Growing Tomatoes

I am giving it one more try.

I will not be taken down by my non-green thumbs!

We are growing a tomato plant!

But this year, I have a 42 inch secret weapon.

Her name is Addie!

She loves this little plant that my Uncle Johnny gave us.

She gets so excited to go outside and water it every day.

She even sits at the window and watches it because she wants to watch the tomatoes grow.

Daily, she checks to see if there are little yellow flowers growing and if those flowers have grown into tomatoes.

Patience is a virtue we are still learning.

My uncle also gave us some horse manure to use as fertilizer. You would not believe how excited she was to use that on our plant! She was so disappointed that we only get to use that twice a week. I, on the other hand, am very thankful.

Where is Ian in all of this adventure?

He is happily walking up and down the half step into and out of the back porch...... because he wasn't allowed to play in our bucket of fertilizer.

The Challenge Is On! and Other Outdoor Activities We Have Been Enjoying

Walmart had tomato and pepper plants for sale at $0.95 a piece.

I picked up one of each.

I planted them and tied them to stakes so they would grow strong and tall.

I bought Miracle-Gro to help them grow strong and tall and produce delicious veggies...wait, are tomatoes a fruit?

Brian said playfully, "Why did you buy those? Nothing ever grows here. I garuntee they're going to die."

The challenge was set.

I have never taken on a dare, but I will take on a challenge.

I will, Lord willing, get a great harvest.

I can't wait to serve a juicy tomato to Brian and use a green pepper in my spaghetti sauce.

Because I love a challenge.

You know the little tags that come with the plants you buy? The ones that give you the name of the plant, how much water they need, how much sun they are suppose to have, what their cold hardiness is.

You know those tags.

When I planted my plants, I stuck those little tags into the ground infront of their respective plants. After I was all done, I turned around to see that I had been followed by a cute little munchkin who pulled up all of the tags and was happily playing with them. Some were lost in the yard and the ones I managed to retrieve were put in the garage.

I believe the above plants are called Lobelia and are cold hardy down to 32* F. I have been giving this particular little guy some extra attention since that same little munchkin stepped on him while trying to see the flowers that were planted behind him.

The above shrub came with the house so I cannot tell you what the name is. If you know, feel free to leave the name in the comments. This is the first year it has actually bloomed! I never cared for this plant before, but now it has come to be one of my favorites. Addie loves looking out the window and checking on the flowers.

About a year ago, Faye bought Addie this pool and slide set after the season was over for about $2.00! On Friday in the late afternoon, after Brian mowed the lawn, the two of us blew up the pool and slide. Addie just stood there so excited about what we were doing. When Brian filled up the pool with water, she knew what was going on and got right into the pool. We had to help her with the slide, but she loved it, especially pouring water over it with her watering can to make it slippery. My favorite part was when she was on the slide getting ready to go down and she counted, "Two, two, fwee!" and then giggled when she hit the bottom.

I am also enjoying my Mother's Day gift. It may sound wierd, but I have been asking Brian for a clothes line for quite some time now. On the Saturday before Mother's Day, he surprised me with a great umbrella type clothes line. I set a load to wash when I wake up, and by the time Addie is ready for breakfast, I am ready to put the clothes on the line. She sits on the back porch eating her breakfast and letting me know when "bees" are flying by (anything that flies is considered a bee). For now, I've decided to only hang our towels and whites. I absolutely love it. And I hope to see this change reflected in our electric bill next month.

A Little Bit of Gardening News

I have mentioned my adventures in the garden a few times, so I thought it was about time to show you a little of what I've done out there, with God's help, of course. I have buckets and trays filled with little seeds that are just beginning to sprout. The peas, radishes, and cucumbers were the first to sprout and also make me very happy. There were given a shot of Miracle-Gro on Monday to help them along. Once they reach about two inches in height, I'm going to have to figure out what to do with them. There is a spot behind our house which gets alot of sunlight, but it also seems to be a haven for spiders and other creepy bugs. Oh, well, I won't let that deter me. I am my mother's daughter after all! Those bugs had better find themselves a new home. Note: After writing this yesterday, I went into the garden to water my plants and accidentally knocked over the pot of radish sprouts with the hose. I replanted them, but we will see whether or not they are able to recover from their little trauma.

