Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Newest Gnomes

I delayed this post until I decided on names for the newest additions to the Gnome family. I don't like to just choose names out of the blue for these guys... I like to think about them for a little while and make sure they're the most fitting. I've made peace with the fact that I'm a little crazy, don't worry. :)

First up: Pan, keeper of the kitchen.
I have to send a HUGE thank you out to Ben's brother, Ethan, for this little guy. He brought us this lovely little vintage gnome (and matching toadstool!) as a house warming/thank you gift when he came to stay with us for a few days back in November, and I absolutely love him! There's a sticker on the bottom of his foot that says "Made in Japan", so what would be more fitting than to name him Pan. Now, I understand that my Pan doesn't have horns or the hind quarters of a goat, but he's still a mythical creature, so it stays. Also, I think he's holding a lantern, but since he's small and somewhat delicate and will be living in the kitchen, I'm going to say that it's a bottle of booze and he's a little punchy. (See the pigeon toes? I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me...)

Lastly: Alfred, bringer of water.
I picked up Alfred somewhere in PA on the way back from Philly after Christmas. Ben and I stopped off to visit with his grandma, Uncle Greg, and his dad and decided to take a little side trip with Greg to this huge garden store (forgive me, I don't remember the name.) I was disappointed that they didn't have any of the poured concrete gnomes in stock - there were three different girl gnomes in the book! - but I at least I didn't leave empty handed. I picked up Alfred and a big, two-piece ceramic toadstool. I just loved his beard and happy-go-lucky stance.

Also, I am questing for a female Gnome, preferably with a green hat. If anyone out there knows where I can find a female Gnome, I would love to know. I've found a few on eBay, but they're either too small or not quite right (no dwarfs please.) They are so hard to find and I am so badly wanting one to add to the family. I mean, I know that according to Gnome lore the women rarely leave the home, but c'mon... I want one!

Until next time... Happy Gardening!
Amanda

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Garden Update : Part 4

Yay! After this update, we'll be all caught up!! (and hopefully Spring will have made up it's mind to hang around... boo to snow...)

The most exciting news is that Ben and I got all of the sod dug up to form the garden. I pulled on my boots on Saturday and decided to go for it. We had a nice rain on Friday so I knew the ground would be nice and soft, so I figured there was no time like the present. First I used some old grey primer spray paint and marked where I wanted to dig up (I started without marking first and it went really crooked really fast!) Then I took the big spade shovel and edged out the whole bed. I think I was a little too ambitious in the beginning - or maybe I just had no idea what I was getting myself into - but I was killing myself trying to get the pieces of sod up. I kept making them smaller and smaller, but it just kept getting harder and harder. So, once I got about a third of the bed torn up, I called it a day and decided to wait until Ben got home so we could knock out the rest together.

Good plan. We made really fast work of the remainder together. Ben was breaking up the pieces, tossing them into the bed (that knocked a lot of the dirt off) and I was shaking them off and piling them up along the back of the garage. We got done in an hour what would have taken me about six hours. Here are some before and after photos:

Look how dark that dirt is!! It makes me feel really great to know that I get to make sure all those years (about 32 or so actually...) of working that dirt don't go to waste. Thank you Grandma!

A quick tangent: There are 11 kids living in the house across the street from us. I'd say they're ranging in age from 1 to 17 (Jeremiah said that his oldest sister - #12 - is 19 and lives in Cinci.) That is A LOT of children... something totally foreign to me being an only child and all. Anyway, a bunch of these kids along with friends like to ride their bikes up our driveway, turn around on our "patio" and head back down. (I have no problem with this as long as none of my potted plants get broken.) So while I was out working in the dirt on Saturday, a whole gaggle of kids somehow ended up in my yard asking about the garden. It was actually kind of nice, they seem like pretty nice kids. I met Jeremiah and one of his littlest sisters (I'd say he's 6 or 7 maybe) and a friend of theirs, Christopher. They all wanted to try the lettuce and Christopher really wanted to help me dig up the sod. Regardless of how hard I said it was, he was persistent that he could do it and that he LIKED doing yard work. So I convinced him to try to pick up one of the rolls of sod that I couldn't even lift and that sealed the deal. I'll give him credit though, he really gave it his all. I would have been more inclined to let them help, but I really didn't want anyone losing any toes...

Ok, back to the gardening... Here's the latest of the sprouts (I wasn't kidding when I said they've really grown A LOT.)
L-R: Cucumber, Lemon Cucumber, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Pumpkin, Brussel's Sprouts, Tomatillo, Carnival Mix Peppers, Hot Mix Peppers, Banana Peppers

Pumpkins Gone Wild!

Peppers... Growing slowly... :-/

Roma Tomatoes

Big Beef Tomatoes

Italian Ice Cherry Tomatoes

I also decided to take a few cans of spray paint and give some of the "yard art" a face lift...

Before:
After:
Overall, I'm really pleased with how those turned out. My theory stands true... There's nothing that a little spray paint can't fix!

Happy Gardening!
Amanda

Spring is Here! (or so I thought)

For the past few weeks it truly seemed as though spring was here to stay... until today. It snowed. No accumulation, but it snowed. I do not approve of this -- I am *so* over winter, I can't stand it. So, to help raise everyone's spirits who might have been downed by today's weather, here are some photos of the first spring blooms from my garden. The bright colors will hopefully cheer you up... if only you could smell their sweet fragrance too.










