MMM mmm MMM Good

Today I picked a few strawberries and tasted them for the first time. Delicious!!

Only problem is... someone else (something else) is getting to them before me. Hmm... do birdies eat strawberries?

I would share photos but my BF has the camera on a 4 day hike right now :(

My First Harvest

Look what Dolly dug up last night before the BBQ we hosted!

The rest of the pics I wanted to add the other day!

The good and the bad - part 1

With the recent weather being so poopy it really started to have an effect on my garden. Before we knew it 2/6 of our cucumbers died off, which is okay since there's not a lot of room anyway. Here are 3/4 survivors.
The corn was another one that suffered :( We probably lost just under half. The remaining plants look like tough guys though so I hope they'll make it.



Hmm looks like blogger is having issues and wont let me add anymore right now so I'll have to do this update in two parts. Stay tuned....

What to do with some old shelves, a saw, some nails and a sexy BF

When my BF and I put our minds together great things happen. He is very handy with tools and is an engineer so he can build almost anything I ask. We discovered we needed a little more room that what the garden allowed so we had be creative. I suggested using some shelving that had been left outside all winter to build some planter boxes. We took a look out in our shed and found a board out there that would be perfect to make everything come together.


Above is a photo of the shelves we had to work with. We had three like this plus one side support to rip apart and reformat into something beautiful.



After an afternoon of work he had fashioned these beauties for me. All it cost us was some time, imagination and a few nails from the hardware store.

We didn't hesitate to start filling them up and went a little crazy. One is filled with just strawberries. I love strawberries! We bought two extra and gave them to my niece in small pots for her to enjoy since she was such a great help with the garden.

The other one has a few cauliflower and some onions. BF made a mistake and bought big walla walla onions so I'm not sure whats going to happen there, lol. There's not really enough room so I guess he'll have to make some decisions as to who gets to live here and who gets "evicted".

I couldn't resist a macro shot of my first ever baby cauliflower!



EDIT******

Don't mind the mess in the pics.... we are a work in progress, lol

One Week in and the green is popping up

It's been awhile since my last update so here are some pictures I took this weekend in the garden. Later today or tomorrow I will post some more recent pictures. :)




We planted the garden not last weekend but the one before. Within 4-5 days the radishes started to appear. By the weekend (one full week) this is how much they have grown. Very exciting!!!

If you look really hard you can see the corn is also starting to make its way up to the surface.

Last, but not least our cucumbers have also made an appearance!

This picture is very blurry but if you look hard enough you can see where those crazy birds have started pulling the green covers off their perches. They pull them off and throw them on the ground. I have another story to share with you later about what little rascals these birds really are!

Garden Planted - Another May TCOB Goal Completed

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Garden Planted - Another May TCOB Goal Completed

So here was our garden during the first stage. We had to dig up the area that we wanted to plant in. We shook all the soil from the grass to reuse in the garden. We found it easiest to dig up the grass clumps, flip them over, let them dry out a bit and then shake them out. We did this over a few days. We then picked out all the rocks from the soil. We were pleased to find many worms.












Apparently this robin was also pleased that the amount of worms! ;)










The we built a frame. We drove down logging roads to find an area where they leave scraps that people can dig through and my BF managed to fashion some into this lovely frame. We did have to buy nails but no wood. We then drove out and dug up some soil which we mixed into or existing soil along with 2 bags of mushroom manure and one bag of cow manure. Stir it all up and you've got yourself some nice soil. Then we planted corn, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and our already started bell peppers and tomato plants.











In the morning we woke up to find the neighbourhood cats also liked the garden but for other reasons. So we cleaned out that area, replanted and built this fence out of gardening net and bamboo (a very cheap solution). I still want to dig up another small patch for things we didn't have the room for such as zucchini and peas. I have also toyed with the idea of a small strawberry patch in another part of the yard. Oh and a few raspberry bushes....mmm.

I wish this was our home..wait I take that back because I would never buy this house. I wish we were at the stage of owning our own home so that we could invest more into our yard. We'll get to harvest this summer and next but then we'll be off on another adventure. It's hard to hold myself back because I love gardening so much even though it drives my allergies crazy.

Anyway, thats my garden update. I showed you mine, now show me yours!

Dolly's Yard Updates

So do you think the birds like the new feed I bought? We seem to have attracted a lot of birds to it which is so nice. There have been a few different types which is what I had hoped for when I bought this type of feeder and feed. I love going outside and watching them sit on it and munch away.