In the flower bed itself, I planted nine impatiens plants. All nine of them came in the tray I am now growing my seeds in for only $2.50. They are a little pathetic looking, which could be the reason they were on clearance- yes, I shop clearance in the garden center also. But I will not give up on them. With some prayer, pruning, and Miracle-Gro, I'm sure they will be fine. I also picked up a pepper plant (half of it died the minute it went in the ground) and am trying to keep it happy.

My tomato plant now has little flowers where I can expect some tomatoes soon. I cannot wait to eat a tomato grown in my garden! I also bought two flowering shrubs and two leafy plants. Okay, here is where my inexperience as a gardener comes out. I do not for the life of me remember what they are called. All I know is that they thrive in full sun, which is why I bought them to begin with. My basil plant still lives in its pot, but I moved him into the flower bed so it would be surrounded by "friends" and also have the full effect of the sun.

In addition to the plants, I also extended the bed so that it is now an additional two feet from the house. The little bush/tree thing (don't know what that is either or what purpose it has- it came with the house) used to just stick out into the lawn. Now there is a gradual curve to the flower bed. The day I did that, I asked my cousin who was visiting, to watch Addie for me so I could go out and work on the yard. I didn't want my newly bought plants to spend another day in the garage, and, with all of the rain we had been getting, I didn't know how long the sun would be out. I went out and got right to work. There were clouds in the distance, and I could hear a very muffled rumble. I began praying and asking God to hold back the rain until I finished. I explained that I really did want my plants to get rain instead of the water hose, but I needed just a little time to finish. I kid you not, there were clouds to the west and east of us for quite a while but no rain clouds over our area. I finished everything I had wanted to do, and, after about an hour and a half, it began to rain continuously for the rest of the day.

Now everyday, we go out as a family when Brian gets home from work to water the plants. We are playing around with different methods of watering- watering can, hose without a nozzle, hose with the Miracle-Gro sprayer nozzle minus the Miracle-Gro. It is alot of fun doing that as a family. Addie gets to run around while one of us follows her and the other waters. We talk about the plants, the seeds, and what we hope to grow. Our garden is growing more that just flowers, plants, herbs, and vegetables. It is growing memories and time shared. It is growing a family.

Some More Gardening and a Quick Recipe

I'm a little wiped out tonight. This morning, Addie and I went out right after breakfast to do some more garden shopping. We headed out to The Home Depot and Lowes and spent a total of $0.76. That is not a typo. We bought 4 bags of river rock, two crocus plants, a terracotta pot and saucer, and 7 more bags of pine bark nuggets. $0.76! You see I had $41.70 worth of gift cards to the stores we visited, and I tried really hard not to spend more than what I had gift cards for. So far, my gardening adventure (including yesterday's trip to Walmart) has cost us $25.25 in addition to what I spent with gift cards. I am so thrilled, but I'm not sure if it is because my garden is taking shape or because I am (with God's help) keeping costs to a minimum.

By the time we got home, Addie was ready for a nap (picture is from yesterday's adventure). She is such a good little shopping buddy. I put her down, grabbed my garden gloves and went to work pulling weeds. I finished cleaning out the flower bed along the garage wall. I planted my two crocus plants there, laid the rock towards the front of that area, and put the mulch around the plants and in the rest of the bed. I then moved over to the main flower bed in front of the house and began pulling weeds and laying some more mulch. I still need to pick up another four or five bags of mulch (I can't believe how much of that stuff you need to make your garden look right!) and finish weeding half of the main bed, but then I can finally sit back and enjoy the beauty of my garden. I told Brian that once this project was finished, I just need to keep it up by pulling weeds and actually putting it into my schedule as one of my daily or bi-weekly chores.

By the time my little sweetie was up from her nap, I had cleaned up the yard, put my tools away, watered all of my little plants (I have a cute little watering can), and cleaned myself up as well. I had always heard that gardening was good exercise, but I never realized how much exercise it was. The nice thing is, I can still exercise but also be productive at the same time (I just love multi-tasking!). I really feel good tonight. I feel good because I am branching out and trying my hand at something new. I feel good because I am being productive in my yard, and I am feeling a good sense of pride in the way it is looking. But mostly I feel good because I am following in the steps of the two women I admire most in all the world- Mrs. Proverbs 31 and my mother. Tonight's sleep will be very good from all of my yard work today.

