Sunday, August 3, 2014
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
Rain Rain Rain
We have crook neck squash, jalapeño peppers and corn!
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Birthday
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
OCD Madness
I started gardening last year and since I felt I was such a "newbie" and didn't know anything about the plants/flowers/bushes/trees I created a spreadsheet with plant information. This way I could easily refer to the spreadsheet for names and bloom periods and hints, etc...
Below is a screenshot of my spreadsheet. As you can see I have 6 "sheets" and to give you an idea of how OCD I am...I have 46 perenial flowers, 26 annuals, 8 bulbs, 13 trees, 10 houseplants and 28 vegetables listed. I know I do not have all our landscaped plants/bushes/trees on the list yet. Maybe soon I'll post a screen shot of my Power Point that has photos and the design of each "section" for our landscape.
Below is a screenshot of my spreadsheet. As you can see I have 6 "sheets" and to give you an idea of how OCD I am...I have 46 perenial flowers, 26 annuals, 8 bulbs, 13 trees, 10 houseplants and 28 vegetables listed. I know I do not have all our landscaped plants/bushes/trees on the list yet. Maybe soon I'll post a screen shot of my Power Point that has photos and the design of each "section" for our landscape.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
The little Cosmo that could....
Thanks to our neighbor who has his own greenhouse and grows from seed I decided to try my hand at growing seeds. I don't have a greenhouse but attempted to turn our laundry room into one (thought the humidity from the dryer would help). Out of 5 PACKETS of seeds I was able to keep alive ONE little plant - a Cosmo flower.
Below is a photo of my little Cosmo planted in my vegetable garden.
Below is a photo of my little Cosmo planted in my vegetable garden.
Below is a photo of the store bought greenhouse grown Cosmo.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...grow.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Before and Now
I know it's been a few months since I've posted as I've been spending most of my free time either gardening, golfing or playing with the grandkids. So, I will try and update quickly:
In May we decided to turn some of our "natural landscape" in the backyard into a vegetable garden. Here is a photo after we have prepared the soil (not very well as it turns out), leveled the ground (mostly), built a retaining wall and added the fence (to protect the precious plants from all the wildlife!):
What we've learned so far:
* Our back "yard" is CLAY and we should have used much better soil when we started as now we keep having to ammend by topping the soil with various and recommended ammendments (such as cotton burr compost)
* We have LOTS of ants...I've been trying to rid them with food grade diatomaceous earth. It seems to help although hoping they'd ALL be gone might be "wishful thinking".
* Broccoli and lettuce are "cold weather" plants and are not liking our 90 degree heat. Probably should have planted them earlier.
* Pumpkin, cucumber and squash have male and female flowers. The females are what turn into the fruit - after being pollinated by the males. Apparently, the male flowers bloom first and then a week or so later the females bloom but only for ONE day. If they don't get "lucky" in that ONE day - the flower shrivels and dies...either way all the males will end up shriveled (for some reason this makes me smile).
* So far only the dill, basil and tomatoes are able to be harvested - but they are not going to waste...my husband eats the tomatoes almost every day and we add them to whatever we are cooking for dinner.
* I really need to thin some of the veggies but am afraid as they all look green and healthy right now. Guess I really have no choice if I want them to continue growing!
Okay, so that's the "quicky and dirty" update. I'll have more soon. Thanks for reading!
In May we decided to turn some of our "natural landscape" in the backyard into a vegetable garden. Here is a photo after we have prepared the soil (not very well as it turns out), leveled the ground (mostly), built a retaining wall and added the fence (to protect the precious plants from all the wildlife!):
On June 1st we "sowed" the marjority of our plants; about 1/2 were transplants from Lowes or Costco and the other 1/2 were seed, but 3 of the plants (the PUMPKINS) were started by our neighboor from seed and cared for in his greenhouse . We transplanted the following: 3 pumpkins, 7 cucumbers, 5 tomatoes, 4 peppers (one died), 3 asparagus,1 canteloupe, 3 types of squash, mutiple potatos, 8 strawberries and 2 dills, 4 basils, multiple marigolds to help with bugs. We used seed for: lettuce, brocolli, onions, radishes, carrots, peas, green beans and corn.
The photos below were taken on July 4th - less than 5 weeks from when we planted!
What we've learned so far:
* Our back "yard" is CLAY and we should have used much better soil when we started as now we keep having to ammend by topping the soil with various and recommended ammendments (such as cotton burr compost)
* We have LOTS of ants...I've been trying to rid them with food grade diatomaceous earth. It seems to help although hoping they'd ALL be gone might be "wishful thinking".
* Broccoli and lettuce are "cold weather" plants and are not liking our 90 degree heat. Probably should have planted them earlier.
* Pumpkin, cucumber and squash have male and female flowers. The females are what turn into the fruit - after being pollinated by the males. Apparently, the male flowers bloom first and then a week or so later the females bloom but only for ONE day. If they don't get "lucky" in that ONE day - the flower shrivels and dies...either way all the males will end up shriveled (for some reason this makes me smile).
* So far only the dill, basil and tomatoes are able to be harvested - but they are not going to waste...my husband eats the tomatoes almost every day and we add them to whatever we are cooking for dinner.
* I really need to thin some of the veggies but am afraid as they all look green and healthy right now. Guess I really have no choice if I want them to continue growing!
Okay, so that's the "quicky and dirty" update. I'll have more soon. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Big government worried about rain??
So, if I understand correctly, southern Colorado is in a drought...we've had severe watering restrictions the past few summers and numerous devastating fires. Yet it's illegal for me to collect rainwater to water my plants???? I'm not talking about a huge system but just a rain barrel?? Ridiculous!
New adventures in gardening -Grow dammit grow!
Yep, I started gardening last year and have really been putting A LOT of effort in to my plants. Of course, not all my effort has shown positive results! LOL
I started keeping a gardening journal, spreadsheet and photo spread of everything so I can learn and relearn all my wise and poor decisions.
My plan is to use this blog to share my frustrations but also all the things I learned!
So, first a little but about me: I am married, have four children, 2 son-in-laws, and two adorable grandsons! I work full-time but enjoy gardening, photography, golf and family.
We live in the Foothills of Colorado Springs on an acre of property that is very much "Colorado natural" in it's landscape.
My hope is to post before and after photos and tips I used that both worked and not worked (probably be a lot more of those, lol). I also am looking forward to learning from others.
Here's to the growing of plants, dreams, and peace!
I started keeping a gardening journal, spreadsheet and photo spread of everything so I can learn and relearn all my wise and poor decisions.
My plan is to use this blog to share my frustrations but also all the things I learned!
So, first a little but about me: I am married, have four children, 2 son-in-laws, and two adorable grandsons! I work full-time but enjoy gardening, photography, golf and family.
We live in the Foothills of Colorado Springs on an acre of property that is very much "Colorado natural" in it's landscape.
My hope is to post before and after photos and tips I used that both worked and not worked (probably be a lot more of those, lol). I also am looking forward to learning from others.
Here's to the growing of plants, dreams, and peace!
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