The Ups and Downs of Gardening

We discovered aphids this week, but have no fear - we also found an excellent remedy! 1 cup of oil (vegetable, corn, soybean, etc) + 1 tablespoon Ivory dish soap. Mix 2 teaspoons with 1 cup of water and SPRAY those BUGS! So far so good! We sprayed for the first time after work yesterday, and before the end of the night found that nearly all the bugs were gone! Great Success!

In Bed #1 The broccoli and cauliflower were a disaster. The flowers that appeared on the broccoli were a signal that the plants had grown past their peak. Ooops. Turns out there's nothing else to do once the broccoli flowers. Ooops. The cauliflower became overwhelmed by mold and just started to collapse, so, the two were sacrificed to the garden weed pile - we tossed 'em over the fence. In their place Becky planted 4 rows of CORN. Let's hope it grows! The romaine lettuce has grown to great heights so we decided to pull 2 bunches this morning. We plan to give it a day or two in the fridge before tasting, so we'll let you know how it goes.

In Bed #2, the zucchini and yellow squash have sprouted and the carrots still seem to be growing ok, so we're planning to dig one up and have a look at what's actually going on in there. The cucumber is growing like gangbusters! As a gardening virgin, Becky was unsure if the plants were growing well because she kept finding the beautiful flowers littering the ground. After a quick web search last night, we discovered it's the male flowers that drop from the plant, and the female flowers that remain, with a baby cucumber right there behind the bud. Look!In Bed #3 we have finally seen some PEAS!Not many, but it's a start! The tomatoes are doing well, despite the aphids. We hope to have gotten all the bugs under control and the plants they are all fruiting, so in time we should see some yummy 'maters. The peppers are budding and should start flowering any day now. The butternut squash has sprouted and the eggplant is looking good so overall things are going well. Phew!

Things have changed!

Lately the weather in Athens has been picky - one day frost in the morning, the next upper 80s during the day. It's been warming up pretty well until last night when we received a frost warning. So....
That's right, folks, we have 'maters in the ground! They went in last weekend (20 April) and have been just beginning to flower. We didn't actually got the frost last night, but at least our most fragile plants were safe.

Progress has been made elsewhere in the garden as well. We constructed a pea trellis and relocated the potted plants to increase their sun exposure. Becky planted Red, Yellow and Green Bell Peppers as well as Eggplant and Cucumber plants and this past Sunday, Becky planted Zuchini, Yellow Squash and Butternut Squash (all seeds) so the garden is really starting to fill out.
Tripp worked last night to install a watering system for the garden. We initially thought we would set up an elaborate system of sprinklers, drippers and soakers, but decided a hose was really necessary for applying plant food so we settled on this:
It is securly mounted to the wall and fitted with a 75-foot heavy duty hose which should make watering even the farthest corners of the garden easy. The nozzle is a shower spray that will insure even the most delicate of plants get the gentlest care. See?
In closing, we thought it would be important to share the incredible growth pattern that is Broccoli. Neither of us has ever seen an actual Broccolli plant growing, and at least Becky was quite surprised at the display.
Yup, the Broccoli grows right out of the top of the plant, flowering along the way. It's just so cool!

Our First Seedlings!

Peas! Thanks to some warmer weather during the day and only very gentle frosts at night, we have sprouted our very first seedlings!

Buttercrunch Lettuce

Spinach

Sugar Snap Peas

We are allowed to water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, so we're trying to figure out a system for getting that done in the morning before work during the week, and trying to get motivated to get up early enough to water on Sunday mornings! With any luck, we will soon have a convenient watering system (supposedly in the planning stages) so that will make an exciting addition to the garden!
This weekend we will complete the herbs, and put in more seed for carrots and lettuce. It's lucky we have some seedlings now to make finding the end of the existing row that much easier!

Pergola Update:

The work never stops around here!

