You are STUCK!

HAHAHAHA! you are stuck = More pictures of my little twinkies. ;-)

And my son demonstrating why it is you don't eat the tabsco pepper straight off of the plant.....

Ironically the butterfly costumes are for school. They want to be princesses on Halloween night. *snicker*

Harvest Monday 10/25/10

Moring all! This weekend was - fast paced and absolutely beautiful. Here is my harvest for the week! Thanks Daphne for being such a gracious host for Harvest Mondays. Check out here blog HERE and see all the wonderful things people are bringing to the table all over! Daphne's beans look absolutely scrumptious!

This is how my week started. Disappointing to say the least. A few scraggly beans. deformed and small....but it rapidly changed up a bit!

Apparently the tabasco pepper plant has gone cowabunga again! There are STILL more peppers ready to harvest on that plant. Amazing!

Also completely wonderful are the 2 bell peppers and the tomatoes I'm getting! YEEHAW! I really thought this week would have been just a few okra and some of the tabascos. Boy did I think wrong. Pleasently so.  :-D

Unfortunately the cateloupe plants are completely and utterly dead now. I've left the 2 little one on the vine praying that somehow the vine though brown is giving something to them and they might be edible. It's doubtful. The pumpkin will be soon to follow. Still nursing along my one little punkin.

I'm looking forward to some awesome weather this week but hoping for a little rain. It's been far too dry here this whole month.

'Til next time!

Barbie~

So Excited!

I’m SO very excited!

This weekend starts it all for my family. This weekend is the official kickoff of our super busy season. The countdown to Christmas, birthdays galore….

This weekend it is officially game on! It will be spent tidying up, readying for company. Next weekend my girls will be a great big 4 years old and of course a party will take place. Then my birthday, Thanksgiving, my husband and I will celebrate 16 wonderful years together, Troy’s Birthday, My Dad’s birthday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Hubby’s B-day, MLK Day….and then a rest until Valentine’s Day. SHEW!!!That is a big load of business! This weekend will be the last weekend that cleaning the house doesn’t include a mad rush and praying that someone doesn’t show up before we are through. LOL Not that most people aren’t busy this time of year. Almost anyone you ask is already planning out visits to friends and family. Parties and Soiree’s.  But for this family? This time of year is filled with more love than can be squeezed in any other time of year.

Right now it is a feeling of bliss – but rest assured that eventually I’ll be posting about my frazzled nerves and how I can’t keep up with it all. The money concerns creep up this time of year as well. With so many occasions to celebrate (and no better reasons I can think of to celebrate!) it’s no wonder that eventually the stress levels skyrocket. That is what is great about it all. Though it is stressful, right when you get to the brink, we all gather together and give hugs and kisses. We see faces that we don’t see often, and actually pay attention to faces we seem to take for granted.

So today I ran by to tell you just how excited I am. I feel as if my heart could bust from my chest and do the hokey pokey right here on my desk! That is a feeling I wish I could bottle, or even better yet to share. It is highly contagious. So, pardon me while I dance around my office and send beaming smiles in every person’s direction I see. I’ve got my own personal Christmas going on here.  J My present is the best of presents, it’s my family. <3

I hope your weekend will be one tenth as wonderful as mine is starting out.

 

‘Til next time.

Barbie~

 

 

 

Been meaning to see!

I need to see some examples of other’s watering capabilities. I’m not always up to snuff for pulling the entire hose out and around the yard to water everything. I have automatic sprinklers for the lawn I can hook into. I may have to downsize those heads to keep the lawn from drowning but I need another – a better way to water my garden.

Currently the main garden is getting watered via the lawn sprinklers which are LARGE and not very efficient for the type of watering I need for my garden. It does OK. I still have to supplement the watering here and there but I’m willing to bet my plants would do better with a longer, slower watering and at a more regular interval.

So, be a dear and show me yours. Put it on your blog, link in my comments ANYTHING. I need some good ideas, and I need to sort it all out before I put the new raised beds in along the fence. Now, I’m off to search the internet – once again!

 

Oh- that leaves another question. I’m really not sure how much direct sun that area will have come spring. That is a little concerning but I’m sure I can find something that will do okay. Besides best way to find out is to get some plants in there! ;-)

 

‘Til next time!

 

Barbie~

 

 

 

Not Alone, Am I?

Please tell me... Tell me that I'm not alone, or anything other than maybe midly crazy.

I am a gardener right to my core. As a child I would wander through Nanny's and GrandNanny's (my grandmother) garden pick ripe fruits and veggies and devour them then and there. I would watch her core, blanch, peel, can, cook you name it. It is a part of me like the bones that hold my weary skin up.

