Garden, lets check in

Here is where we were 2 weeks ago.



Here is where we are this morning, 5-28.



Wow!

We've had a couple chilly days lately, but last week we had temps in the 90's. Just wierd. Today and this weekend we should be in the 70's-80's, which is normal. The garden has just exploded with produce. I've been handing out lettuce and spinach and my favorite thing is to grab a snack when I'm out weeding. The lilac is almost done blooming so I will be cutting that back soon to allow more light for the garden.

Beets, cucumbers and dill.



Fennel (Swiss chard coming up just behind it), mesclun salad mix and spinach.



Onions (hopefully the beans will germinate this time around), snap peas and peppers.


Summer squash, tomatoes (10 plants!) and sunflowers.


I just planted zuchinni and pumpkin. It's a nice variety of plants and I'll probably plant a second crop of lettuce and spinach when the first crop is exausted.

Check out the cherries!!!



They are just starting, but it looks like we are going to have a nice crop. The raspberries are looking great as well. Yay produce! It's worth all the work.

New spoked round

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Originally uploaded by katymac79

Here is my new tent set up at Castle Fever. I was using my hub and spokes from my oval and they appear to be too small for this tent so the eave line is a bit saggy. Oh well.

The awning worked brilliantly!

I'm going to make a custom floor for this tent and paint it. Something I've been wanting to do for a while. I'm also going to paint the exterior so it's nice and fancy.

More garden

I planted the seedlings Tuesday afternoon. Naturally I had to do some weeding first (stupid thistles, but I seem to have them on the run somewhat). I planted 4 pepper plants and 10 tomato plants. I see canning in my future.....

I rigged up a string ladder system using a couple uprights and the fence for the tomatoes. We'll see how it goes. They survived all the wind last night just fine so this might work great. I need to set up the string for the peas to start climbing, they are about 10" tall already and are starting to grip each other. I also need to pick up more mulch and get it down around the rest of the plants. The six bags only went so far on Saturday. The temp soared to 97 degrees on Tuesday and it's supposed to get to 95 today. Weird front! I laid down the soaker hoses that I purchased and I think they are a more efficient way to distribute water to the plants than the oscillating sprinkler. I gave everything a good drink before going to work.

Tonight I need to rip my center pole, fit the metal sleeve and cut it to length. I should be able to use my spokes and hub from my oval to set up the new tent, but anything could happen. I made the toggles for the doors and sewed them on when I was done with my yard work. I'm excited to see if the design works. I don't think I'll make it to knitting on Thursday, I need to do a dry run on setting up my tent and then I need to pack. Too much to do to get ready for the weekend.

Apples!

Well there will be apples this Fall, for now we just get to enjoy the beautiful flowers. We have 2 Harrelson apple trees.

Shepherds Harvest

I went on Sunday. Arrived early enough to easily make the Ravelry meet-up. That was fun and I was invited to drunken knit night, which I think I will attend. It might make things interesting trying to get up for Saturday knitting at Blackdog.

I bought my requisite soaps, as I do, although I chose a different vendor this year. I visited All Things Herbal and although I lathered on far too much shea butter, I bought 3 different soaps.

I purchased 2 skeins of fingering weight 80% Merino and 20% Nylon yarn from Blackberry Ridge.



I think I will eventually make socks. I love the colors.

The great find was the gray lace weight from After the Sheep.



I envision a shawl with small, clear, faceted, crystals. Lickable....

Arietta finished

Wow, that was a long time coming.

Not surprising since I kept setting it aside to work on other things. I love it and it's the perfect thing to wear in the spring and summer. Love the colors, love the fit, love the yarn, everything!

Pattern: Arietta Cardigan, Spring 2007 Knitty. designed by Barbara Gregory

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport, 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal (beech wood fiber)

Buttons: 3/4" pearl from Great Grandma's button box.

OMG is this yarn yummy!!! I started this sweater when P was signing the closing papers for the house (August 22nd) and it spent a lot of time untouched in my knitting basket while I worked on packing, unpacking, peeling wallpaper, painting, hanging pictures, etc. I finally finished it May 10th and wore it to Shepherd's Harvest, as I had planned.

Arietta Body almost done

The sweater body is sewn up and I completed the button band. The buttons are picked out and ready to sew on. The sleeves are complete, washed and blocking. Once they are dry I will seam them up and attach them to the body. I will have this in time for Shepherd's Harvest!

Flowers!

The flowering Crab Apple is blooming and the color is amazing! The cherry tree is starting to bloom, as is the lilacs. It's going to smell so good this weekend and next week! I can't wait!

My tomato and pepper plants were a gift from Eleanor and I will be putting them in the ground next week. They are ready to go and I expect they will take off once I get them in. I'm going to lay down newspaper, paper bags, and mulch around the plants to see if I can keep the weeds down, as well as conserving water. The peas, lettuce, spinach, beets, sunflowers and onions are growing along and I saw some signs of life from my cucumber seeds. I will be adding squash and pumpkin. I don't think any of my beans geminated so I'm either going to start again with new seeds or purchase plants.

I reused the pots that I grew my tomatoes in last year and started some annuals. They are doing really well. I have 2 pots on the back deck and 2 on the front steps.

The seeds in the herb garden are starting to come up, but I can't remember what I planted where. I'll discover what each green thing is in good time.

Last night I weeded the raised garden for 2+ hours. I removed a bucket full of thistle and tried the tip of pouring boiling water on the developing thistle plants. I'm excited to see if that works.

Cirsium arvense

Also known as the Canada Thistle, aka the bane of my raised garden bed. Every day I pull out a bucket of roots.

I don't think the battle will ever be over and I just hope that the small crops I plant will be able to compete. The roots are everywhere and prolific. I'm not sure if Preen would help at this point.

More plants

I picked up some more herbs at the Farmers Market on Saturday.

Fennel
Dill
Lovage
French Tarragon
Italian parsley
Savory

I toyed with getting a Bay Laurel, but I would need to grow it in a pot and overwinter it. Not sure I want to do that....

Everything except the Fennel and Dill went in the herb bed. I weeded the raised garden some more on Saturday after the Living Green Expo. I got a free plant, a Solomon's Seal, for filling out a survery. I added it to my new perennial bed. I really enjoyed the Expo. Tons to see and I picked up some nice swag: another Target bag, a blinky light for riding/ walking at dusk, pamphlets, Living Green Magazine, Poo paper. To get the blinky light I had to sign a pledge that I would find an alternative route to work and commute this way at least once between now and June. Today I dusted off my bike and road to work. I am WAY out of shape, but I made it on time. I'm giving blood after work at 5 and I'm going to pick up a transit pass and schlep my bike home on the bus afterwards. Probably not the smartest thing to ride home a pint low. It looks like tomorrow will have thunderstorms so I'm going to take the bus. I hope to ride the rest of the week, I need to get back into the habit. It was a lovely ride this morning, too bad the route home is all up hill.