Peeking Peppers in my Peat Pots

This the first year I've used peat pots or peat pellets. I've heard so much about them (both good and bad) but I have to say they are so easy and convenient that I may be hooked! I started a most of my seeds on 3/22/08 and have seen great results! And more importantly, today I...

Peeked Pepper Plants in my Peat Pots!

I'm a Happy Gardener!!! And lookee at my greenhouse:

Lots of Green!

The beauty of a New Bed

Yesterday I posted a computerized layout of my garden. Shortly after I realized that the layout was quite ugly! I defintely had a 'What was I thinking moment'! But I use the layout as a way to plan my next move and (although it's not to scale) it does give me a pretty good idea of where the garden stands~or lies...whatever. So today, I've decided to stroll down memory lane with a few of my new backyard garden beds. The picture above is the completed bed next to the house.

It started out as an ignored area to house snow-mobiles. I say ignored because no matter how many times I begged hubby... He ignored.

This is before the tilling began. Why did my hubby stop ignoring me? Maybe because I came home with this one day...

Two very generous gardeners and very dear friends had let me pick through they're compost and rock piles. And I'm not too proud to go roaming through a compost pile especially when it's full of newly "uprooted" bulbs. Although, they needed to be removed from their old home for a new project I just couldn't bear to let them just rot in a compost pile. So I dove in! And what a great friend she was to let me! The rocks were donated by a longtime friend of mine who overheard me saying that I was in need. He quickly volunteered to let me get what I needed from a stone wall that needed to be removed. Sometimes, the planets and stars all align... And then sometimes you realize that you have some awesome friends!


My first "garden visitor". Bandit the cat is very well-behaved in a garden and can often be found laying under some of the plants. But that night he was strolling through the half completed garden inspecting the work. Some plants in bloom to add color and some mulch complete the 2 day project. Ofcourse, now it's all hidden under snow. But I remember.

Gardening: Time to Move the Garden Inside

Yet another Lake Effect Event has covered my gardens with another foot of snow. Yes, I said ANOTHER foot! I remember the good old days when we got just a couple inches a day. Now we can go for weeks without a trace and then overnight...feet! So spring seems an eternity away.

I've begun searching the web for new gardening ideas. My friends Apple and Country girl at http://appledoesntfallfar3.blogspot.com/ encouraged me to begin blogging. So if I'm terribly boring you can blame them...LOL. I'm using their blog as a launching spot into the blogging world. Which is how I came by a seed starting idea that has me itching to try seeds again. I haven't been very successful with seeds in the past. Hence the over abundance of perrenials in my garden. As I think about starting seeds I'm always concerned about the amount of space this requires inside my log cabin home. With the tribe of animals and people in my home it's only a matter of time before there is an accident resulting in a muddy seedy mess. So this idea (found here ) is not only space saving but also somewhat accident proof and budget friendly. As I wander through her site I am amazed by how creative her gardening ideas are. I think I'm going to like reading through more of these great gardening blogs!

Winter Crafting and Garden Dreaming

Growing up my mom had a homemade knitting loom that she would use to make scarves and such. During a recent cold snap I called my mom and asked her if I could borrow the contraption to make my son a scarf. Within a day I had knitted a camo style scarf for my rough and ready seven year old. It was quite fun so I hopped online to see if anyone else had one of these old fashioned looms...Apparently I am the only crafter in the world who didn't know that Knifty Knitter had updated the knitting loom. I rushed out to Wal-Mart and purchase the circle looms immediately. I have since made each of my daughters a scarf. I'll be trying some hats soon. After all, we got 3 feet of snow within 36 hours so...we could all use some nice warm hats. And of course, I've been scouring the internet for how to's and tips from other knifty knitters. My fave sites so far: http://www.decoraccentsinc.com/ and http://www.yarngear.com/

But despite keeping my hands busy I'm starting to get "Cabin Fever" and I'm fighting off the winter blues by planning this spring's garden projects. Last year I put in 5 new garden beds ~ all perrenial flowers! I'm hoping this year we'll be able to make raised beds for a veggie garden.