Come back Spring!

Happy Gardening!
Amanda

Monday, April 6, 2009

Garden Update : Part 3

Ok, so just like the last post, I really don't have a whole lot to say in this one... but I do have a fair share of photos that speak for themselves. Since replanting the seed trays, my little sprouts have just shot up and are growing like crazy! About two weeks ago I went out to Missouri with my parents to visit family -- I talked to Ben during the four days I was gone and he told me that things were really growing fast... I had no idea I'd come home to this:

Holey Moley! The yellow squash, zuccini, and pumpkins [above in the center rows] grew A LOT! My itty-bitty tomatoes were also really looking good! Their stalks were just starting to turn reddish and were definitely fuzzy.

The cucumbers are all looking really great too... This photo is one of my favorites -- I love how fuzzy the leaves are!
Now, last but not least, this is BY FAR my favorite photo yet... It's just has so much personality. This is one hungry little yellow squash...

mmm... munch munch munch...

Tomorrow's post will be the last update! Hoorah! After that, we'll be all caught up and it'll be current news from there!

Happy Gardening!
Amanda

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Garden Update : Part 2

Oh how things are growing! I really don't have all that much to say in this second update, but there are a lot of photos that can do the talking for me...

Here's the plant stand (post re-planting) as of March 22:

All of the herbs in the pots first sprouted mid to late January and are still growing strong. (The rosemary and oregano are a little slower than the rest, but I'm just going to be patient and hope they catch up.)


The first to sprout in the tray were the Brussels Sprouts, they shot up in a matter of days after planting and have just kept going.

Up tomorrow, Part 3: more sprouts!

Happy Gardening!
Amanda

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Garden Update : Part 1

So, I don't know about everyone else out there, but this winter seemed to last forever. I have been itching for spring for the past 3 months, and I don't really feel like I'm alone here. It seems like everyone has had a hard time weathering the winter this year,but the question remains, what made this winter so much worse than the past? We didn't really have all that much snow here in Columbus, but we did have our share of ice and below freezing temperatures. Our theory is that it has been consistently below 25 degrees since late November, which isn't really characteristic of Ohio winter. Those nice little temperature spikes along the road to spring sure seem to make the cold easier to swallow.

Anyway, enough about the weather. It's been gorgeous here the past few days (I'm just going to ignore that we're supposed to get a "wintry-mix" tomorrow night) and I'm really glad spring has sprung. As I mentioned earlier this week, I will be trying to get caught up on the garden posts over the next few days. So with the spring in the air, here's part 1 of my garden updates...

I didn't have great success with my seeds last year - I ended up buying most of my plants - so I wanted to try something different this year and really make it work. That meant starting things a little earlier to make sure everything got a good start. I did have one slight problem, I had nowhere to keep them once they were planted. Solution: a PVC plant shelf. Back in January I found these instructions: extension.usu.edu/saltlake/htm/horticulture/indoor and took some pictures as I made it. I didn't follow this plan exactly, but it provided a nice base plan for what turned out to be a great growing stand.

STEP 1: Cut all the pieces
STEP 2: Hang the lights
DSCN2294

STEP 3: Add plants
DSCN2295

And voila! A functional, indoor growing station! Ben stepped in and helped here and tied an X of sailing line across the back to keep the unit from swaying side to side and used some of the same line to tie the lights up. He tied them up first with a bowline knot and then trucker's hitches so that I can adjust the height of the lamps and raise them as the plants grow. [Very easy!] Plus, the grand total didn't really break the bank (I had a light fixture and 2 bulbs from last year.)

5 10-foot PVC pipes and fittings = $30 ish
2 shop lights = $20 ish
4 grow bulbs = $40
2 wire linen shelves = $14
TOTAL = $104

Added bonus: This can be disassembled and stored in a box when not in use :) All-in-all, very successful and highly recommended.

I got all of my veggie seeds planted in 2 trays of peat cups and planted all of my herbs and lettuce in pots. Unfortunately, something just wasn't right with the first round of seeds in the trays and I ended up replanting all of them. :( The pots of herbs, however, grew like crazy!
DSCN2302
NEW_2009_Seed_ChartI wanted to keep track of germination rates and sprouting, so made this handy little chart to keep in my log book: --->

The new round of seeds have been extremely successful, and it's almost time to replant some of the seedlings into bigger cups.

Hooray for spring!

Happy Gardening!
Amanda


Keep an eye out, Part 2 coming tomorrow...

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Save the Words

I stumbled upon Save The Words over at the MommyKnows blog and decided to "adopt" a few words. I am now the proud "parent" of ... [drum roll please] ...

Amandation
n.
act of sending away or dispelling/dismissing

His rude amandation of his guests earned him a reputation for curtness.

(I think the definition should be: adding "Amanda's touch" to any person, place, or thing.)
:)



Gelicide
n.
a frost

Th
ose poor garden gnomes - they'll die from gelicide if we don't bring them inside.








Improcerous
n.
having little height

From now on, all meetings will take place on the second floor so that our improcerous boss can reach the lift button.







On another note, the gardening is now in full swing. I've been so occupied with posting my sewing news, that I've neglected the gardening posts. I have lots to update, so keep an eye out, I'll be posting about that in the next few days!

Happy Everything!
Amanda