...And for the quick recipe- the best ever tuna sandwich (recipe taken from Kraft Foods). You will need:

Ingredients 

1/4 C celery, chopped

4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cans of tuna, drained and flaked
1/4 C onions, chopped
12 slices of bread
6 slices American cheese
2 Tsp butter

Directions

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients
2. Spread the mixture onto 6 of the 12 slices of bread
3. Lay a slice of cheese on the mixture
4. Put last slice of bread on top
5. Toast sandwich in a skillet with butter
6. Enjoy!

My Garden

Well, my dear friends, I did it! I went to Walmart today after Addie Girl's nap, and I bought some plants. I went up to a worker and asked her to help me pick out a garden/vegetable/herb plant that someone like me (who NEVER gardens or does yard work) could not possibly mess up or kill. A sweet young lady, with two young children of her own about Addie's age, overheard my request and began making motions to me that she could help me. She showed me different plants and herbs that I could start with and succeed with (a word I like a lot). I wish I had asked her for her name and information. She was so sweet, and I know we could have become fast friends from the way we kept talking to each other as we passed in the garden section.

I decided to get one Basil plant, one Pothos house plant (she said I couldn't kill this one), 4 little $0.95 Marigolds, a plastic terracotta looking pot, potting soil, and two bags of pine bark mulch (I need to buy A LOT more of that). I had originally wanted to buy a pepper or tomato plant, but both ladies helped me choose plants that were more "beginner" type plants. Apparently, Basil doesn't need a lot of care and attention, and my little plant is already at the stage where I can begin plucking off the leaves and using them in my cooking (looking forward to that!). I chose the Pothos plant because my "friend" recommended it to me. She said that I could pluck off parts of the plant, immerse it in water, and literally grow another plant from my clipping. So I am getting more plants out of the one I purchased. She also said that if I see my plant dying, take it out of the dirt, rinse it clean, and just plop it into a bowl of water. My plant should perk up and be as good as new! I chose Marigolds because my mother always used to grow Marigolds when I was a little girl, and I felt familiar with them. That is one thing I will always remember about Mom's garden- the marigolds. I bought yellow ones, but Mom used to have the yellow and orange varieties. Mom also used to grow tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and a variety of flowers and plants. She had a green thumb.

Addie and I brought our purchases home, and I arranged them for a picture (while they still look beautiful). Addie then began wandering around the yard, so I had to follow her. She found her way back to my little arrangement and began looking and touching. I decided to see how she would do with the flowers before stopping her. She just touched the flowers with her pudgy little fingers, but didn't pull on or break them. Then she was off again. I decided that my plants would need to wait until my little person's nap time. We went inside, had some juice, and played until nap time. Then I went out and began my adventure.

I decided to tackle the easiest job first. So I put my Basil plant in the pot with potting soil. It needs 6+ hours of direct sunlight, so I put it on the front porch. Next, I began pulling up weeds in the bed directly next to the garage because I was going to plant the marigolds there. However, I noticed that the little tag said they needed 8+ hours of direct sunlight, so my plans changed, and I decided to put them around a tree/bush growing in the front yard flower bed. So, I found myself pulling up weeds in that bed. At one point (I know this had to be God's hand at work), I suddenly realized that my face was literally centimeters away from a spider with a red little marking on it's belly (black widow?). I just backed away, thanking God as I went for opening my eyes to see the spider. After weeding the section my flowers were going to go in (lots more work for me tomorrow), I planted them and then put down the mulch. I still need to weed the rest of that bed, trim the bushes in the background, finish laying mulch, and kill that spider.

Because I had taken the marigolds out of the little pots they came in, I now had a place to attempt to grow beans from seeds. I have lots of seed packets for a variety of vegetables and flowers, but I think I'll wait on that for now. I had planted bean seeds with my students in the past, but once the little plants sprouted, I had sent the plants home and never saw the final product. I decided that if bean plants could survive fourth graders, they could certainly survive a 33 year old's attempt to grow them.

So, I have begun my new project in my quest to be more like the Proverbs 31 woman. Hopefully my enthusiasm for it now will help motivate me to keep it up. I will continue to post pictures of my garden and my progress in it. I intend with God's help to succeed. So I need to make arrangements in my schedule to fit in "garden time" so I will have no excuses to keep it looking nice and hopefully enjoy the fruits of my labor.