Tripp has been hard at work on the pergola non-stop and today we have the first beams of what will very soon be an awesome shade-maker. The 2x10s are heavy and awkward, but Tripp is determined to get this project done so is making the best of the beautiful weather and forging ahead. We hope to see the other two 2x10 beams installed today and maybe even the first rafters.

As for the garden, not much is happening as we await our second round of seed planting and the passing of the last frost. Becky hopes to plant 10-day plants next weekend and Tomatoes and other warm-soil plants the following week. With any luck we'll get enough sun and rain to have something yummy to eat by June 1st. Luckily, the Athens Farmers' Market opens next weekend so we'll have some local produce in no time at all.

In case you need a little green in your diet, here's a look at one of our Romaine Lettuce plants as of March 20:

The Only One I found Worth Sharing

Standing roughly a mile from downtown Atlanta, photographer Shane Durrance caught this image Friday night as the tornado struck (It's the bushy looking cloud mass just to the right of the tower with the illuminated top). He had been shooting lightning strikes from his sixth-floor balcony at the 1016 Lofts when he captured the image. Durrance, who grow up in Phenix City, Ala., has lived in Atlanta since 2000. He specializes in advertising, fashion, celebrity and wedding photography.

Progress!

Becky's mom came for a visit this weekend and lots of progress was made on the garden (and the pergola). Sue and Becky made a quick trip to the nursery on Saturday morning to pick up plants and seeds and stopped in at Barnes & Noble for a few good books. They picked up three promising books for a beginner gardener: Guide to Georgia Vegetable Gardening by Walter Reeves & Felder Rushing, Kitchen Garden: What to Grow and How to Grow It by Lucy Peel and The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food by Tanya L. Denckla. Meanwhile, atornado was in Atlanta causing $200 million in damage and Tripp was at home worrying! The storm was the first of its type in Atlanta's history but fortunately did not cause many deaths. Traveling at ~50 mph, it didn't take long to reach Athens but did not threaten our home - or pets. We were all safely tucked inside and after less than an hour the sun was shining again. All in all we received about 5/8in of rain.

Sunday was gorgeous and we were all able to work in the yard. Sue and Becky got started early in the garden and planted Romaine, Spinach, Broccoli and Cauliflower in Bed #1; Buttercruch Lettuce, Peas, and Carrots in Bed #2; and Sugar Snap Peas in Bed #3. Then we planted Catnip, Lavender, Rosemary, Sage and Basil in pots. After a little snooze, they went to Home Depot for PVC pipe to build two strawberry pot irrigation systems and once they are installed, Becky will finish planting the herbs. There are more seeds to be sown in the coming weeks, but the Farmer's Almanac estimates the last freeze in this area should not arrive until late March, so some fragile veggies will just have to wait.

Watering restrictions in Athens have been eased somewhat and we can begin watering 3 days/week for 25 minutes between 8 and 10 am. We are also planning to start collecting morning shower water and have even considered installing a rain barrel under the gutter on the patio.

Work on the new pergola continues in full-swing! Tripp has been working non-stop on the project and his attention to detail really shows. Our concern with the previous pergola was its lack of style - the columns were not in keeping with the columns on the rest of the home. Tripp has been working hard with his (new) tools, installing trim and decorative touches to the new columns to exactly mimic the columns on the screen porch. We estimated he walked at least three miles Sunday between the saw and the pergola, measuring and trimming the last bit of wood. Tripp even had an interesting conversation with the builder of our screen porch, currently working on a project at our neighbor's home, and was offered a job! At least we know we have something to fall back on, right?

Rainy Days

As we said in our earlier post, it rained in Athens from before sunrise Friday morning until about 11:00 am or so. After the soaking the soil looks a little sad, not nearly as fluffy as it was last night, but hopefully we can get that fixed this weekend. We plan to add a little more soil to each bed to try to use up the 7 cu. yards we had delivered, but it's getting tough. Perhaps we'll have to place an ad on Craigs List to get rid of the rest - "Free dirt, you haul!"