And yet. And yet I'm not familiar at all with some types of gardening. This year was the first year I grew any type of squash - ever. I learned a few valuable lessons from it. Things that will be implemented the next season that I am able to grow them again. This leads of course to research. I can scour the internet for hours on end looking for just one thing. Getting so much informatin crammed into my head that I have to shake it off, close the internet and try desperately to sort it all out.

Here is where I ask if I am alone in this? It not only pertains to this particular type of vegetable that I am new at growing but all vegetables. Any variety that I have not personally grown - or that I am growing at that very moment. I could sit for hours on end to find out more. Only typically this leaves me feeling somewhat MORE confused than when I started. Can I stop myself? Heck no! Just try to stop me. LOL- Obsessed most definately. A healthy obession, maybe. I hope. ;-)

So who out there is going to stand up and say it with me? Hmmmm?!

"Hi, I'm Barbie. I have a problem..."




'Til next time!

~Barbie

Harvest Monday 10/18/10

Harvest MOnday is hosted each and every Monday over at Daphne's Dandelions! So head on over and check out what others are harvesting right now. Thanks Daphne!

French Breakfast radishes, Key limes, okra, cucumbers, a few cherry tomatoes and just enough greenbeans for a family of 5 to have a side dish. HA! Most of them were small and somewhat deformed, but they were still yummy. Also eaten (and harvested this week 2 of the juiciest limes ever- DELISH!)

This week I'm not sure what happened. Did I forget to take pictures? Maybe one or two. Did I forget to harvest? Well - that has slowed to a creep. I only need to go out every other day. I'm quite positive i missed a mismash of deforemed cukes and deformed green beans, but that isn't much so here is this weeks goods:

TADAAA! See I told you I FINALLY got a pumpkin tot take! Of course the chances of it being anywhere near orange by Halloween- eh - not so much. At this point I'm just praying it makes it to harvestable at all! See the mildew/mold all over the leaves suddenly? ARGH- That crap took hold in my garden this week like you wouldn't believe! Cooler and dryer, maybe but without the extra warmth my vines need to stay ahead of it - well the worst is aout to happen. It's completely taken my Lakota squash, and my poor dilapedated canteloupe vines. I've left the two little melons on praying that the vine is still giving some sort of sustinance but there is little hope for them. It's also got a hold of my butternut squash vine. Thatplant has it the very least but probably most unfortunate is my cucumber plants and zuchinni are all dead now. It's too late to start new ones and you know what that means? Another lesson learned. Always - ALWAYS have plants ready to transplant. Better to not need them and have to figure out where to put them than to run out of cucumbers long before the weather is too cool for them. Now may garden is not so productive. I don't think that I'll see any more cukes or my first zuke. That is sad but I have taken a few little cherry tomatoes on the fly and the lettuce seedlings are doing well. I just wish there was more veggies that I like in the winter category. That would make losing the vines a lot easier on me. At least there is the promise of fresh brocoli soon. And after all even though MY plants didn't do well there are farmers markets everywhere that are heralding the fall season with loads and loads of winter squash. My absolutely favorite part of fall.

'Til next time!

Barbie~

Bear with me....My girls.

I am terribly sorry to do this to you but....

I'm having issues with saving these files and getting them to upload correctly so I needed to see how they looked here. :-) There is my girls and NO they are not wearing this as costumes. My Mom wanted to get pictures of them in this get up so I did.

Harvest Monday 10/11/10

It's Harvest Monday!

Once again joining the fun over at Daphne's Dandelions where she host each and every Monday. Come on over and join in, too. Show us what you are harvesting, and how you are using it!
Here's my harvest: (par usual missing a cucumber or two)

I made Tabasco sauce this weekend. I actually made 12 oz of it - only kept 5 so I REALLY need to find a new use for this and some larger containers for storage! I could have filled one of those old vinegar jars with the metal air tight lids that catch. Here's that.... 

 

This week my garden has been ignored. Mostly. I mean I dreamed gardening dreams, and browsed catalogs and things but for the most part it did not get my attention. Far too many other things going on and with the mild weather I was able to step to the side for a few days. The funk from losing the majority of my plants is sliding past and I'm reinvigorated thinking of the chages this winter will bring and how much better my spring garden will be for it. Another 45' of garden will be added. More fruit trees as well. So I take the slump in stride and I am now ready to get back to work! :-D

Some of the beauty my garden is offering this week-

*sigh* Ah, yes - THIS is why I garden.

'Til next time!

Barbie~



Today

In order of importance to get done today:

....

Yeah that about sums it up. Hope you are having a great weekend, too!

An Angels Birthday

*Warning* Not a gardening post, and could possibly induce tears.

