's can't read so I feel I can safely tell you his embarrassing story without backlash. Wednesday I was supposed to pick him up but I twisted my knee at practice so that was a no go. I went the next night to rescue him from Providence. I loaded him up in the car and headed home. Well, he really didn't like being in the carrier. He was meowing a sad meow, rolling around, and clawing at the door of it. While stressing out he also peed in the carrier. My poor baby was so upset with himself.

After the horrible ride in the car, we got home and went straight to the bathroom. With the door closed I let him out and he laid on his back completely content with me cleaning him up. This is probably the only cat that I have ever met that will let you clean his loins and everything. He had a sad look that said, "Mommy, fix it!"

His last obstacle was the roommate's cat Bobo. Bobo liked that he had his own house and felt the need to hiss and growl but never fighting at least. Zeus, the mama's boy that he is, sat behind my legs. He thought Bobo was crazy and felt that behind me and under the bed were great places to be. After a bit he would just chirp at Bobo while he got hissed at. Probably saying, "What's wrong?"

At this point they are doing well. Zeus is a cuddle slut and cuddles with the roommate as soon as I leave for work. Bobo has gotten used to him and they almost play a little. Zeus even went up to Bobo and licked and nuzzled his head. Sweetest. cat. ever. Things are going well. I'm really happy to be where I am now. Now to catch up on knitting and blogging as I settle in.