Success!

Houston, we have corn! ..almost. We will have edible corn by the end of July, I'd say.

Ta da! This is only one of the many ears that are popping up in the corn patch. I can't wait until it is ready- I got yellow sweet corn seeds. Yum.

Also, last week before we left for the lake, I picked these! Yellow squash (one promptly went on top of my grilled pizza that night), a cucumber (in my lunch this week) and a couple of baby plum tomatoes!

Last night I picked a zucchini and many more tomatoes. Soon enough I will be picking enough tomatoes at once to make bigger batches of pico de gallo!


I've also got potatoes that are ready to be dug up, onions ready to be picked and more cucumbers on the vine! I'm still worried about my pumpkins though. There were a bunch of big blossoms on the vines but they shriveled up! I'm not sure if it got too hot or what. I've been watering the plants since it got so hot here and the blossoms died away, so hopefully something will come out of the plants.

Oh, and for a couple of weeks I had a few peas. My plants never really got bushy and I only had a few pods to pick. Then the sun burnt the plants, despite my best effort to keep them watered. I am thinking that the pea season is about done anyway, so there is no reason to hold out hope for anymore peas.

(A couple of the pods that I picked and thoroughly enjoyed raw peas from.)

PS- I still need shoe help. Please?

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Weekend Recap

Well friends, it was a productive one (even though the Caps didn't wrap up round one on Friday!).

Saturday
-I started off with my step aerobics class- It was awesome. 55 minutes straight of cardio and I felt good! I love burning those calories.

-I headed to the farm supply store (okay, I had a pit stop at Mickey D's first for a mocha frappe and sausage mcmuffin with a coupon for breakfast/lunch) and got some essentials so that I could FINALLY get my garden in. I picked up some fertilizer and tomato plants! Since I was so busy in March and early April studying for my exam, I didn't get a chance to start my seeds inside this year. I'm going to attempt to start everything but the tomatoes from seed outside.

-I rushed home and completed the essential task of clipping my nails and got my tush outside to try and get as much in the garden as possible before the rain that was threatened for all weekend arrived. I did it! I got all of my rows hoed out and got everything in. Woo hoo! It is such a relief to have all of that done.

-While I was gardening, John went to his parents' to pick up their van. He came home and loaded. LOADED. it up with random yard debris that the previous owner had lying around. A grill (propane tank still attached) that had been in a mound of shrubs, LOTS of wood, drywall, etc. Our yard never looked so clean.





We followed up Saturday night with a hot date night- returning the van, Kohl's to use a coupon, Friendly's for supper (to use up all of my extra calories burnt while gardening) and then Home Depot. Wooo hoo!

-We made out AWESOME at Kohls. John got a new pair of sneakers, I got a work shirt, a sweater ($7.60 people!), 2 work out shirts, a pair of work out capris, a sports bra, and a nike workout jacket. All of this for our monthly shared clothing budget of $100! I had a 15% off of total purchase coupon AND we got $20 Kohl's cash to use anytime now!

Home Depot was ridiculous. We got a bunch of lumber (for me to make new shutters), 22 concrete sidewalk pavers and 10 bags of pebbles. We also got 3 gallons of paint (door, trim- exterior), and edging for the sidewalk. Remember how we drive small cars? Yeah.. Toyota Corolla pick up truck. We had a fun ride home.. the car looked like it was about to take off.

Low backend...

Sunday was more of the same.
-Grocery shopping followed up by John cutting out the sidewalk and building it (pictures to come soon!) and I was in the shop cutting all of the wood for our new shutters.

-I started to assemble them but 1) we only have so many clamps and 2) the glue was taking FOREVER to dry! Seriously! Blah. Maybe tonight I can get together two more pieces!

Anywho, that was our wild and fun weekend. We are very exciting people. Productive at least...

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Spring has Sprung!

Do you see what I see?? Bulbs are sprouting! Do you SEE all of them? What an awesome surprise!

