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| From Keyes Life |
And I just like this picture of Xander because it's so sweet.
Monday, August 31, 2009
And here I was doing so well....
Peter pointed out that I haven't updated the blog for a few days. Oops. Sorry about that. So here's my little monkey. Evelyn's turned into quite the little climber. I wanted to get pictures of all the other things she's scaled, but I guess those will have to wait.
And I just like this picture of Xander because it's so sweet.
And I just like this picture of Xander because it's so sweet.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Garden update
I thought that it was time for another garden update. Hard to believe that it's been a month since the last pictures, and yet our garden is coming right along. In this first picture you can see how the whole thing is laid out. Weedy, very weedy, but still productive.
The Zucchini is... plentiful. What else can you say? I've been grating and freezing it. Zucchini bread in January is a wonderful thing. The cherry tomatoes have been doing well, but this tomato is the first slicing tomato to begin to ripen. I sure hope we can a lot more before the first frost. The lettuce is doing so well! Usually it all bolts in our one week of "real" summer but it miraculously survived and needs to be thinned (again). I read somewhere that the mark of a good gardener is being able to have a salad with both lettuce and tomatoes so I guess that means I've succeeded (Even if I don't know why). And we are getting tiny sprouts on our Brussel sprouts! I've never successfully grown Brussel Sprouts before so now I just have to save them from the cabbage moths, I guess.
I don't know how well you can see in the first picture, but both our pole beans and cherry tomatoes are growing on arches made from cattle panels. They cherry tomatoes haven't gotten very tall and so aren't impressive, but I'm loving it for the beans! They've almost met in the top and today was the first time I got to just stand underneath the arch and pick. Blissful. The corn is filling out... I actually picked my first ear today and the beets are going crazy. This is also the first year beets have survived in my garden. It's been quite depressing to me, since beets are an actual crop here... they should grow! But at least they finally did. And chopped small, roasted and put into a salad they are quite divine!
Next year we won't be doing a big garden... just the pots in the backyard. And while I'm somewhat relieved, I'm also a bit sad. It's just so fun to see the improvement over the past three years!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tumbling Toms
Hey Mom, this is for you.
This year I decided to try some Tumbling Tom tomatoes (wow, how alliterative is that?) They are small cherry tomato plants that are supposed to do very well in hanging baskets and be very prolific for their size. I've always been very curious about them, so when I decided to put windowbox planters around our wooden playset, I decided to give them a try.
The result: I'm very happy. By the time I decided to do this, it was too late to start my plants from seed so I ordered them from a company on ebay since that was the only place I could find live plants. I was very concerned at the beginning, as they were extremely root bound and already had small tomatoes on them. However, after vicious tearing apart roots and breaking off all the small tomatoes, the plants did very well and have been my earliest producers.
They don't look very happy today, but that's mostly because I spaced watering (they're in self-watering containers, but you still have to water at least occasionally). I had decided to go out and take some pictures of them today and realized that they were wilted. But, never fear, they will come back. At least you can see how densely packed the tomatoes are. I've been impressed with how many tomatoes they've fit into a small space and they taste pretty good, too.
My mom and I had talked about these earlier this summer and I wanted to update with how they are doing. But I also thought that others of you might have very limited space but still be interested in growing a few tomatoes. These really amazingly heavy producers for such a small space. I think you could plant one or two hanging baskets or put them in the edge of a pot and be eating at least a few tomatoes every day. You can see I have 3 tomato plants as well as 3 flower plants in a 23" container. Not bad.
And that's my public service announcement for the day. Thanks for tuning in.
This year I decided to try some Tumbling Tom tomatoes (wow, how alliterative is that?) They are small cherry tomato plants that are supposed to do very well in hanging baskets and be very prolific for their size. I've always been very curious about them, so when I decided to put windowbox planters around our wooden playset, I decided to give them a try.
The result: I'm very happy. By the time I decided to do this, it was too late to start my plants from seed so I ordered them from a company on ebay since that was the only place I could find live plants. I was very concerned at the beginning, as they were extremely root bound and already had small tomatoes on them. However, after vicious tearing apart roots and breaking off all the small tomatoes, the plants did very well and have been my earliest producers.
They don't look very happy today, but that's mostly because I spaced watering (they're in self-watering containers, but you still have to water at least occasionally). I had decided to go out and take some pictures of them today and realized that they were wilted. But, never fear, they will come back. At least you can see how densely packed the tomatoes are. I've been impressed with how many tomatoes they've fit into a small space and they taste pretty good, too.
My mom and I had talked about these earlier this summer and I wanted to update with how they are doing. But I also thought that others of you might have very limited space but still be interested in growing a few tomatoes. These really amazingly heavy producers for such a small space. I think you could plant one or two hanging baskets or put them in the edge of a pot and be eating at least a few tomatoes every day. You can see I have 3 tomato plants as well as 3 flower plants in a 23" container. Not bad.
And that's my public service announcement for the day. Thanks for tuning in.
Public school rocks!
Wow, it's been so quiet around here today. Admittingly, I was a little concerned about how Alex was doing being at school all day but he just burst through the door with a big grin and told me how much he likes Kindergarten. So I think it was good. And my house got at least a little bit dug out from the wreck it's been. And I took a nap. Life is good.
Just for kicks, here's Allison picture from last year. http://sewmammabear.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/first-day-of-school/
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Well, I'm an idiot.
I've been feeling all neglected since not one single person has commented on this blog. Er, well, that is... I apparently was supposed to go in an approve the comments (since I think I set it to do that) oh, well. Live and learn and I do appreciate the comments I have gotten. Thanks!
Ready for school
We had our school open house today and the kids' got to meet their teachers and get ready for school to start tomorrow. Hooray!! Yes, I can't wait jumping for joy, I'm so excited..
Oh sorry, I got a little carried away. Anyway, it was fun. Allison is excited to be the 3rd grade area of the building, where she gets a locker. Alex asked his teacher to teach him to read today, but for some reason she insisted that he wait at least until tomorrow and Evelyn is going to be very disappointed to find out that she doesn't get to attend tomorrow.
Oh sorry, I got a little carried away. Anyway, it was fun. Allison is excited to be the 3rd grade area of the building, where she gets a locker. Alex asked his teacher to teach him to read today, but for some reason she insisted that he wait at least until tomorrow and Evelyn is going to be very disappointed to find out that she doesn't get to attend tomorrow.
Stay tuned for our annual pose-in-front-of-the-door tomorrow.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Summer and Ice Cream
Well, Evelyn officially won't stand to be left out of anything, particularly if treats are going around. I bought Drumsticks for my children (at the oldest daughters' request, who likes the kind with caramel in the middle) but poor Evelyn had to be content with a small scoop in a regular cone. She didn't seem to mind, though, as long as she got some. The hardest part was getting her to wait for me to make it. Not the most patient child in the world. She's grateful, though..."thank you" is still the only word of hers I understand.
Once I again, I couldn't limit myself to just one or two pictures, so you get the whole batch. You can click on the slideshow to see the pictures full size (you don't want to miss out on my beautiful children, right?)
Once I again, I couldn't limit myself to just one or two pictures, so you get the whole batch. You can click on the slideshow to see the pictures full size (you don't want to miss out on my beautiful children, right?)
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