Better Blogs and Gardens

I am just impressed by some of the gardening blogs out there. You know the ones, the ones that have useful information, daring experiments (like giving your tomato seedlings alcohol), beautiful pictures, good writing. After reading their daily posts I am left thinking:

That my garden is unworthy.
My pictures are fuzzy and dull.
My writing is boring.

And every day, after reading those blogs I tell myself the world doesn’t need another gardening blog. But then, I have this strong urge to tell someone about what I do in the yard and so I write it down here hoping some like-minded person will see it and go: “Ah! yes, I saw something like that…”

I have been doing gardening. I wish I could have taken pictures but the kind of gardening I’ve been doing has been by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of gardening and alas, I did not have a camera.

I hijacked my brother and his truck and went searching for pallets to build a fence around the vegetables. I hope to have pictures of the building of the fence.

Also, with the pallets, I am going to build a cage for my containers.

I got a couple of tons of dirt for free to fill in the holes that the dogs dug around the house. I had to do this before the April rains came. I finished doing this one day before it started raining.

My neighbor showed up at my door during dinner with a box of freshly excavated Grape hyacinths which grow like weeds in her yard. I did not have any and I really like them so she dug up some and brought them to me. Also, she brought some bulb flower that spread like wild fire in her yard. She says she paid $13 dollars per plant last year. She gave me 2. I hope they spread in my yard like they did on hers. I quickly put these in pots.

I started on the self-watering containers again. I have to get them all done this weekend so I can put out all the plants that are beginning to get stressed out inside the house.

I tried to make it to the Snap Dragon sale at one of the garden centers but they were all sold out when I got there, so instead I bought some perennial flowering ground cover for the front flower bed. Pictures later.

I REALLY need a new camera!!!!

One last thing. If you are a DIY kind of person, Craiglist has a never-ending supply of people giving stuff away for free.
One person was giving away 300 cement blocks, brand new. They were the kind that you can use for bases for pots, walkways, etc. The city was making him clear them out. By the time my brother and I showed up, he was out of them.

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My tablescape

Gina, over at My Skinny Garden blog has a post about tablescapes. I did not know there was a term for your dinner table setup, or maybe it only applies to table setups for special occasions. Anyway, here is a description of my tablescape. (i know, a picture would have been better but my camera is not available at the moment).

• This week’s bills.
• Daycare art from my two boys (3 and 5)
• Some magazines.
• Our checkbook. It never leaves the table as we seem to pay bills all the time.
• Wet Wipes. For my 3 year old (he eats like a Viking barbarian)
• Tissues
• Napkin holder. Empty at least twice a week.
• Somewhere under all that, a scented candle for ambiance. I know it’s there because I can smell it.

Maybe later this season, I can replace some of this stuff with a floral arrangement from my yard.

First Day Of Spring

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

The first day of Spring is mostly symbolic when it comes to gardening. Most gardeners do it all year long for gardening is comprised of many activities. Yet, I rejoice all the same.

A friend who read my post about the Composter 2000 asked what was the “peeing in the composter” all about. I think I read somewhere that if you pee in the compost you add Nitrogen to the mix. Urine has a component called Blood Urea Nitrogen. This component, if I remember right, comes from the breakdown of muscle in the body and it gets flushed out by the kidneys. Apparently, in the compost, the Nitrogen gets extracted by the compost goblins and voila! Nitrogen in the compost, which is good for the plants. We’ll see how I do with my bucket.

Also, I have been reading more and more blogs from gardeners, farmers, and others who have embraced the growing of plants and I am more and more excited about growing flowers.
When I started growing plants, I concentrated on growing things I could eat. I don’t know why.
Last year, I planted the first flowers ever. These were Marygolds that I planted because I heard that they kept some bug away from my tomatoes; and also, I planted them becacuse I got a free packet of Marygold seeds with my order of vegetable seeds. I guess I also planted a few giant Sunflowers to provide seed for the birds (they loved them and ate every little seed out of the heads)
This year, I am growing Lavender, Pestemons, and Irish Eyes Sunflowers.
I think it may be too late to plant any other flowers from seed this year but next year…