The Best Gardening Advice EVER!

When I was new at gardening I went to a meeting of my garden club distraught because all of these really lovely ladies had extremely lovely gardens...and I had just killed yet another unlucky plant! "What did I do wrong?" I cried. I received lots of gardening advice (which I avidly listened to and then promptly forgot). As the meeting neared it's end a short, cute, elderly woman grabbed hold of my arm. Margaret then proceded to give me the best gardening advice EVER! She said,

"You're a Mom and a Gardener

and you want to be successful at both.

But sometimes you are going to fail.

Which one would you prefer to fail at?"

It was like a weight had been lifted off of me! So what if I couldn't raise flowers and children at the same time. My children were my number one priority and the pretty flowers were just decoration for my children's world. As soon as I let go of the "need to succeed" I became pretty successful. Oh, I still have my weak spots...seeds and the unknown veggie garden but I became much more able to absorb the gardening do's and don'ts. Why is that~I wondered? I think it's because I realized that I didn't need to make a magazine-beautiful garden to be a "true" gardener. Instead, I just had to plant a garden that made me and my loved ones happy. And as we turn our attention to our "First Ever Veggie Garden Spectacular" (okay giving it a fancy name makes the kids get excited about veggies...and the hubby too!) we need a clear cut guide of when and what to do. Leave it to Storey's for yet another pearl of gardening wisdom.

Hardy

Plant as soon as ground

can be prepared

asparagus

beets

broccoli

cabbage

carrots

chard

kale

lettuce

onions

parsnips

peas

raishes

spinach

turnips

Semi-Hardy

Plant 1 to 2 weeks before

average date of last frost

cauliflower

potatoes

Tender

Plant on or just after

average date of last frost

New Zealand spinach
snap beans

sweet corn

tomatoes

Very Tender

Plant 2 weeks after

average date of last frost

cucumber

eggplant

lima beans

muskmelon

peppers

pumpkins

squash

watermelon


I'm certainly not growing all of these crops on my first attempt but at least I've got a good "guideline" as to what I should be doing...and when I should do it!
Now if it would only stop snowing...

Dirt + Water + Seeds = 3 Smiley Faces

There is magic in the ...DIRT? Yeah! The Jiffy Peat Pellets may be an excellent way to start seeds but if your looking to get your kids hooked on gardening then "inflatable dirt" may be the best money ever spent! It was an awesome science experiment and a weird wonder of the world all at the same time. We got our hands a little dirty. Everyone had a part to play. The youngest (AKA: Wild Child) was in charge of placing the dry pellets into the tray. The middle child (AKA: Bear) added the water. And the oldest (AKA: Garden Girl) planted the seeds. You gotta love teamwork. BTW, if your wondering what I did...jeez...I dunno! What fun we had.

We got a good start today but we need more pellets. If it stops snowing I might run out tomorrow and get some. If I have time and energy. Why would I be running low on time and energy? Well...because today, before we could plant seeds, we needed to make a trip to Urgent Care. Given recent events you might be thinking that Garden Girl had given us another scare but you'd be wrong. No this time it was Bear and after a chest x-ray and some swabbing the doc determined that he has the flu. That's just what I needed! Upon coming home I took the temps of the girls and yes they have it too. Given Garden Girl's condition we need to keep her from having even a slightly above normal temperature as this can trigger another seizure. Like I wasn't worried before! Motrin, Tylenol, Thermometers, and Caffeine are my friends! And as long as I'm talking about friends:

To all of you who have been so wonderful and supportive,

Who have sent your best wishes and your prayers,

Who have given us your friendship during troubled times,

Thank You!

A "Seedy" Stress Reliever

Since those frightening moments of Monday morning I've found that my mind has been in high gear as I try to figure out how this happened and what I need to do to make it better. I have to "watch" for suspicious symptoms all day and at night too. Which means my daughter has her own "camp" cot set up in our bedroom. Needless to say, I'm not sleeping well and neither is she. Stress has hit "Garden Girl" and Mom quite hard.

But I know I'm not the only one who deals with stress on a daily basis. Some very healthy people head straight for the gym to work(out) their stress away. Some very intellectual people head straight for a book to read their stress away. Some very talkative people keep dialing phone numbers until they've talked their stress away. But Gardeners are not normal people. What others feel are more household chores gardeners relish as the best type of stress reliever. Why?

1. Sunlight. The news is constantly reporting both the benefits and the dangers of being in the sun. However, nothing feels better than feeling the sun warm your skin as you tidy a garden bed filled with the fragrant blooms.


2. Sense of Accomplishment. One of the best stress relievers is feeling as though you've accomplished something. Creating a beautiful garden bed where once there was nothing is an excellent way to do just that.


3. Connect with Nature. As we live our normal lives with cell phones, computers, automatic doors that don't seem to open for us we all encounter stress. Nature provides us the opportunity to disconnect from the world and tune into a quieter part of ourselves and our environment.


