It is almost time for planting!  So excited to be growing vegetables again.  Last winter wasn't too cold and my spinach and kale survived until spring, but this year has been much colder and my garden has been empty for quite some time.  My trellis system for the tomatoes last summer was a dismal failure, so this year I am trying something new.  

Bought four fence pieces and made two pairs with hinges at the top.  Put one set on each end of the garden and strung twine at 3" intervals across.  I am still debating if I should weave in cross pieces to make a grid.  Nothing is planted yet, so I still have time to decide.

All of the vining plants will grow up both sides of the A-frame.  It will save space and keep the vegetables clean and, hopefully, less likely to rot.  I will be growing tomatoes, snap peas, and cucumbers.  Underneath the A-frame I am planning to plant basil and spinach.  Hopefully the vines will keep those plants cool and give me a bit more growing time before they bolt.

This was my Valentine's Day present. I think most women would ask for flowers or jewelry, but I asked for a trash can.  But not just any trash can; I asked for a trash can with holes drilled into it that I could turn into a compost bin.  My previous compost pile that I started over a year ago never did anything, so I needed to try something a little more practical.  I found photos of trash can compost bins on Pinterest, and thought it was a much cheaper alternative than the fancy compost bins.  Everything seems to be breaking down nicely, and it is a bit fun to roll this around my yard every other day.  My neighbors seem to be very intrigued by my garden, and I can't imagine what they're thinking when they look out the window and see the crazy lady next door rolling around a trash bin while wearing her pjs.  I'll just chalk it up to my eccentricity.   

This beautiful tree is in my front yard.  I have no idea what kind it is, but they are all over my neighborhood.  I tried to photograph a new shawl I made hanging off the branches, but I just couldn't get the right angle.  But I did notice a birdhouse way up near the top.  

I hope the birdies are enjoying the flowers as much as I am.  

On another note, I'll be spending the next several days away from the computer.  My husband and I have various appointments at the hospital, so if you send me an email I promise I'll answer, it might just be a couple days.

Until next time, enjoy the spring flowers!

While I still have some kale and spinach clinging to life, my garden is mostly empty dirt and I am having gardening withdrawls.  I miss going out into the yard several times a day to water and check my plants.  I happened to find a book on houseplants at my library and decided that would cure me of the winter gardening blues.  

I still have my terrarium and wanted to make a few more.  But Lowes was out of succulents, so some full-sized houseplants came home with me.  I've been collecting vases and fishbowls from the thrift store, and these became the new homes for my plants. 

I really like this one.  Begonia Strawberry?  Strawberry Begonia?  Something like that.  It sends off runners like a strawberry plant, so maybe next spring I can propagate a few more plants.  I added sheet moss around the tops of the vases for extra greenery.

Of course Che, my favorite model, decided to horn in on the plant photoshoot.  Apparently, all photos must be about him.

So we'll see how good I am about keeping theses plants healthy.  As much as I like succulents, I either water them too much or not enough and they don't last too long.  Hopefully it will go better with these plants!

My summer garden is winding down, and the spiders have been hard at work building their webs.  After a day of rain, this morning I found all my potted plants covered in delicate webs.  Across the yard, hanging down from a pine tree, I found a massive web about 7 feet tall.  

It seems these days that when I'm not knitting I'm either out in my garden or cooking with vegetables and herbs picked from my garden.  The greenness of North Carolina is still quite shocking to me, since I grew up in a desert.  A couple days ago I spent the afternoon sitting in a lawn chair, reading my library books and enjoying the view of all the trees with their new green leaves.  I took more photos of my garden, which has grown substantially over the week since I last took photos.  I think I have the pouring rain to thank for that!

This is my first time growing strawberries, so I am completely ecstatic to see all the flowers and little green strawberries on my plants.  I don't know how many strawberries I'll get from 4 plants, but if I can keep a few for myself from the birds I'll be happy.  The tomato plants are just starting to bloom, so I'm looking forward to the future bombardment of tomatoes.  Hopefully I'll have lots of salsa and caprese salad in my future.  

Already every night I am making salad from my romaine and looseleaf lettuce blends.  It is funny to think about all the ingredients that go into a salad and how they are typically from different growing seasons.  Lettuce and carrots are cool weather vegetables, while tomatoes and cucumbers are warm weather vegetables.  Hopefully there will be some overlap before my lettuce bolts that I can enjoy a salad of all homegrown vegetables.