 

This is a post I wrote over and over in my head this week. It is something that I kinda knew that I wouldn’t be able to write on this actual day. Instead I am writing this yesterday and asking my email to send it tomorrow. Friday – October 8^th.

See, today is a very special day. Today is my son Justin’s birthday. It was only 5 years ago today that I held him in my arms. I hugged him, kissed him, counted toes, and fingers, stroked the bottom of his feet, felt his tiny hand wrapped around my finger and desperately tried to memorize every tiny detail. I breathed in his scent like wine that I was drunk on. A sweet, sweet perfume. His birth was completely special. Each of my children’s births were special, really. Every one completely and utterly different in fashion, in emotion. But his was the most intense for sure. He was born silently into this world. Just he and I together. No one else even existed in that moment. He slipped from me still in his bag of waters. So amazingly different. It was mere seconds later that my husband, the nurses and doctors arrived – but it seemed an eternity. He was so tiny. Warmth surrounded him, emanated from him. Love filled the room from every direction. A very special birth, indeed. Less than a pound and so frail but so perfect.

That day I kissed him, held him as much as I could. It was the first time, the hundredth time, and the last time that I would.

Today I celebrate the day that he was brought into this world, and the day that he was taken from me. Happy Birthday Justin. Five years have passed like the blink of an eye. Only a moment ago, and yet it seems like an eternity. Not often one gets to actually hold an angel. I did.

Some things change us forever, Sometimes we feel that we’ve been left out in the cold far too long. Sometimes those changes are what make us each unique and make us a better person. Sometimes out of that hurt comes love. Peace and love to you my friends. May you, too feel that love!

 

 

Barbie~

P.S.- The bear has special meaning. Read about him here. ( Don’t push the next button, it will play all the way through)

In case the hyperlink doesn’t work try this: http://carteblanchegreetings.com/metoyou/stories/watch/tattys_story/

 

 

A complaint.

Sometimes I complain about my garden. *ahem* Like last week for instance. I lodged a complaint on Oct. 1^st and here only 5 days later the garden answers me. How cool is that? It’s like having my own personal live complaint department – with Tech support. HA!

Some plants are still agonizingly slow or stopped all together, but other have answered my call. I have 2 cantaloupe set. They are baseball and softball size now. I was worried they wouldn’t grow. I had nearly a dozen that pollinated but almost none of them grew. Most of the ones that didn’t grow are still on the plant so tonight I’m taking them off. The 2 that did well and are growing, I raised them onto bricks hoping to keep the snails away. The slugs seem to go for the baits but the snails don’t. Go figure.

The pumpkin I pollinated 5 days ago has tripled in size so looking good there. Double is about as much as I have gotten until now. There was another fruit ready to set, but I didn’t get home in time yesterday to do it. Praying for a lone bee to happen by and pollinate it for me, but that is one fat chance. S’okay though. I have one on and it is enough to thrill the kids and there is hope that one more might set within a week before I pinch it back. Not much time now until the girls birthday and I’d like the pumpkin to be looking good by then. 4 weeks so maybe - just maybe it will be(starting to?)turning orange by then!

I’ve got a couple cukes each day and yesterday I ate the first cherry tomato. Ate it before rinsing it, and it never even touched the gathering bowl. LOL. It wasn’t all that wonderful, but you talk about an explosion! That thing had a gallon of water in it. LOL

Hubby brought up to me an idea that he has come up with for my birthday. He is getting me more fruit trees, and wants to include a small bed around each one for more garden space, too! So I’m off to do some research and see what I can find out and pick a couple of things to try. Got to be OK in a freeze, and not require much in the way of chill hours at the same time. Wish me luck! OH – and if you have any recommendations please tell me. I’m curious as to combinations too – like what can go together well. Strawberries under a peach tree- blueberries under an avocado? Who knows what the combinations will be.

‘Til next time!

Barbie~

for Mary.....

 

Harvest Monday! 10/4/10

It's that time again! Harvest Monday. Thanks Daphne for hosting Harvest Monday's. Link up so everyone can see what is ready for harvest where you live!
This weeks harvest is just that. Quite week. I didn't take many pictures. I'm missing a colander and a handful of okra that look just like the one posted. A handful of green beans and an extra large cucumber that tasted delightful! I was quite shocked. Hubby got ahold of it and had eaten half before I could even snap a picture. He's the cucumber guy. He loves all things cukey. :-) Found a beetle on my beans yesterday so that is not good. It could be in he that hurt my beans as a juvie...to bad there is no JDC for those things. LOL. Anway... here you go!

Don't mind the puny radish. It was a test. It was H~O~T, too! Rich enjoyed it, and Troy complained that it was too small. LOL. It's a French Breakfast so I'm quite sure he'll have his fill sooner or later.

