>Garden is Growing

>Well, we did it!
Our garden vegetables are growing as I write this. My back hurts like crazy but the dang thing is done.

 It was a poor sight to see this morning.

 The garden had become dumping grounds for the dogs. It also served as a digging hole for Chauncey when he got bored. Needless to say, there was a lot work work to be done.

 We combed it out, dug out weeds, filled the holes, de-pooped it, and mixed in a few bags of organic miracle grow.

 After that we sectioned it off and planted! We ended up not doing the potatoes. They needed more space to grow than we were willing to give up.

 After planting, we fenced it off to prevent the doggies from intruding. They’ll have to find somewhere else to dig and dump now. 🙂

 We didn’t water it because the forecast was calling for rain. Glad we didn’t! We got lots of rain tonight. Hopefully not too much!

Hopefully healthy, organic veggies are on their way!

>Square Foot Gardening

>It’s that time of year again… planting time!

Last year, my dad helped us set up a square foot garden in our back yard. I wrote a post about it so if you want the whole story, check out this link.

Well tomorrow, Austin and I are diving in for round two. Papa Gary is in Chicago so we are on our own. And, lets be honest, I’m 26 weeks pregnant with a constant back ache so really, Austin is on his own. I’m sure I will supervise and assist excellently.

One thing that a backache CAN’T stop me from doing is planning. So that’s what I did. Here is the game-plan for our garden.

It will probably change a little bit but this is what we are thinking right now.

Last year we didn’t have much success with the spinach or carrots. We thought we’d give it one more shot. We also used onions like crazy so we thought we’d expand their property a bit. Potatoes are new on the agenda as well. I have no idea how to plant those.

I’ve been referring a lot to the website, Vegetable Gardening Online, for tips on planting. I’m sure we’ll be on that website a lot tomorrow 🙂

Happy Gardening!

(If you have a green thumb, gardening tips are appreciated!)

>What’s in YOUR oven?

>

Funny you should ask…

At this very moment, I am baking up a recipe my friend Carly gave me.

She gave this delicious, filling, healthy recipe to me about 3 weeks ago. Since then I have baked it over 5 times. My husband loves it. I love it. We have it not only for breakfast but for dinner sometimes too.

Want to try it out?

I’d love to share the deliciousness that has been passed on to me.

Guess what? My oven is beeping at me! Time to eat!

>Once Upon a Time

>

Once upon a time, the Conners wanted to start a garden. They had the land, the tools, the weather, and the ambition but they didn’t know where to begin. They were sad.

One beautiful Spring day, a truck pulled in their driveway. Who could this be? What could all this dirt be for?

They were delighted to find the legendary gardener, Gary Drover, step out of the truck. Armed and ready (with his assistant, Janny) to work the land and help the Conners start their first garden!

He started the process by measuring out a plot of land, 4X12 feet long.After measuring, we had to dig up the area. Get-out-of-here grass!

When we had removed enough dirt, Gary went to work on a frame for the garden.

With the frame in place, we had to dig some more. Loosening the packed dirt up is critical for plant growth.

Remember all that dirt in the back of the truck? Well we had to haul it all into the new garden area. That was not an easy task! After about 20 loads of dirt were dumped in, (and a lunch break), there was more digging to be done. The new topsoil dirt had to be mixed in with the existing soil in the ground. Our shovels (and backs) got a hearty workout.

Next step: De-clumping. A tedious job in which the workers find big clumps of dirt to break apart or remove from the garden bed.

Forgot to mention, Gary brought along his work supervisor, Rip. He was skeptical the entire time.

Planting time. Gary enlightens us with all his seed planting knowledge.

Lettuce, snow peas, carrots, radishes, and spinach all went in on this particular day. More seeds to come as it gets warmer!
A little watering, some further instructions on garden maintenance, and TA-DA! The Conner’s first garden is complete!

The Conner family is happy once again. Thanks Mom and Dad for a hard day of work. You guys are the best!