The other picture is of the front garden area. I don't touch it ever and every few weeks some new type of flowers bloom there. It's really lovely!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Weekend Plans

Well it looks as though our camping plans have been temporarily put on hold :(

We decided it was going to be too hectic for our liking trying to camp on May long weekend and that we really shouldn't neglect the responsibility we have to getting our garden planted. We managed to get all of our wood for free and we made sure to shake all the soil off the grass patches we dug up so its been a free project so far. No dirt, no wood. Well.. we did spend money on the Jiffy Starter Kit and we will spend more on seeds and nails. Not to shabby!

Anyway, last night we hung up a bird feeder I bought this week with my mom. There are so many birds in my yard! They are crazy everywhere and LOUD, lol. Sometimes as I sit and write my posts a bird will land on the balcony outside the window to my right and cause a ruckus which will scare the daylights out of me! I swear I've had nearly a dozen small heart attacks since the weather warmed up again.

I had decided that I needed to feed these birds because they are here all the time and I actually really do enjoy having them around. I went to a specialty bird store and purchased a feeder for $12.99. It was a good size and can feed a variety of birds. There were many beautiful and fun expensive feeders but I tried to think with my wallet in mind. I like the one I got. We had to fashion a little tray to hang under it so that the bird seed doesn't fall on the ground when the birds get rowdy. She told me the seeds can give the birds salmonella poisoning after they've been sitting in the dirt and how if they ate it, they would curl up into a ball and die.

**GASP**

Ok, so I'll be sure to keep on eye on that! Good lord, this is more of a responsibility than I thought. It took us 10 minutes to put it together but two days to hang on the Cherry tree. I told you guys I have a problem with procrastination. I hope the birds like the feeder. I also bought some special feed that the type of birds in my yard like that was $8. They reuse the containers that you buy it in if you return it. I like that!

Back to the garden... its our priority this weekend. We need to build a frame. Make sure the soil is ready to go and most importantly we need to get the seeds in the ground!

I promise to post pics later on today and maybe tomorrow of our progress.

Green Thumb? Maybe so!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Green Thumb? Maybe so!

Here's an update on my little starter plants. In this tray there are beefsteak tomato, sweet cherry tomato and bell pepper plants. I started them from seed last month. I'm proud to report they are all doing very well. My BF and I try to remember to take care of them all the time. We are very excited to plant our first garden together. I think it will be really great for our relationship to be out in the yard together working on it. Gardening is so therapeutic.

Progress in the Jiffy

Friday, March 14, 2008

Progress in the Jiffy

Out tomato plants are starting to grow like crazy. It sure didn't take long for them to start popping out of their soil. The peppers have been a little slower. One has finally started to grow but the other 5 seem to be hiding still. I hope they'll catch up with the tomatoes. It will be weeks before we can plant them but its so fun to watch them grow!

Done in a Jiffy

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Done in a Jiffy

Last weekend we were near Home Depot so we stopped in to look at seeds and things for starting our garden. We need to start some indoors before planting them in the garden so we picked up this nifty little thing called the Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouse 24.

It has 24 peat pellets inside that are pretty straightforward to use. First you add water and let them soak it all up and get big. Then you fluff the tops and pull back the netting. Then you sow the seeds, put the top on and place it in a warm place out of direct sunlight.

We did it the other night and I'm anxiously waiting to see results. Ok, so I'm a little impatient :)
We started 6 mixed bell pepper plants, 9 beef tomato and 9 sweet cherry tomato. The seeds for the bell peppers were 2.99 which is a steal of a deal I think, once they grow, because peppers here are 2.99/lb.

I'm really excited about getting things started on the garden. This weekend we are back to digging up the yard and maybe picking up some other seeds. We are still debating what to plant.

I want to make sure there are peas, beans, carrots and corn. My guy wants the same things but he also wants radishes and a few other things he hasn't disclosed yet, but he has a list! We wanted to also grow potatoes but we have a feeling they take too much space so we're not sure yet. We have some research still to do.

I'm lucky to live on the west coast where you can grow all year long for the most part. The only downside is we are renters and this house was previously for sale before we rented. We did get a chance to talk to the owner two months ago and he said he had bought the house as an investment but the previous renters trashed it twice. I could tell though he was impressed by how nice we kept it and all the work we had done in the yard. Still, if the realtor thinks its best to put it back on the market he will. So my guy wants me to be prepared to have to say goodbye to my garden just in case.

I refuse to do it! I have wanted one for soooo long.

I guess we'll see what happens.