The okra is still hanging in there. Not doing well at all plant wise but still producing! The main plants have quit entirely and shed all their leaves. I'm going to cut the centers out so they can continue a few more weeks. The weather is much cooler and dryer and oddly enough they are the only thing in the garden not appreciative of that!

The tabascos are ready for a few weeks of big harvests again. I can't say enough about this 'little' plant. It's made it through the spring, ans summer and still producing more than we can eat. At 4' tall it's about maxed out in height, and everyone comments on it's beauty. It's been such an easy plant that I think next spring I will have to start 3 and put them in the front garden bed. All of my other peppers that pettered out over summer are just begining to fruit again. I got one baby bell that i accidently knocked off the plant this week, and there is one more on still. The jalepenos, serranos, hungarians, all of them are flowering beautifully, but the fruit is very slow to set.

I may or may not have my first pumpkin on. I know I've said that before a dozen times but so far it looks good. Time will tell. In 3 days I'll have something growing larger each day or something stunted. I'm trying to reroot near the pumpkin so I can cut back the main vine. It may be a disaster waiting to happen, and I may lose the one pumpkin that I manage to get set but i have to try. The plant is very diseased now. It's outrunning it, but if I cut back the leaf skelatons that are left it will leave the vine too vunerable to the sun, and pests. So this is my experiment I suppose. I'm going to tie some ribbons on the vine and trace it back trying to cut out only the other vines but I've done that before and cut the wrong one at the last minute. My spring crop suffered horribly for this. I nearly cried myself to sleep as I had 3 beautiful Jarrahdales that has sized up nicely on. I'll keep you all posted as to how this turns out. Not only to share the info, but for future reference for myself as well. I like being able to look back and see what worked and didn't.

'Til next time!

Barbie~

Garden?

Well, it starts as a garden every time, but it usually ends in some sort of massacre!  I apparently cannot be trusted with plants. I WANT to garden. I WANT to grow food. I WANT my plants to live. I baby them. I weed, feed, stake, prune and even talk to my plants. Does it do me any good? NO!

Somewhere between planting a seed and harvest something goes wrong. Terribly wrong as a matter of fact.  And, it’s not that I’m just not good at certain types of plants. HA! If only that were the case I could put it aside and trial over and over until I got somewhere. No, this is a serious case of black thumb. Tthose green beans I was so thrilled to have? One colander full and that is it. The beans that started have not grown in the last 7-10 days. The leaves are shriveling, there are no more flowers, no signs that the lives of these plants are anything more than barely surviving. Yet, 2 weeks ago they were lush and flowering and bringing hope one green bean at a time. Even my okra is failing. Sure I harvest here and there but for the most part I get a few of this and a few of that. As soon as there is enough to say that I have successfully ‘grown’ a plant – POOF it dies. OYE.

Huh. If that isn’t bad enough do you have any idea how many seeds are planted that never even make it to seedling stage? L

And so I have this infatuation with my gardening space. I love it. I love that I do get *some* food from it. I love that I am able to get out there each day and feel like I ‘m doing something good. That is until a sudden wave of whatever the choice bug or disease is for the day - hits and wipes out half of my bean crop. For that matter that I grow vines that are 50feet in length and get not a single flower to successfully turn from flower to fruit.  What could have turned to fruit is invaded by something or the plant mysteriously dies just before the fruit can reach maturity.

See this love I have, it’s really and truly a love/hate relationship. I plot and plan. Scouring seed catalogs by night and designing diagrams by day all in an effort to get my garden the way I want it. Productive! Does it need to be perfect? No. Not really but it would be nice to be proud of it, instead of proud of what it could be, should be, and if given the chance to fulfill my dreams - WILL be by golly! It’s too bad that plants don’t grow by will alone. If they did I would be rich in soil and food. Heck, I can’t even get my compost to- well, compost.

So today this post is dedicated to the dreamers. Those that WANT to garden and just can’t seem to get it right. You are not alone my friends, not even close. Every gardener has goofs, and you can’t learn until you do, right? RIGHT!

Ah, so it is on to replanting time, and remembering that it is too late to restart plants this fall that are warm weather friends. Time to baby along what can be kept alive and hope for one last little burst of energy to give me that love back. Time for planning the newest improvements, for timing  those improvements so that I can still utilize the space for the winter and yet accomplish things that will make my spring crops better.

Wish me luck. I’m dreaming in Technicolor. And patience? Well that is not a lesson well learned by me. The weather is changing little by little and each weekend that passes will be filled with projects to see me through the spring. Thank goodness all the plants don’t die at once. There is always something to do, something to plant, and something to tend to. That keeps me going. As my luck wanes with one plant there is another to take its place. It’s keeps me going, and keeps me planning and plotting.

 

Til next time!

 

Barbie~