Garden Fuss

Who likes to weed? I don't know anyone who likes it but it is essential to the health of plants you do want Not to let those plants you don't want steal valuable sun and nutrients from the soil. Today we are getting rid of the excess tasty Borage that has so generously volunteered itself all over the place. We will be trying this tasty bee food in a variety of ways this year and will keep you posted. Both the leaves and the fowers are edible and nutritious. We have several people picking these extra volunteers up today for their gardens and will probably have more than enough later in the season for those who are interested in trying this gardeners friend. Who can get enough of Tulips? I can't!!!! They are all doing their thing in the garden as well and I couldn't be happier. After having 2 years of bald patchy soil we are blessed with an abundance of blooms that the dog hasn't trampled yet. OH JOY!!!! The Pagoda Dogwood is lifting up it's beautiful leaves a...

This is the BIG ~ Mini project we had been putting off due to weather and just pure plain busyness. In our exuberance and excitement over 70 degree weather we transplanted some seedlings too early and didn't heed the cool evening/morning temps nor our strict watering regimen. MY BAD!! **blush ~ blush** I thought it would work out better for me and my two cohorts (hubby and daughter) if we devised a system that could take full advantage of the not so unusual bipolar Minnesota warm then freezing weather without killing all our precious transplants in the process. So since we have ample garden and yard space we took on the task of a greenhouse. I always hear rave revues about this system and truthfully it has been working on a micro level wth the milk jugs so I figured why not? Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself the end result. DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN COMING SOON.

So many projects so little time to blog!!! As an update t our earlier reuse pronouncement I am sending these pictures of some well established veggies IN reused kitchen cabinet. We knew we wanted a structure tall and deep enough to easily garden root vegetables like beets and carrots, and also allowed us easier access to lower grown veggies items like flat leaf lettuce. Right now it isn't the prettiest but it's functional. I will be adding a How We Did It section to this posting later because I have even more updates for you.

I can't tell you enough about how excited I am with this Winter Sowing ! As you can see from the pictures below the seeds are germinating like crazy in their recycled plastic containers and I couldn't be more pleased. What I notice most about this process of starting plants from seeds is the strength of the seedlings themselves. They are stout sturdy little buggers! Just as a little science/botany project I started some of the same seeds in our aquarium system. The aquarium plants are much longer and thinner than the seedlings started outside the "natural" way by Winter Sowing. I highly recommend this method of gardening for everyone. Not only will it put to use some of those annoying plastic containers we all struggle with getting rid of. It gives us a way to more easily start the process of gardening.  The pictures below if you can't read the labels are: Sweet William, Cosmos, and Sugar Daddy Peas. Here is how it all started a month ago.

 After hardening off for a few days we planted our cool weather vegetables. This includes our cabbage, brussel sprouts, purple cauliflower leeks, red and Georgia onions. In addition to these seedlings we transplanted, we also have sowed directly our collard greens, kale, and swiss chard. Thanks to a local gardener who had an abundance of plants, we now have more daylillies, and two other mystery plants that he wanted to thin out as well. We are so excited about them growing and blooming so we can identify them and give you an update. I like surprises, especially when they will grow 6 to 8 feet tall with bloom and keep my beagle from visiting the sweet young sheila two houses over. Oh and on a side note our winter sowing has been a success so far. I'm actually on my way out to water and check the progress and will be updating pictures for you later this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest. So far what I know is up and germinated are the following: M...

 Apparently after looking at the huge water bill the last 2 months and listening to the *drip, drip, drip* coming from the bathroom....We are in need of a new toilet! Oh joy oh joy a new pot to....you know!!!! LOL Anyway happy planting we still have a few more hours to get out there and do some planting today. Tomorrow will be a busy day for us as we are getting a few bags of daylillies from a member of freecycle . I love freecycle you can get rid of perfectly good items and pick up items you are in need of that someone else is getting rid of like glorious daylillies. And guess what? All this for free! I love how neighbors help neighbors. How do you help neighbors in your community?

This time a couple years ago I lost one of the loves of my life. My Grandma Willie was a wonderful woman who had so many skills in the kitchen and garden I wished she had time left on the earth to share them all with me and the rest of the world. As a memorial to my grandmother I have finally gotten the guts to attempt making what I believe is a great recreation of her coconut cake. So far so good everything came out wonderfully! I have yet to taste it myself, but my daughter says it's beyond "The Bomb", and my son is sleeping but tasted the icing and loved it.  Tonight I've chosen to show the finished product first and then the step by step process of making it. I will be adding a recipe soon, but I am so beat I have to lay it down for a while. Please enjoy the beautiful photo of the cake I am really proud and humbled after this cathartic experience.