Spring Garden

I think we are past the freezing days, so went ahead and planted my early stuff in the garden, including a few different types of lettuce, arugula, spinach and peas.  I’ve got parsley coming back up and put some new herbs in pots to save room for the later garden stuff (tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers).  I think I am planting less this year, so we’ll see how it goes.

I have totally slacked on my friend’s spring birthdays.  If this includes you, I’m sorry!  I didn’t even get cards out.  Argh.

Monday

Monday afternoon we had a party to celebrate the library garden and the approximately 100 pounds of produce that we’ve grown and donated.  The tomato plants are still out of control, squash is coming in and the peppers look delicious.

After that, I met up with Tim for a SLIS function at Farm.  It was fun to see all the SLIS kids dressed up.  Farm isn’t very veggie entree friendly, so neither of us had been there before, but the Root Cellar has summertime appeal.  It was also Jenn’s birthday, so later I met up with her at the Bishop, a new bar/music venue where the Cinemat used to be.  Good times.

I still have yet to wash the twin sized quilt, take photos and be done with it so I can stop talking about it.  Next up come three winter baby quilts and a certain unnamed Christmas knitting project.

Lotus and concerts galore this weekend!  Must rest up.

Strawberries and Spinach

Yum!  We picked the rest of the spinach today and the strawberries are coming in spades!  Perfect makings for a big lunch.

After harvesting the spinach and arugula, I have put in the last of the summer crops including another sweet pepper, cilantro and a canteloupe.

Le jardin des fleurs

Lest I complain about the rain too much, color is bursting all over our yard.  Dutch Irises, which are tiny, grow in large groups and are brilliantly colored and Peonys are the recent bloomers.  Inspired, I took some macro photos this morning.

This spring has been cool, but that means perfect bike riding weather!  I got to ride this morning before work.  I also hope the rain can hold off some this weekend so I can get some more veggies in my garden.  Its about time to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and maybe some peppers.  I would also like to plant some cilantro out there, but have trouble with it just sending up the long woody shoots and not really becoming full.  Time to research…

Gardening Update

So far planted in my garden are lettuce (2 kinds), thyme, basil, parsley, arugula, spinach, radishes, cabbages, snow peas, swiss chard and two tomato plants.  I think by next week there will be strawberries ready to eat and the lettuce is getting close to being ready.  I was going to hold off on the tomatoes, but today was so beautiful I bought two at the market and stuck them in the ground.  If I stagger the planting of tomatoes, I hope that they ripen at different times.   Just a thought.  Only thing eaten so far is rhubarb, which will still come up next week.  The tulips are done blooming, but the wisteria and azaleas look beautiful.  Irises are almost ready.  I’ve bitched about the rain, but everything is so green.  What a difference it makes to have leaves on the trees.  My mood increases just by looking outside and seeing color.

Tim now has less than a week to go!  Yay.  Now off to finish Week 17….

Spring Weekend Getaway

I am getting ready to go to Savannah tomorrow to celebrate Regina’s BIG birthday.  I am really looking forward to a weekend getaway, seeing friends, and visiting a new city, and in the process hoping that Tim gets lots of quiet time to finish up his semester.  But maybe he could also squeeze in some time to plant these snow peas too!  I haven’t had a lot of experience growing from seeds, but these guys are finally up and ready to go.

In Year of Making Stuff…I may just have to make TWO things next week and call it even.  I was going to pack my knitting, but forgot it at work.

Also?  Friends make you healthier.  Not just in mind, but also body.  Who knew?

Freshness and Light

New arbor for our wisteria and drying sheets in the background.  Tim and I rehung new laundry lines this weekend, so this is the season opener for drying laundry outside.  Nothing better to start with than sheets.  They get crisp and smell so fresh.  Love it.

Speaking of crisp and fresh, I give you baby LETTUCE!

In my garden I planted 3 types of lettuce, arugula, walking onions, oregano, broccoli, snow peas and swiss chard.  We also have strawberries and rhubarb coming back up.  These early plants will be pulled eventually to make more room for tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and such later in the season.

Year of Making Stuff: Week 14

What with all the gardening around here and at the library, this week’s YoMS is sort of lame.  I was really curious about The Big Ass Book of Crafts, so finally it came in at the library and was less than inspired.  Many of the projects are creative, but the main ingredients seems to be popscicle sticks (yep) and rope.  Neither of which I am interested in using.  But he has some cool Day of the Dead light switchplate covers, so I thought I would give it a shot.  I don’t know if it is the images I chose (I was trying to just use what I had on hand), or what, but I am feeling fairly meh about them.  I probably didn’t have the right glue either, but now buying the right supplies may be moot unless I fall in love with another image.

I also spent time this weekend in the Library’s community organic veggie garden, lovingly called Monroe County BookWorm Farms.  So far we have planted peas, arugula, spinach, kale, swiss chard, thyme, lemon balm, walking onions, chives, broccoli and some bok choy like veggie I can’t remember the name.

Year of Making Stuff: Week 13

Just in under the wire on this one, I finished the binding tonight after work.  It is in the wash right now and will be taken to be donated at the Tuesday meeting for the Bloomington Quilters’ Guild Community Quilts.  Other than the batting ($5 with my 40% off coupon), everything is made from what I had on hand.  I think I bought the fish fabric several years ago for Gina’s second boy.

I am not going to complain about the possibility of snow coming up next week.  I had a great weekend and the weather was perfect on Friday and Saturday.  I got to hang out at Jenn’s (doing mad libs…who knew so much fun as adult?), go to the first outdoor Farmer’s Market of the season with Tim, worked in my garden, and planted early crops at the library community garden.  After shopping at the Farmer’s Market and seeing all the cool names the farms have that sell there, I was thinking our little garden needs a name.  What do you think of Monroe County BookWorm Farms?

Spring Break 09

Living in the Midwest means raking even in the spring, there are just that many leaves.  Our work has been rewarded, however, by these guys blooming on the side of the yard.  COLOR!  YELLOW!  Bright green!  Winters here are pretty drab, but the payoff is worth it.  Time to prep the veggie beds, both here AND at the library.

Also?  Its Spring BrEaK!!  I love an empty town.