4. Exercise. Only someone who has never weeded flower beds for hours on end believes that gardening is easy. Lifting, bending, stretching, digging, planting, raking. All of these vigorous activities get the blood pumping and can give the same benefits to a stressed out gardener as going to an "actual" gym. And the garden smells a lot better!
   

So, my dear "Garden Girl" daughter and I are planning to de-stress ourselves by planting our seeds together first thing Saturday morning. Last Sunday I received a call from my local Ace Hardware store. This was unusual but a happy surprise. The manager called to say that they were holding a one day only sale and were randomly contacting some of their Ace Rewards Members. We had nothing urgent planned for our Sunday so we gathered the tribe and went into town. Upon entering I realized that the store was prepping for spring! And there among their goodies were seeds...marked for the one day only sale...10 for $1.00! So instead of hemming and hawing over which I could afford I let my two girls pick out the pretty ones. Apparently we're going to have a lot of pink and purple flowers in our whiskey barrels this year. They chose:

• African Daisy ~ Mixed colors


• Alyssum ~ Rosie O'Day


• CandyTuft ~ Dwarf Fairy Mix


• Cosmos ~ Sea Shells Mixed Colors


• Larkspur ~ Giant Imerial Mix


• Phlox ~ Dwarf Beauty Mix


• Portulaca ~ Moss Rose (Pelleted)


• Snapdragon ~ Dwarf Magic Carpet


• Sweet Pea ~ Royal Family Mix


• Sweet William ~ Extra Dwarf Mixed

They had so much fun...and I got a real bargain on my annuals. What could be better? Thanks Ace, and our wonderful manager who decided upon entering the store to have the one day sale!

Adirondack Fire Garden

Continuing from yesterday I'm taking another look at my backyard gardens. Prior to last season I had no back yard plantings. So when I was given so many wonderful and (more importantly) FREE plants & bulbs. I knew it was time to beautify the back yard. We own just under 2 acres of land with a tree line between us and our only visible neighbor. We have no fences to distinguish our property from someone elses. So it's difficult for me to know where to start as the yard seems so large. After returning from our annual camping trip to the Adirondacks I decided we could not live another minute without a fire ring of our own. A place to gather at night and to have S'mores with the kids and to sit and chat with hubby. So as we began work on our "Adirondack Fire Garden" we decided on (as usual) a raised rock bed. The sides were made from logs that we hadn't used while building our home. In the center we dug a small pit and set our fire ring with bear and pine tree cutouts over it. Around it we placed logs for seats. Then as I glanced around our lawn I saw my sad little "bridge to nowhere" sitting all alone in the middle of a dry lawn. I hate bridges that have no purpose. Before construction on our log cabin we did have a need for the little bridge but all those "problem" areas were resolved with some proper landscaping. So with a bit of pleading I convinced hubby to help pull it over to the new fire garden. With the bridge placed as an entry into the raised bed the kids had a new and exciting way into the fire area. And I had two new areas for planting...heehee... my diabolical master plan is working! It might be the first planting beds I've done here that aren't raised. And to be truthful...I think I'll raise them up this year.


During a trip to get mulch with my oldest daughter she asked if she could start her own flower bed. How could I say no? The she informed me that she had her own money to spend! Well, hello Miss Independent! LOL. And so we walked through the garden center and she checked the price and the sun/water requirements. She dreamed and fawned all over the plants (like mother like daughter) and then she grabbed 4 nice looking asters from the clearance rack. When I asked why she replied, "I can get 4 for the price of 1 larger plant in the regular section. And with time and patience these will get just as big. And I'll have 4!" I've never been so proud. She's a frugal gardener!!!

Little GreenThumbs

Being a Mom to three makes me always on the lookout for new and unusual gardening products that might help them to enjoy gardening the way that I do. So as I explore the world of online garden stores I am always pleased when I find garden sites that are as dedicated to young gardeners as to older ones.

HortiKids is a fun and educational site. They offer unique kid friendly containers, gloves, tools and topiaries. My personal favorite! The topiaries are fun shapes that any kid would love to begin gardening with.

Kidsregen is a great site for the kids to navigate through themselves! It's fun and easy to view. The motto of this site is: Healthy Soil~Healthy Bodies~Healthy People. I love that they show everything from yoga moves to Healing Herb Windowsill gardens. How cool!

Garden Mosiacs offered by Cornell focuses on the science behind the growing! It goes in depth into composting, interplanting for pest control, soil texture. It's a really educational site that is ideal for the "tweens" who still loves to play in the dirt.

Center for Ecoliteracy while not technically a site for kids it is still a site that (in my opinion) every parent should visit. They're "Rethink our Lunch Programs" is definetly a step in the right direction to help our children understand the importance of healthy food.

And finally who doesn't love Butterflies? On this site you can learn just about everything you need to know about our favorite garden visitors!

There is nothing more fun than gardening with your children or grandchildren but if that just isn't possible right now...(due to snow, bitter cold, an endless winter, etc.) then researching the web together can be a great way to get excited about gardening. I hope you have as much fun on these sites as my family and I did.