Becky's mom is planning a visit to Athens to check out the new house and has been warned that there will most likely be a certain amount of gardening involved in the weekend. She claims to be "very excited" about the prospect so we hope to have some

After discovering the Digital Macro setting on the camera we were able to get some neat closeups of the new made-in-Vermont rain gauge. Only .6 inches of the 2.0 inches forcasted, but hey, who's counting. It's early spring here in Georgia, and we likely have a loooong year of heat and drought ahead of us so we need as much as we can get in the few months it actually does rain. We're really counting on being able to water vegatables all year regardless of watering restrictions, so everyone keep your fingers crossed!

Two Nights in a Row!

We two worked hard last night to move most of the new topsoil into the three planting beds. Each 11' x 5-1/2' bed now holds 12 wheelbarrow-fulls of yummy dirt - 50% soil, 50% compost. Becky set up the rain gauge temporarily before heading in for the night, and just in time. It's been raining here since the middle of the night.

Getting Dirty on a School Night

In order to keep the progress going, and to clear the driveway of dirt, Becky came home after work on Wednesday and immediately started shoveling mulch. For those of you who are not as spatially enlightened as some, 3 cubic yards of mulch is roughly equivalent to 16 wheelbarrow-fulls. So between Saturday and Wednesday, we shovelled 5 cu. yards or 21 wheelbarrow-fulls to complete the walkways around the three planting beds. After working non-stop for about two hours, by 7:00pm we were left with this:

Photo taken at lunch Thursday in full sun

Mulch!

The last of the mulch arrived today! It's hard to tell how much is there in next to the ammended soil, so we are anxious to get it spread. We are expecting a final dose of cold this weekend so we may not be planting until March 15th, but even the smallest amount of progress is exciting!

I just had to post!

The dirt arrived tonight! Albeit too late to do anything about it, but hey, it's here and it smells GREAT! Hickory proceeded to sniff, dig and walk all over it, so we better get it in the boxes fast before it's all over the driveway. We're both a little concerned about the temptation this poop-laden dirt will create for our furry ones... We'll keep our fingers crossed that they keep their noses out of it! The last 3 cu. yards of mulch will be delivered tomorrow. Becky is considering taking a sick day to shovel dirt all day! We'll see...

If you're interested

Becky took some time yesterday with a drawing of the beds and a chart from the UGA Extension office "Home Vegetable Gardening" and came up with this. It's a simple depiction of what and where we will soon be planting. We have a truckload of soil due in today or tomorrow, depending on the weather, so we should be able to get something in the ground on Saturday, if Becky can wait that long!

Vegetable Garden Day Two

After a busy week of planning the garden, we finally got our hands dirty again today laying down landscaping fabric and 2 cubic yards of mulch in the areas that will become the walkways around the three beds. We decided to remove some existing landscape edging which had created a small mulch walkway, and will even out the entire space with one continuous groundcover.

As for what we plan to grow, Becky has been surfing the web, studying Georgia Garden Guru Walter Reeves' page, the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Horticulture resources and numerous garden blogs. She also took a few extra moments this morning to carefully examine the vegetable plants at Home Depot, and has tried talking with anyone who will listen about our new endevour. She hopes to grow "everything we already eat and anything we want to try." So far the list includes:

• Lettuce - green leaf
• Spinach
• Tomatoes - slicing and cherry or grape
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Carrots
• Peppers
• Zucchini
• Yellow Squash
• Cucumbers
• Asparagus
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Eggplant
• Mushrooms
• Chick Peas
• Edemame
• Mushrooms

And some herbs:

• Basil
• Rosemary
• Mint
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Lavender
• Oregano
• Sage
• Catnip

We already have a strawberry bush which we would like to relocate and cultivate, so that too is a possibility. For now, we will wait for the yummy soil Tripp ordered today to be delivered. 7 cubic yards of compost/top soil to fill our 3 60-square foot beds. Next weekend we hope to start planting!

