Category: Blog

Meet the Cast and Crew of the Wee Gardeners’ Corner

Meet the Cast and Crew of the Wee Gardeners’ Corner

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Introducing the ‘Cast and Crew’

I would like to take a minute to introduce some of the characters who help make the magic and/or mess happen. I asked all the mostly furless kids to draw a self-portrait for me. The furry ones don’t have thumbs though, so…I just had to take pictures.

Connor: my 14 year old resident paleontologist, entomologist, Dwarf Druid, and Little Buddha. Actually, he’s not little. At all. I wasn’t really prepared for that moment when I had to literally look up to look him in the eye. ::wipes tears::

Connor loves bugs, dinosaurs, Skyrim, D&D, and “cute little animals like Boxcar.” When asked about gardening he said, “It takes a lot of patience. If you live near water, watch out for mosquitoes,  mosquitoes, mosquitoes”

Maggie: my 10 year old Princess Artiste. She’s loves drawing, writing, reading, and bugging her brothers (sometimes quite literally).

Maggie says she likes reading, drawing, and playing outside. She also likes playing with dogs, dolls, and Legos. Maggie says, “I like gardening. I like to water my plants and watch the Ladybugs.”

Oliver: My 9 year old ball of energy with a smile that brightens the darkest days. He loves anything he can build with, riding his bike and being a helpful not-so-little-anymore guy.

Oliver says he likes Legos, reading books, playing outside, and hanging out with his family. He says, “Gardening is exciting because you get to plant seeds and water them. They get sun, and they grow. But the bad thing is bad bugs, and you have to take care of them. But don’t squish Ladybugs.”

Aspen: My aspiring arch-villain and 4 year old grandson. When he isn’t trying to use “The Force” on me, he’s…What am I saying? He’s always trying to Force choke me. He sure is a cutie though… ::cough::

Aspen is a HUGE Star Wars fan. He likes gardening because he gets to get dirty digging in the soil. He also likes to put seeds in the garden and water them.

Savannah, my 4 year old niece. She is also a Princess, but with long, flowing hair that she flips like a pro. She and Aspen will probably take over the world one day.

Savannah loves helping out any way she can. She adores her mommy, daddy, brothers, Mattie (her dog) and Casey (her ferret). Her specialty is planting the seeds and using the watering can.

Awww, momma.

Kouta is my 6 year old Australian shepherd mix pooch who doesn’t really believe he’s a dog. He likes to look for grubs while I’m digging; and tries to keep the squirrels, rats and opossums out of the garden.

“Enough about all this planning junk. Just throw the stick.” Boxcar, All Day Every Day.

Boxcar is a 10 month old blue heeler (and my constant companion) who loves grabbing my pants legs and chasing anything I am willing to throw. She REALLY likes helping me dig and sounding the alarm if she thinks a squirrel is anywhere in the vicinity.

This is me, according to Aspen… Apparently in his eyes, I have a rockin’ pompadour. Young Elvis would be jealous…
Happy Autumn Equinox!

Happy Autumn Equinox!

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It’s officially the first day of fall, my favorite season. Although, it sure doesn’t feel like fall when today’s forecasted high is 88 degrees. ::grumbles:: Anywho… Autumn is a beautiful time of year with its own rich color scheme. I love crunching through the fallen leaves on  hiking trails or sitting on the patio at night next to a fire with a mug of mulled cider. Of course, I love getting out in the garden too. It’s definitely more comfortable (when it isn’t 88 degrees) to be outside working. Most people don’t think of planting time in autumn, but there’s actually a whole lot of planting you can (and should) do now.

Flower Bulbs

Those colorful crocus, daffodils and tulips that herald in the early days of spring get planted in the fall. The bulbs need to chill (literally) in-ground as part of their growth cycle. Here in zone 7B, I’ll wait until the temperatures drop a little more before I plant them though. I don’t want them sending up leaves that will just get killed off during a freeze and probably prevent them from coming up next year at all.

Trees and Shrubs

Planting your trees and shrubs now should give them time to get established before the first frost. I don’t plan on planting anything new this year, but I have some butterfly bushes that I want to move…if they ever stop blooming. Speaking of, though I have heard they can be somewhat invasive if you aren’t careful, butterfly bushes are AWESOME for attracting all sorts of pollinators. I have seen a major increase in them around here since I put them in. I’ve even seen a few hummingbirds hanging around from time to time. The blooms are pretty too.

Vegetables

There are lots of edibles that are meant to grow in cooler temperatures. Spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and collard greens are just a few of the things you can plant right now to enjoy homegrown goodness in the colder months. Many varieties are frost tolerant and actually taste better after a light frost. Other plants have a short enough number of ‘days to harvest’ that they can be planted now and harvested before the first killing frost. Radishes and some varieties of carrots come to mind. Since I have raised beds that I can cover, I keep carrots going year-round. The growth is sloooooow once it gets cold, but I figure that I have the empty space. I might as well put it to use.

So remember: just because the leaves are getting ready to drop, it doesn’t mean you have to hang up your shovel for the next 6 months. There are still plenty of green things you can enjoy growing for many months to come. Do you have any favorites that I have left out? Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. Happy First Day of Fall!

My Fall Garden-A Work in Progress

Here is a small taste of what I have going on in my vegetable garden right now. Besides the banana peppers, I have seven more pepper plants producing, a couple of tomato plants hanging on, and a lot of other things. AND I still have a bunch of seedlings to put out over the next few weeks, but not all the beds are empty or ready yet. I’m also waiting for my order of garlic to come in. I am way too excited about that! One thing I’ll say about this time of year: it sure is hard to be patient.

Is it me, or does this poor tomato plant look like it should belong to Charlie Brown? Maybe I can get one tomato out of it before the first frost.
So yeah….it’s kind of, sort of my birthday. ::winces::

So yeah….it’s kind of, sort of my birthday. ::winces::

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It’s not a coincidence that on September 14th, 2017, I decided to launch this website. Today is my 42nd birthday. Hold on. I need to catch my breathe. ::gasps::  Okay. I just needed a second to process that.  While I have been considering starting a blog for a long time, I didn’t feel very confident about what I had to offer. I also didn’t feel like I had the time. But, folks…if the current average life expectancy of a woman in the United States is 85.4 years (according to the SSA website and probably under the best case scenario), then I’m just about half done with this lifetime. ?! And my body has already started to say, “Whoa there, Partner. You aren’t exactly a spring chicken, y’know…” What about all the stuff I wanted to do?? What about making the world a better place and other junk?? I never got to finish my degree and go out there and save the world! ::deep breathe:: I’m being a drama queen, sure. But the fact is that I can’t keep waiting around. And since 42 is the answer to the question you haven’t even asked, why not start today? (Yes, that’s a slightly vague literary reference. You get 10101.13 points if you correctly guess which book.) So. Here I am.

Something pretty cool though. Over the weekend, Jeremy went shopping. It was kind of obvious that it was for my birthday present, but I had no idea what it was.

A notebook, a dog, and a stick. Perfect.

Tonight, he hands me this awesome (and fancy) moleskin notebook with graphed paper for garden planning and a card with a dog that looks like Kouta (you’ll meet him later as he photo bombs every single picture ever) and Boxcar combined…WITH A STICK! He hadn’t even seen my garden planning steps post yet. I’m taking that as a sign.