garden progress

Thought I would share my garden that is exploding out in our front yard..since I last shared my potatoes have gone bonkers..

They are even larger now and we need to put down another layer of mulch. This year we have not had to water once. The constant rain here in Central NY is depressing actually. I think we possibly may have had two nice days in all of June, all the rest were rain. As you can imagine, while I joke and say things like "it's awesome for my water bill this year of not having to water my garden.." It's not awesome for my town.

This past friday..this is what happened to my city:

If that wasn't bad enough, it continues to rain. Down pour rain at that. Over 160 families have lost their homes, over 20 businesses have lost their livelihoods. The rain is supposed to continue through Thursday. 

I am personally not affected by the flooding but live very close to these areas that are currently under water. To my knowledge everyone is safe (including the furry type). To me that's all that matters.

I don't want to turn this into a large post about this, I just wanted to give an update to those friends that knew where I lived and had heard and asked about what was going on up here. 

Hope all is well with everyone in your neck of the world. My heart also goes out to all the families affected by the horrible fires out in AZ and all the firemen that lost their lives. 

welcome to my garden take 3

Yes, you could say I'm obsessed with lilacs. When we have the front windows open the smell fills the house and it's amazing! I'm also so happy with the moving of the irises, it was an excellent choice if I do say so myself.

Our garden has exploded.

Our lettuce, radishes and broccoli are getting all grown up and we also are having success with our potatoes!!

The mister, the other night, actually just added the next layer of mulch on top. So these are all covered with a new layer of mulch and straw. It's so exciting, I can not wait for potatoes!!!

He also put down cardboard in all the remaining beds to get them ready to start mulching them.

It's getting there. Over the next few weeks we will be getting mulches to fill in all the beds, next year we can be "full production" But this year will just have plantings in a couple.

Shortly after taking all these pictures the other night, there was a random downpour. The mister just continued to work in the rain while Ella and I hid under the tree. A few women walked by laughing because they had gotten caught in the rain and expressed how much they loved what we are doing with the yard. It is always so nice to hear that people think its awesome. I usually think they are all looking at us like we are the weirdos of the block..though it doesn't help since the mister hung this up...

(I can't wait until we get this place painted this summer!!)

updates in the front yard..

Our yard is slowly progressing (though we have gotten a lot of rain over the last 2 weeks so things are popping up all over!) We are trying to fill in this front portion as a barrier all with different flowers and small bushes. It's fill in even thicker since taking these photos.

These were all taken last week (I'll be a week behind each week in showing you the progress) But this is the plot with our broccoli, carrots, radishes and lettuce. It is so exciting to see how fast things pop up!

We decided we not only want to have all the boxes full, we also want to give the space dimension by adding large pots filled with goodies all around the yard. 

We filled this jumbo pot with eggplant, parsley, basil and thyme. (guess that wasn't in the pot yet when I took the photo haha)

This is pineapple sage. It smells amazing. You know how a lot of the mint plants - chocolate, marshmallow, and citrus varieties - none really smell very strong, you basically just smell "mint" - I always would get so sad when I'd smell them all. But this sage, it smells JUST like pineapple when you rub the leaves. So so good!! It will be awesome come fall when the flowers come out on it. They are supposed to attract hummingbirds and butterflies.

One of the best things I did last summer was move all our irises. They look so awesome lining the backs of the boxes and front of the house (they are on both sides) And this bottom photo is awesome because if you look in the window you can see Polly howling!

Next week I'll give you potato updates, it's getting exciting!!! 

How are your gardens coming? I'd love to see where you are at in your garden, if you post about them, share the links so I can check em out.

welcome to my front yard part 2 potatoes!!!

Last week I shared with you the starting process of our front yard. The mister has gotten quite a bit done over the last 2-3 weeks.

Including my potato box! He built it using an old pallet. the slots on the sides will allow us to put our grubby hands in and pull out the potatoes.

He read that soaker hoses are the best to use in potato boxes. So we started by filling the bottom of the box with a mix of compost and manure.

You place the potato starters with their eyes upward - we are doing half purple (i forgot the technical names) and half gold potatoes. We then began to wrap in the soaker hose.

Covered the potatoes with more of the compost/manure mix we made up. We now will place straw on top (which is now on top- I was just too lazy to go take another picture). Once the potatoes begin growing you continue to add to the layers. Hopefully we get lots of potatoes because I'm a potato fiend! 