ETA: The strawberry bush is wild strawberries, not yummy strawberries and has been sprayed twice with weed killer, therefore, it will not be rescued. Perhaps a blueberry bush instead?

From Pergola to Garden in One Easy Step!

Or, maybe more than one, and, really, not so easy. But certainly worth it!

Day One of Pergola to Vegetable Garden, a project we started last weekend. When we first toured this home before buying in August, we were surprised to find in an otherwise pristine yard, a small area of the backyard left un-touched. The previous owners told us at the time what they had planned for it, but Becky's thoughts were focused instead on what it could be - a vegetable garden! Of course Tripp was excited to hear of the idea (the cost of lumber, soil, plants, mulch, and labor adding up quickly in his mind) and was eager to begin work. So after a few months of settling in and settling down, we've finally begun this monumental project. First we carefully dismantled the horrific pergola built by the previous owners. Honestly, attached to such a beautiful home, this thing was atrocious and it needed to be replaced with something more...attractive. Our main complaints were the un-coordinating columns (the home has all square columns), the lack of paint on the horizontal pieces, and the general appearance of "yucky." So Tripp climbed on the ladder and handed the 2x8s one by one to Becky who carefully, under the watchful eye of Kaya and Emma, removed every nail. We then sat and discussed the design for the raised beds we were about to construct. We decided for ease of construction we would simply cut the 2x8s in half and then make rectangles out of the resulting wood, creating 3 boxes of similar size. Tripp worked the saw while Becky cleared the area of brush and pine needles, freed some leftover pots from creeping vines, and did her best to grade the area. After we removed some landscaping edging we started to see the new space for what it could be and got a little excited! That is, of course, untill Tripp brought up how much soil and mulch we needed and went for the weed killer.

At the end of Day 1 we were left with this:
and this:

We Did It!

We finally took our honeymoon! We found a pet-sitter and left the kids at home for an entire week while we skiied our little hearts out in Lake Tahoe.

After a short drive from Reno (sans luggage) we stayed in the luxurious Risi Ski Cabin in Truckee which we located using our favorite vacation rental resource, VacationRentalsByOwner.com.

Two bedroom, two bath home located 4 miles from downtown Truckee, California. Enjoy views of Mt. Rose, Squaw Valley and Northstar. Ski all day and come home to a warm house and hot tub. Just out the back door is hiking, biking, kayaking in the summer or cross country, skate skiing, downhill skiing in the winter. Its all minutes away. My home is located in a quiet, tranquil neighborhood in Glenshire.

While the home wasn't exactly warm when we arrived, we were able to heat it up rather quickly with the two gas-burning stoves. And we definitely made good use of the home's private hot tub each and every night. We both agree that were it not for the hot tub, we may not have been able to survive four straight days of skiing on our tired and out-of-shape old bones. Despite two power-outages and day-late luggage, we were able to enjoy a generally peaceful week.

Tripp loves variety while skiing, so we visited FOUR resorts in four days: Heavenly, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Squaw Valley, and Homewood. We tried to schedule our days based on the weather - there were high winds at some resorts causing lifts to close down - so we hopped back and forth around the lake trying to stay warm. Wednesday at Heavenly was just amazing. The mountain had received several inches of fresh snow the day before, and the weather was perfect; 28 at the top of the mountain under full sun. The views from the top were simply unbelievable. On Thursday we headed closer to "home" and skiied Northstar, a resort which is visible from the town of Truckee. It snowed literally all day and by the end we were among a very small group of skiers enjoying the near-blizzard. Becky got caught on a lift for 10+ minutes but the lift operators rewarded her and the other passengers with free hot coccoa so it all worked out! Tripp enjoyed a run on the more challenging "backside" of the mountain but upon realizing he was alone over there, decided to return to the groomed slopes for safety reasons. On Friday we skiied Squaw Valley and agreed it was not our favorite resort. It could have been the weather - cold and WINDY - but our fatigue and Becky's less than expert skills certainly added to the discomfort. Saturday we skiied a small in-town resort maintained primarily for local families. It was a lovely little mountain with lots of untracked snow and definitely did not dissapoint. We were shocked when a passenger on the lift told us a skiier had died there the day before, having suffocated in a tree well - thank goodness we had already discussed the danger of trees and were steering clear of them all week. Oddly enough, it wasn't until we returned to Georgia that we heard of two skiiers who had disappeared (and were quickly rescued) from Alpine Meadows Ski resort - just miles from Homewood and Northstar! Lesson for all you daredevils out there - ALWAYS ski with a partner! Overall the skiing was amazing and we will definitely make our way back to Tahoe for another family trip.

