Daffodils and Peas

The Flower and Garden show was last weekend. I meant to take the camera to capture inspiration but only remembered that as I walked in the door. Oops. I did pick up these super cool water beads though. They are biodegradable, reusable, and hold water for a couple months. And, they hold up flowers even in large vases! (thewaterbeads.com) I love the way they look with the bright yellow daffodils.

To my surprise I discovered the first round of peas have popped up today! Even through the snow we had today. Yes, snow. Yay for peas!

Hunting Birds

Hi, my name is Charlie. You can call me Dog Breath. I like frequent naps, short runs beside a long board, and chasing the birds out of the garden.

I tried hard to catch her in the act all morning but I either had no camera or no birds. Here she is busily surveying the yard. She is so good; she will chase the birds out of the garden but will stop short of running into it.

Latest additions to the garden:
Second round of sugar snap peas
Ed Hume Carrot Rainbow Blend - Colorful mix of red, purple, white, yellow and orange - 70 days to maturity. When plants are 2 to 4 inches tall, thin to 2 inches apart. Germination - 2 weeks in temps of 60 degrees.

I also re-potted (for lack of a better word) my merigold starts using the technique here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8qPAV-LDnM Tip to remember: Use two layers of newspaper for each little pot. My merigold starts this year are less leggy than last year, and the roots were already starting to sprout out of the tiny peat disc I started them in. My merigolds and money leaves look good, but the chinese lanterns haven't yet germinated. I added more seeds to the peat discs as well as made a few extra newspaper pots. Then I decided to read the package: germination takes 20 to 25 days. Woops. Guess I just needed to wait a little longer on that one.

Megan, this one's for you :)

A few weeks ago I went out scouting around garage sales. I couldn't make it to an estate sale before I was meeting up with Megan, so after we had completed the day's check list, I asked if she would want to run by this estate sale. (If there's only one thing on the check list, is it ok to feel accomplished when it's finished?) First lesson learned: if you want something, or think you might want something, or are thinking about thinking of wanting something, pick it up. You can always set it back down, but you can't snatch said item out of the hands of another lucky son of a gun. :) Anywho, I had picked out this specific sale because it stated that it had a "large collection of hankies." Megan thought I was crazy, but I told her I had plans for the hankies. So, Megan, here's what I did with them:

Hankie flower:

I also made a hankie baby bonnet but being that it was the first attempt, I will spare you the pictures.

Unrelated to hankies, but still a sewing project: I apparently have also become a prude. I have a polo dress that I absolutely love, but I always felt like I was tugging on the bottom. I used to think anything past the fingertips was sufficiently long. Sigh. I guess this is what happens when you get old. (Hear that, Family? No one can utter the words, "But you're still so young!" any longer. It's been disproved. :) So what is a lady to do?

Add super cute eyelet fabric to the bottom, of course!

1st official day in the garden

Onions and the first round of sugar snap peas are in the ground.

Sugar snap peas: Burpee, Sweet & Early. Plant another round March 20th.

Onions: Zamzow's Onion Sets, yellow. For big onions: When the tops fall over, pull onions and allow to dry on top of the soil for several days. Remove from garden and store in a cool dry place.

I didn't get the peonies moved last fall, so when I saw they'd popped up I got right on getting them out of the grass. Unfortunately, I think I hacked up the tubers in the attempt to locate and extract them. I'm hoping for a limited number of casualties, but we shall see. . .

This is a rough sketch of my garden plan for the year. (No one would ever look at this and believe I did this or this. Yes, this sketch is why I do not label myself 'artist'.) Anywho, on to the plan. I just now decided what to fill my garden with. I have on there Sugar Snap peas, letuce, spinach, carrots, garlic, tomato, pepper, onion, melon and a squash. Figured it'd be a good year for a salsa theme since I already had the garlic in the ground - and popping up! What I realized though is that it is now the perfect time to not only plant the peas but to also get the onions in the ground. On the to do list for the weekend: Get and plant onions, stake the trellises and plant peas, get pot and soil and transplant the peonies from the middle of the grass, and on the non-gardening side of life: refinish a little side table.

I discovered this little gem of a website today: http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/ Even though it's a British website, it allows you to put in your city (UK, Australia, or the US) and it shows all sorts of neat things like what to do this week, when to plant plants, etc. I will poke around more when I have a chance.