Next week I'll show you our awesome raspberry bushes we got (thornless in containers!) and our one plot that has our broccoli, carrots, lettuces and radishes. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of xtra cash this summer to spend on buying all the dirts/composts/peat/hummus etc. So we are going to do it the natural way- so not all will be plantable in this summer/fall. But we should have a bit going, next year tho...next year will be insanity! I can't wait. 

welcome to my front yard part 1

Last year we began the transformation to turn our front yard flower gardens:

..into full on veggie gardens. I'm sure a lot of you are probably thinking we are crazy. Our yard was gorgeous. It really was. We had compliments all the time. People would walk by in awe. I don't have any more recent photos (well I can't find any - I know they exist somewhere) but it was even more full then these pictures above. 

But here was the problem. The first year it was amazing, second year got a little unruly, and by last summer it had gone out of control. The weeds were so hard to keep under control that midway through the summer I just gave up. We thought by putting down the rockdust in the walkways that nothing could come up, we were wrong. Very wrong. Picking little teeny weeds out of that stuff was a nightmare.

We had discussed for a while what our plan was and how we had wanted to take our small side garden:

..and instead of mainly only having herbs and a few veggies- we wanted to have an entire front yard of veggies, herbs and flowers. 

I had hoped we were going to have the entire layout done last year. I'm a person that wants projects done and I don't want to stop until they get finished. My mister on the other hand. unless he is extremely motivated, sometimes it can take a while to get a project finished. *insert big sigh here* So last year we were able to build few boxes and started the composting process. But nothing got past that point. 

So I really got on him this year that we need to get a move on - so over the past few weeks he built the remaining boxes and we have begun planting. 

We had lots of rocks delivered for the pathways. He put it in the walkways really thick, so no weeds can come up and if any weeds grow on the top they will be super easy to pull out.

This was phase one. Next week I will share the completed layout, all rocks in along with my potato box and how we are hopefully going to grow 100 pounds of potatoes this summer! Do you have a garden? What are you planting this year?

garden update

It's gone! Our new updated front yard is coming together. We've had to wait for the weather to cool down before we could tear out and transplant. I KNOW our neighbors must think we smoke crack with how many times we have changed up this yard! We don't, really, we don't. 

On Sunday the mister stated he was on a mission to get the yard cleaned up (he even passed up going out to dinner at one of his favorite places to keep working!) When I went out to check on him I was not expecting what I saw.

I was a little taken back but with everything gone I can picture exactly what it's going to be next year. We are still going to build the boxes that are currently in place to all be two boards high - then we will build small boxes off those. In the center where the hibiscus are currently residing will be a 4'x 4' square to house potatoes!!! I'm so excited for that my potato box I can hardly contain myself. Once all the boxes are completed, hopefully over the next couple weeks we wanted to put down super heavy mulch. Unfortunately everyone is sold out locally (we wanted natural and all everyone has left is the different colored mulches) So the mulch will have to wait until the spring. But I'm really excited and can't believe the amount of work he got done in one afternoon. It totally would have taken me a week, maybe more to do what he did! Plus I'm sure I would have been trying to save everything where he got rid of things that were invasive and things he didn't want out there. 

Some plants will be moved to the patch between the sidewalk and the road and some others will be moved to the backyard. I believe all the bee-balm will be going in the backyard. The peonies will also be moved and a row of dwarf apple trees will be going in as well to line the property.

Just so crazy the amount of changes this yard has undergone in the years we have been here. My real goal for next year is to be able to have the roof redone and to paint the house. With the gardens, a new roof and some paint it will start looking a bit better and we won't be the scary house on the block any longer. Well we probably still will be..seeing as though our plans (as of current) are to paint the house black! It will be awesome, don't be scared.

Anyone else a home owner? Have crazy stress and nightmares of owning your own home? I really wish we could pick up and take this house and plop it down somewhere with lots of land. It has so much character. If only we could come into some money so we can just fix it up and get it to where we want it to be. Ah the stresses of owning a home...

magical plant stands..

I have never been able to keep indoor plants alive. I'm so bad I even kill cactus. But something magical has happened this past summer. I have successfully kept alive EIGHT houseplants and they are flourishing. The days I get to work from home my desk sits right next to these windows and I get to watch them grow and be happy in the sunlight. I think that both the plant stands I found a couple months ago had some sort of magical properties to them that are keeping my plants happy and alive.

