I’m patting myself on the back for following through with my desire to plant my own veggies. I’ve had several false starts, but never quite obtained the desired results. This year, I have a new attitude about planting – an attitude that I’ll get out of it what I put into it. No longer will I plant seeds and water them whenever I happen to remember to do so. No longer will I place the plants outside and out of sight to be ignored forever. This year, I will harvest something edible – even if it’s one teeny, tiny veggie. I…am…committed!

I’m on a mission. Seedlings for carnival peppers, roma tomatoes, and bell peppers are getting their start indoors while pea seedlings began settling into their home outdoors yesterday.

I planted the indoor seedlings ten days ago, but noticed the first sprouts for the tomato sprouts just six days after planting; a great short-term reward for someone who typically has nothing to show for her gardening efforts. As soon as the indoor sprouts are ready I’ll move them outside to a homemade raised garden bed fashioned out of scrap wood (we have tons of it) that I knew would come in handy someday.

Peas were just planted yesterday and I don’t expect to see anything from the seeds for at least 10-20 days, but when I do, a sense of accomplishment will surely wash over me. Sweet corn, red corn, peas, and lettuce should be planted next weekend, which will allow me to harvest them in early fall.

I’m probably going to throw my hat into the herb-growing ring as well by growing mint and rosemary indoors in some artsy, but utilitarian containers. I’m looking forward to freshly-pinched mint to add to cups of tea and fruit salad.

I’m sure I will have learned many lessons during this experiment, but one that I’ve already learned…don’t wait until summer to think about growing strawberries. Better luck next year!

Any advice for a novice gardener? Well, I’m not a novice, but this is the year that I’ve declared to not give up on my little sprouts. With a little help from you, I just may have a bumper crop year.

Let’s chat!

CC

I love summertime! Memories are made every season of the year, but there’s something about what happens in the summer that makes me want to relive each and every day. Maybe it’s the nostalgia that overcomes me while watching my children learn and do things that I did when I was their age: playing outdoor games, jumping rope, riding bicycles, or taking a bite from varieties of fresh fruit that can only be had this time of year.

This past weekend was full of memory-making moments spent in our backyard oasis.

On Saturday, we ventured into the city to visit a fabulous farmers’ market for the first time. The sites and sounds of shoppers and vendors buying and selling fresh goods were near sensory overload, but a great time was had. The children squirmed as I pointed out fresh portions of chicken feet behind one glass enclosure. They delighted in the smell of fresh-baked goods and we all enjoyed touching and smelling fruits and veggies from farms all over the country. We hiked back to the car with lemons, strawberries, broccoli, peas, and twenty pounds of fresh ribs. While we unintentionally chose what was apparently the busiest time of day during the busiest day of the week, we all talked about how we looked forward to visiting again soon. We drove to the nearby river for a quick trip, but made our way back to the highway after realizing that some kind of major event closed the parking lots until further notice. The rest of Saturday was spent relaxing and having a backyard BBQ.

Sunday brought about a new set of adventures and memories. After church, we built a washer toss game from scratch. We cut 2-foot segments to create a square and then spray-painted them in green to blend in with the backyard landscape. Then we spray-painted (I love doing this!) 30 quarter-sized, metal washers in 6 different colors, so that each of us (we’re a family of 6) would have our own color. We made up consequences like doing jumping jacks or push-ups and running laps if we didn’t meet given goals. Ex: must land at least two washers in the tin. The punishment push-ups were a sight to see and we laughed ’til our bellies hurt! We had loads of fun using a game that we made for a total of $10.03 including tax!

Also on Sunday, we put assembled our newest (and surely better quality) badminton set. That provided loads of fun for all and everyone got a great workout without even thinking about it.

I was able to get a bit of gardening in as well after my husband built a custom planter out of scrap wood. I planted garden peas and am looking forward to being able to harvest them in late summer.

We had dinner outside again and played more backyard games. The weekend finale was sitting around the firepit telling spooky stories and eating s’mores until almost midnight. It was difficult to let go of the fun we were having, but we’re looking forward to next weekend’s opportunities. Next weekend is Father’s Day, so whatever we do will be centered around dad.

Overall, we had an absolute blast that was largely technology-free; ver, howewe did use our cameras and cell phones once or twice. The only thing missing was a pool! Ahh!!!

Happy Summer!

How do you like to spend your summer days? What’s your favorite recent or childhood memory?

Le’ts chat!

CC

I enjoy making things – artsy-crafty things. Now, I feel the urge to expand my ability to “make” things, such as food. I’ve thought about it before, but recently decided that this is the year that I would finally get serious about gardening. I know it’s a bit late for certain types of crops, but I’m not going to let my procrastination stop me. Better late than never.

Based on some quick research for the climate in which I live, here’s what I can possibly plant. These are foods that I’m sure my family will eat.

• Cucumbers
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes

I guess a trip to the gardening section of the local hardware store is in order. I’ll post more later.

What are some relatively low-maintenance crops for zone 6A?

Do you grow your own food? Let’s discuss!