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Trees Be Gone!

Yesterday we had some tree guys come out to take down a couple of trees who were too close to the house and had branches hanging over the roof. Because they were hanging over the roof, there were spots that were mossy- we wanted to make sure to clear that up before the roof got soft and we had water damage. Plus, we didn't want to chance any of those branches falling on the roof.

All together, it cost us less than $900 to have a professional (and insured!) company come and take down two trees and remove several more branches on other trees. They also cut up the removed trees into firewood (we don't have a fireplace, but will have bonfires/campfires), and they took all of our piles of brush and shrubbery that we had already removed. I'm sure they make it into mulch to sell, so it benefits them as well as us!

The hole where two trees used to be!

Before:

After:

My little naked and lonely house!

John gets home a couple of hours before I do, so when I get home every day, he tells Jaq that I am home. Jaq will run to the door to wait for me. It is even better now that we have a front door that he can see out of!

Little kitty head waiting for me.

A couple of nights ago, I finally cleaned up the front yard from moving. We had a grill, a sled, cardboard, plywood, and a bunch of random plants littering the front yard. I moved the grill to the backyard and found homes for everything else. The plants are all in pots since they had been on our apartment balcony, so I placed them all on the front "stoop."


Lastly, make sure to check in tomorrow- big things are happening!

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Tomatoes!

Woo hoo! My tomato plants are producing! They are still little and green, but they are tomatoes!


And the rest of the plants that I started from seed. I transplanted them and they looked like this. Now, they look like this:

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Deck Transformation!

Well, not so much a transformation as a "pick up" and transplant my seedlings.

I was planning on transplanting everything this morning, but I used a bag and a 1/4 just for the big veggie pots.. and then I was out! John was on his way to the car store and possibly Home Depot/Lowe's, so I called and asked him to get me another big ol bag of potting soil. I took a break to clean the apartment, go to Target, and then spend a couple of hours studying at Panera.

When I got home, there was a bag of soil waiting for me, so I completed transplanting everything, then I cleaned up a little. John got hooks at Home Depot for the bikes and they are finally off of the deck! I bought the cute seat cushions at Target for $8 (for both!), and the red vase I had around.

The last thing I did was bring a white plastic shelf outside from John's closet. It was really just holding crap that could be stacked on itself, and I wanted something to hold my gardening supplies!

Before:

Bikes & an orange flower pot from my mom,
plus all of my gardening stuff that has never had a home.

The railing with all of my plants waiting to be potted.
The petunias were just sitting in the window box.

Looking back towards the screen door and the closet door.

And, after:

Hanging bikes! Yay! I had wanted them to hang from the ceiling,
but John said they didn't have the right hooks. This is better than nothing though!

The railing. Below are veggies: 6 tomato plants and a zucchini plant.

Looking back towards the closet door again.

And, my pretty new seat cushions.
We got the chairs and table last year from Target for pretty cheap.

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Seed Starting

This year I decided to save some money and start my own seeds. I love plants and wanted a ton of flowers this year, and this seemed like the smartest way to do it.

I placed a big order to Burpee and got several flowers, tomatoes, and zuchini, as well as a seed starting kit.

The kit had the tray and seed starter pellets. All I had to do was water the pellets to make them poof up, then I stuck the seeds in there and covered them up.


I put the tray on a folding table in front of the sliding doors out to the balcony, and prayed that it would get enough sun out there.


Apparently it did! I started the seeds on Sunday and by Tuesday I had sprouts already! Just a week later and I think everything has started popping up!



When my parents come for Easter, my dad is bringing a couple of BIG pots for the tomatoes and zucchini. I've had success with both in pots before, however they stopped producing after a month or so because the pot got too small for the roots, so I'm hoping that larger pots solve this problem.




In the beginning of May, I will transfer these guys to pots that I will put out on the deck. I may start putting the tray outside before then if it stays warm enough.

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