I think I've said this before, but this is my first REAL garden in over 25 years! It's probably more like 30...I don't really recall having one the whole time I worked!
I'm really enjoying it. My swiss chard is bountiful. My cabbages are growing nicely. Even the little ones that were nibbled upon have come back! I water them with "alfalfa tea" which is just some alfalfa thrown in a bucket filled with water, and then I dump it on the vegetables. My sugar snap peas are already 24" tall. My first two tomato plants already have blossoms on them. However, we are having quite a WINDY DAY here, so I'll have to see how they are tomorrow or Sunday. We're supposed to get showers here tonight and all day tomorrow.
I find my garden very therapeutic. Sometimes I go out and pull weeds. Other times I water it with my watering can. I have bird feeders away from it and the birds come and go and now they visit my bird bath! I surrounded it with branches and perches for them and I love to sit at the window and watch them! I have hummingbirds in the yard and a female who comes to the feeder on the porch!
Life is slower now...less hectic (most days)...I just enjoy watching everything.
I'm reading books about how to maintain and support one's garden. I have 6 red cabbages, 6 green ones, a cauliflower (with 3 cauliflowers on it), 1 swiss chard, 2 lavender (for the bees), 2 mints (to keep the varmits away), and some sage. I have sugar snap peas growing on my chain link fence, along with 5 tomatoes (not together, of course)...I have 2 chili peppers and a few sweet peas. I don't know what happened to my sweet peas this year, but they are straggly and struggling. Yes, they, too, get the "alfalfa tea". I think for next year's crop (this one is going to be rather meager), I'm going to REALLY dig up the soil for them and add LOTS of organic matter.
I now wander up & down the aisles at Home Depot and Lowe's and investigate and read the labels on their mulches. I want to find an organic one. There IS a composting facility down valley, but I'm not sure they have organic compost...I'll have to check it out. I'm a little hesitant about using horse manure on my plants unless it has been out in the sun for over a year ( to burn off the parasites and germs...)....
Anyway, the granddaughter is coming over today before we go to the library so I can show her my garden. I'll take some photos and post them tomorrow!
I've had to babysit "Little Man" for 2 days because he had a rash and fever, but he appeared to be okay...kinda cranky yesterday. Here's what he thought of Grandma's babysitting:
He gave me an "F" for babysitting because I forgot one of his bottle feedings!
THEN... (I nearly had a heart attack...)
Now, mind you, GRANDPA came along to "help". YEAH, right! All he did was sit in front of the TV for 10 hours...
I was running around doing laundry for our daughter (I did 7 loads yesterday and folded everything and put it away). On one of my trips around the corner to the laundry, HORROR...I noticed the front screen metal door wide open! HUH? I was SURE I locked it (but the lock is very tricky)...
GUESS WHO was sitting outside the front door on the step? YUP. Little Man! I screamed and ran SO FAST across the room...I think I set a new land speed record! I swooped him up, closed and locked the wooden FRONT DOOR, and said a prayer of thanks! He somehow managed to crawl all the way down the hallway, push open the screen door (which does have a lock on it, but apparently I didn't get it properly locked) and crawl onto their front step. They only have one step and then a walkway which goes down to the driveway! I think I now have 100,000 new gray hairs! Fortunately his parents both have a 4 day holiday weekend, so THEY can watch him for the next 4 days!
Phew!
I had to come home and have 2 beers last night.
~Cheers~!
Cheryl Ann
