Speaking of Learning

Micah is very interested in growing flowers. Vegetables are whatever, he really wants to grow some orange flowers.  I've assigned the flower bed to him, but it's very shaded, so I got some impatiens seeds to plant. Turns out impatiens need to be started indoors in February.  I picked up this 72 cell seed starting kit.  I thought it would be a simple activity we could do to get the impatiens going.

Ahem.

We filled the cells with water and  watched the dirt expand (those little tabs - yes, have them flat in the cell, if they're sideways they expand sideways and wedge themselves that way.  They do NOT expand up and the tray's instructions don't emphasize this point clearly enough).

Then I learned that impatiens seeds are about the size of poppy seeds.  Micah pretty much immediately got very excited and wanted to fling the seeds into the tray.  I'd thought this would be a quick, logical time that he could put one seed in each cell. I think I may have over estimated his maturity level!  Fortunately I had a pack of sunflower seeds, so we quickly quickly changed course.  And so very fortunately, Laurie was there and could enthusiastically support Micah as he planted multiple seeds per cell and I could sit at the other end of the tray and start some veggie seeds (butternut squash, cucumber, pumpkin, melon).

Berry Patch & Placenta

My berry plants came in on Thursday, so on Saturday we made a berry patch!

Mike tilled the ground for me.  We have blackberries in this near row, raspberries in the row to the left, and strawberries in the square at the end.  Despite how innocent and helpful they look here, Luke and Micah are not that helpful to the process and weren't really a part of the planting.  In fact, by the time the strawberries were done, they were both mostly naked and filling Micah's shoes with water from the hose.

blackberry plant

raspberry plant (hey mom, why are you planting sticks?!)

I ordered these plant sets from Burpee.  I wanted varieties that were pretty hardy.  I'm trying, but I'm not an experienced gardener, so I need plants that won't die and are less susceptible to disease.  I also wanted berries that produce through the summer, not just one large crop once a year.  We eat a ton of fruit, and last year we loved pulling raspberries from the canes in our back yard and snacking right there.

We also buried Luke's placenta today.  It's been hanging out in our freezer ever since its mysterious disappearance from the hospital.  Luke didn't have too much interest in helping with the process at all.  I, however, found great satisfaction in burying it.  That particular little organ caused a LOT of drama and stress, and I am glad it is going to continue sustaining life.

I feel like a chapter did close today as the dirt closed over the placenta.  Perhaps I put to rest some disappointment and fear of my own.

despite Luke's lack of interest, Micah was very into it

Here is our berry patch!  We have 2 dozen strawberry plants in the square, and 5 each blackberry and raspberry.  Our current cultivated, growing space in our garden is a bit over 100 square feet.  The back yard has about 32 square feet going, and then the berry patch.

Seed Starting & Garden Disasters

 I have learned a lot in the past few months about gardening.  Keeping in mind that this plan is intended to be very conservative and small, a learning year, this is how it's going so far...

My tomatoes and peppers are doing all right.  I have about 30 pepper seedlings, probably around 60 viable tomato seedlings.  They aren't getting enough light, and the tomatoes are leggy and pale. If I do it this way again next year, I will build myself some grow lights. Now that I've seen how much space it actually takes up (to be honest, not too much), and how much I'm really spending on what materials, I think I'll have a good handle on what I would really want to do next year.  I'm keeping notes on what works and when I did everything.  What I don't know right now is how many of any particular plant I NEED.  I would like to can tomatoes and sauce, and freeze basil and berries, etc, but I don't know how many plants I need to get the fruits and vegetables I want.  It's hard to remember that this is essentially a first year.

Anyway, if I get 6 tomato plants, it's cost me the same as if I'd bought the plants at the farmer's market. I do like knowing the history of my plants, the variety and treatment so far.  Plus it's really fun to watch the seeds germinate.

This is one area I've cut back the plan but realized it's still going to be quite the venture. That plot is 12x24 ft, and I plan to have a 2 foot wide path down the middle, so it's 240 square feet of garden space.  My original plan was 12x36, but we've finally accepted just how terrible the soil is here and how much work we're going to have to do to build the bed from scratch.

Last week, I wanted to go ahead and start digging out the bed to do spring planting - peas, beets, spinach and carrots.  I am worried I missed the boat on really getting the early spring veggies in. However, after the area had been in the sun all week, the soil was still mucky, muddy clay, and I finally accepted just how bad it is.  The Durham county master gardener website, in fact, refers to the soil in the Triangle as "some of the worst in the world".  So there's that.  This particular day Mike borrowed our neighbor's tiller and did a pass over the garden plot.  Over the next few weeks we'll put on some top soil and till it a few more times to try to aerate it some.  It is by no means nearly as thorough a process as I'd hoped for, but I think this is about all we can handle.

I was curious if some of the seeds we'd saved would actually germinate, so I started some pumpkins, melons, spinach (not saved, just worried I wouldn't get them in the ground at the right time) and basil seeds.  I have no idea how old the basil seeds are, but darned if they aren't sprouting.

More Nature

The next day we had a ladies' breakfast at a (very) local cafe, and went for a walk on the nature trail across the street.  It was windy and very cold, but the kids needed to play.

Micah loves to ask Dad to play guitar for him, and both Mom and Dad read a lot.  Micah and Luke will sit with all their grandparents and read books for hours!

Perfect Day

A few weeks ago, when we went to stay with my parents for a few days, we were able to go play outside on Friday.  It was February, but it was nice and warm that day.  The toddlers were NOT in the mood to be outside, running back to the house to try to get inside.  But we prevailed.

We walked down to visit my grandparents, then on down to the creek to play.  We were outside for several hours and had lots of fun.

Lots of rock throwing into the water

Aaaaannnnddd all of a sudden they were naked.  What?

Dandelion Fritters

Today I noticed we had tons of dandelions in our yard.  I remembered a recipe I'd run across last year and wanted to try out.

To make dandelion fritters, pick your dandelions when they are fully open and in the sun (or, dry and fluffy).  You want the flower part only, the stems are bitter.

Make a batter.  I used the one from this website - 1 egg, 1 c milk, then add 1 c flour. I couldn't quite tell how to get the blossoms covered, but I found I liked the results best when I put them in yellow first, then used the fork to push them under and sort of flip them back over and up.

Fry 'em up in olive oil!

Dry on a paper towel to drain excess oil, then enjoy with maple syrup!  The boys loved them, and I got a kick out of eating the weeds from our yard.

Next up: dandelion wine

Words

I love everything Micah says. Today he was trying to ask about Bob the Builder and called him Bob the Billboard.

He calls pepperonis macaronis sometimes.

Crocodiles are still crocodaddles.

Zebras are still zebrellas.

Micah usually builds a blanket forklift instead of a fort.

I never correct it, I just enjoy it. I wish it would never change.