Let me give you an introduction to the happy growers:

First up is my spider plant (I think thats what they call them?!) . This one hasn't really grown too much. I got it for a dollar at a little plant sidewalk sale. But I haven't killed it, so that's all that matters!

Next are my geraniums:

This is my winner for most impressive! My Aunt had given me a small clipping of one of her geraniums and I actually snipped it into two pieces because of the way it was leaning. For the first few weeks it didn't do anything and I thought it was just another one of my plant deaths. But then I got the magical plant stand. Once it sat up on the top tier it came to life and has been growing like mad. I need to get another pot and split it up because right now the two of them are in the one pot. It looks like it's going to flower soon which will be awesome because I'm not sure what color it will be. My Aunt has an AMAZING plant collection. When her and my Uncle went on vacation in July she brought over 20 of them to my parents house to be "watched" hahaha. All different sizes and colors and variegations. The plant she cut this from was actually the only one that was not flowering at the time, so it will be a surprise.

I'm not quite sure what this guy is called. Some sort of suculant. I call them Shrek ears, cause well they look like Shrek's ears.. My mister had given me one before that was combined with a bunch of different types. I had it at my desk when I was a manager at a local bank (hahah can you believe I was an assistant manager at a bank!) Anyway, all the girls took care of it for me and I also had it in a "self watering" container. So I guess I kept those alive too. But again. I wasn't the only one looking after it. I had to be reminded to water it. Note to everyone out there, just because it's in a self watering container - you still have to water the container so that it can water the plant... But this little guy is getting big and has already sprouted up new Shrek Ears.

"Violet, you're turning violet, Violet". My african violet that just started to flower yesterday! So excited!! 

Now moving over to my other awesome plant stand!

This was another 1$ plant. I have absolutely no clue what it is but it's growing like crazy! It literally was this teeny, tiny snippet then all of the sudden it exploded into this! The arms of it are going everywhere (I call them arms..I'm not a plant person as you can see!)

This guy hasn't grown too much. I'm not sure what this one is either, but it is really cool looking so that's all care about. Oh, and it's not dead. Another bonus.

Don't ask, no idea what this one is either. Just know that it doesn't like much light. You can't really tell from this picture but the leaves are variegated with pink in them. Another cool plant that isn't dead so that makes me happy.

I love this one. I don't know why I'm in love with it so much, I just am. And yeah, I don't know what it is either.

I suppose I could try and figure them out and google them. I'm also sure readers on here will inform me what I actually have growing in my house. But I really could care less the names of them. Just that I have kept them alive for multiple months now and they are totally loving their bright space and stands. I love it too. I love having plants in the house and now I want many many more. I want HUGE plants and small plants and hanging plants and random plants. Plants everywhere! 

I have wanted this circular plant stand for ages now and finally found one at the same shop I got the pagoda style stand at. She asked if I was going to paint it and make it like new. Why would I do that? It would loose all its charm and life. I love it just the way it is. She agreed and was happy to know it would be staying original. (don't mind the floors - its a very long story behind these floors - basically there was terrible fluffy carpet in this room when we moved in We both detest carpet and ripped it out but underneath was even worse. It was this super thin, green wacky "carpet" the backing of it was burlap and it was put down with TAR! I can not even explain the amount of bad, bad words that were said taking that up and then scrapping and scrapping..and scrapping the tar off. We were left with these planks, some have knot holes and we can see down into the basement! We slapped some stain on them and they will serve as the subfloor for when we finish off these two rooms and decide what final floor will actually go in. Some of the areas close to the walls, I started giving up and left some of the black because I couldn't take it anymore! Especially when its not like these floors will be here to stay, oh and pieces of the stuff that is in between the boards  comes up and kills your feet when you are walking. it depends on the weather if the wood is swelled or not. but once its not swelled that stuff pops out- it looks like chalk almost. you wouldn't believe how many times i sweep and try to get rid of it all- but it always seems like there are more little pieces everywhere! i probably lost all of you with that portion of the floor rant!..ok back to plants!)

I've shown you the other stand before, so no need to show that one in all its glory again. But yes, my plants are happy and that makes me happy.