We ate lunches at the resorts, and enjoyed dinner out twice. On Friday night we dined at Pianeta Ristorante, a lovely Italian/Californian spot on Main Street (Donner Pass Road) in Truckee. The food was delicious and perfectly filling. We both had the special pasta which was spinach ravioli with a light butternut squash sauce. Yum. On Saturday night we dined at the historic Truckee Diner who's story is quite exciting (Built in a factory, original 1940s diner moved from West Chester, PA, and renovated in 1995). Serving typical diner fare, Tripp had the turkey plate which looked like Thanksgiving - complete with cranberry sauce, and Becky had the fish filet sandwich - with chips and malt vinegar, of course! We returned to the diner early on Sunday morning for breakfast before heading back down to Reno for our 2:00pm flight.

Overall it was a lovely trip and one we are both very glad we got to take. Such a trip does not happen very often in our family, so we will likely stay close to home the rest of the year. Drop us a line if you'd like to visit!

An urge to share

“Bamboletta” means ‘little doll’ in Italian and is a term of endearment that parents use for their children. This was my father’s nickname for me throughout my childhood.

At Bamboletta dolls we handcraft a variety of different dolls to suit every age. We create truly unique dolls, each of them emerging from fabric and wool with entirely different ‘personalities’. At Bamboletta we put a bit of a modern spin on traditional dolls.

I just had to post this picture and show off these incredible dolls I found. Christina is a work-at-home-mom in Cobble Hill, BC, with two delightful boys, a wonderful husband, and an incredible gang off women supporting her art. The Bamboletta dolls are sold online at Natural Pod or can be custom made by the creator. I think they are beautiful and unique and full of life and sparkle. I can't wait to have a little girl (or boy - she makes darling boy dolls as well) and a small collection of Bambolettas!

I guess it just shows to go ya

Those very same kids I was so excited to see outside playing on Thursday evening were at my house this weekend... Uninvited... Twice. They climbed on my husband's truck, poked around in our garage, teased our dogs and who knows what else. When I asked them to leave our proeperty they shouted back at me; what they said I have no idea, but it didn't sound nice.

My husband followed them into the woods between our neighborhoods and "talked to them," threatening to talk to their parents, so maybe we won't see them again.

What's with kids? No respect of personal property? No respect for adults?

The ever-popular, "Well, when I was a kid..."

Why don't kids play outside anymore? I was shocked at how few children were outside last night after work - it was a beautiful evening, and only about 55 degrees - a downright perfect evening (for January) - and I saw only ONE child outside. He was playing tee-ball by himself. I felt sorry for him, and then I got angry. Why, when I was a kid, we used to stay outside until our noses were caked with snot and our fingers were cracked and bleeding - all year long. We played tag, we played basketball, we even swung at the playground into high school. But today? I rarely see kids outside and when I do it's only in their front yard with their mommys and daddys. How can they live full, productive lives without getting wind burn and bruises from long hours causing trouble with the neighborhood kids?

An even greater concern is this: If there are no neighborhood kids to play with on a daily basis and I am forced to create activities for my children, how long until I become the only interaction my children receive outside of school? Shall I go door-to-door asking if Jimmy or Tommy or Suzie or Apple can come out and play? Where are the moms and dads yelling at the kids to "Go outside!" as was so often heard during my youth. What's going on here?