Spring Fever

Buried under all of that is my garden. This photo was taken on Jan. 30 and the drifts through my garden were about 4-5 feet tall. Today, April 1, they are about 2 feet tall through only a small portion.

This winter has been long, hard and down right miserable. I am so anxious to get out and feel the dirt under my fingers and to see things growing once again. The kids are getting anxious to work in the garden, too. This year I am anticipating J taking a more active role in the gardening process. He never grew up around a veggie garden, and didn't know what to expect. This year he does. He's also excited about about growing fresh food for the family this year, too.

We are planning to improve the garden this year in the following ways:

• Better bunny proofing. We've had chicken wire wrapped around hog panels (that keep the deer out) and relied on Jasmine with bunny patrol. This year we're going to build wood frames with the chicken wire stapled to it so we can customize the size of the garden and make it safer. This is based on the plan Uncle Dan has implemented in his garden. As far as the deer are concerned, we're going to rely on the predators (aka Rocky and Jasmine) to keep them out. We don't normally see the deer near the house.
• Garden contents: We are planning on planting more green beans and peppers. I did not realize how much my children loved fresh green beans and green peppers. Whenever I make fajitas I have to secretly cut the peppers up so the kids don't snarf them as I'm preparing to cook. I want to plant potatoes and onions but local lore says to plant them on Good Friday (which is tomorrow). There is still snow where I intend to plant them, and who knows if the ground is still frozen.
• Return on the Killer Tomatoes: We'll be planting more tomatoes this year, too. Romas, cherry or grape tomatoes and maybe one or two plants of slicing tomatoes. I'm not a big fan of tomatoes, but I like little ones to pop in my mouth or include in salads. I also intend on making tomato sauce and salsa with the remains.
• Composting: It is true Iowa has amazing soil. My first garden we tilled up a chunk of the yard and I plopped my seeds and tomato and pepper plants in the ground and watched them grow. This year I intend to make a more concerted effort to improve the soil, and create good soil for growing things. As an added bonus, I'm all about recycling and minimizing our footprint on the earth.

Bring on the green things, I'm anxious to start gardening.

Shhhhhhhh be vewy vewy quiet . . . I'm hunting wabbits

Jasmine are joining forces. Between the two of us, we hope to strike fear in the rabbit population near our place. Although I'll let her eat anything that we catch. This weekend we've discovered that a rabbit -- only one because there wasn't enough damage to be more than one -- sampled my cherry tomatoes and a sweet pepper. They've still got leaves, so I think they'll make it.

I'm going to install chicken wire around my precious garden tonight to keep the little buggers out. I think they are aware of my plot and they've started taking revenge.
They have systematically chewed through the coaxial cable that connects our satellite dish to our router in a couple places. Consequently, we have no Internet at home and haven't since Friday, May 30. This could explain why last week our Internet was a bit on the flaky side.

The chicken wire comes at an ideal time considering everything else in the garden has sprouted, proving that I might be able to grow things after all.

I hope to post soon with our weekend activities soon. You'll be introduced to our other set of twins that live at the house through a few pictures and maybe a video, if I can figure out how to do that.

I have a garden gnome

She's almost 2 1/2 and is really quite helpful. She and my brother -- Uncle Dan -- planted the majority of the garden on Sunday.


Over the course of the morning she helped planted all of the tomato and pepper plants. Then she planted a row of cucumbers, beans, and a double row of sweet peas before she got bored/hungry for lunch. After nap the minions helped plant the gourds, mini pumpkins, regular pumpkins and canteloupes. Then we watered the garden. Any time you play with the hose is a fun time.

Country Livin’

There are certain perks for growing up in the country. The kids are just beginning to learn the benefits. The other night we staked out the garden and will till it up in the next couple of days.

We planted marigolds in the big planters in front of the house. I’m glad that I had a moment of brilliance to pick up a pair of garden gloves for each of the kids. As soon as I pulled my purple and white gloves with the little nubbies, the kids wanted a pair. All I had to do was pull them out of the bag and then manage to get fingers in the appropriate slots. I think the favorite part was watering the newly planted seeds. Is it a surprise that little I.minion pointed the hose at his sister and mother as soon as I pulled it out? Thankfully when we were done everyone remained dry.

Perhaps the best part was the fact that J. got our Farmall Super H running to move a couple of non-self propelled heavy objects in the yard. I.minion was thrilled when it fired up, and the grin he had was visible from at least 100 yards away. He was so psyched. J tooled around the yard. When E.minion had the chance to go for a ride, it was “too loud” and she wanted to “plant fowlers.” So, that’s what we did.