Homemade ranch dressing is my new favorite thing to make since I'm growing so many herbs.  My very rudimentary recipe:  half sour cream, half mayonnaise, a dash of milk (until these three ingredients are the consistency you want- thick for a dip or runny for salad dressing), a dash of lemon juice for acidity, ground pepper, salt, a clove of crushed garlic, then whatever fresh herbs you have on hand.  I use larger portions of dill and chives, then medium portions of mint, cilantro, and parsley, and small bits of thyme and tarragon.  I roll up the herbs like a cigar and use my kitchen shears to cut them.  I like this better than chopping because you don't lose any of the juices on your chopping board and you can make the slices pretty darn thin.

This morning seems to be about two G words:  guarding and gardening, both being assisted by my dog, Che.  Che is very sweet little dog and does all he can to help me and make me happy.  Earlier today I was out in the yarn potting some plants, and Che did his duty to scare the birds away.  He trotted laps around the yard, doing a security check I think, to make sure nobody would come in to bother me.  There are rabbits in my area, and they are frequent visitors to my yard.  So far they haven't bothered my plants at all.  A few bouts of rain have really made my garden come alive.  My romaine lettuce is almost ready for picking, and two of my tomato plants have flower buds.

After the gardening was finished, I came into my office to add in some yarns I bought last night to my Ravelry stash.  While the photos were loading, I looked down and saw Che on the floor guarding my stash.  He looked so cute I got out my camera to snap a photo and suddenly he turned into a big ham.  He always manages to stick his tongue out when I take photos.  

No unauthorized knitters are getting near this stash!  Nope.  Nobody.

My New Year's resolution for 2012 was to get rid of my 'black thumb' and learn how to successfully grow vegetables.  Not only did I succeed (mostly) I developed a passion for growing my own food.  I started with a container garden of a few plants, then expanded to containers plus one raised bed garden when I moved to North Carolina.  

What's this?  A veil?  Is my garden getting married?  Nope, it is my version of a floating row cover.  My poor garden is being invaded by pests.  Let me tell you about this garden and my steep learning curve of being a gardener.  But first, a better view of my little plants.

Ah, that is better.  I moved to my new house the first week of June, which is a rather odd time to plant a garden.  I had brought some of my container garden plants from Georgia, my jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, and some herbs.  My husband built me this lovely raised bed, modeled after the square foot garden.  It was very hot at the time, so  figured a few tomato and pepper plants would be a good choice until the weather cooled.  I bought two tomato and two pepper plants and went home and stuck them in the ground.  Since they were rather big already (about 8" tall) I figured they would be ready to plant.  Wrong.  They all suffered transplant shock and wilted terribly.  I was able to save the two tomato plants but not the peppers.  I kept one tomato plant in the raised bed garden and put the other in a container with my patio container garden.  Both tomato plants were flowering like crazy but never set fruit.  I couldn't figure out why, so I did a google search.  I read there might be too much nitrogren in my soil and other high tech gardening jargon that I didn't understand.  Then I read that tomato plants self pollinate, and if there hadn't been enough wind they might need a little shake.  Seriously, the webpage (several of them actually) said to go out and shake my plants.  At the risk of looking like a crazy person to my neighbors, I went out and gave my plants a scolding and a gentle shake.  I laughed to myself at how silly I looked then went inside and continued on with my day.

Maybe not so silly.  It worked!  I have a dozen tomatoes on my raised bed garden plant and one little tomato on my patio plant.  

The first week of August the weather cooled and it was time to plant my fall garden.  Now, if you noticed a bunch of holes in my little plants I'll tell you about those.  Pests have invaded my garden, hence the veil.  I had such lovely little seedlings, seeds that I sowed directly into the soil, and one day I found them chewed up and full of holes and broken stems.  I also found a bunch of black worms with yellow stripes.  After doing a bit of online searching (which I found quite nauseating after looking at page after page of worms) I finally found the culprit.  A yellow striped armyworm.  I find the name amusing seeing that I'm right next to Ft. Bragg and can't seem to get away from everything Army.  But sadly, my research told me that armyworms are hard to get rid of and there are no pesticides for them.  Not that I would want to use a pesticide, one of the reasons I grow my own vegetables is to try to keep my food as natural as possible.  I read these worms like to munch on the leaves at night, and my dear husband didn't even bat an eyelash when I asked him to grab a flashlight and help me smash worms out in the yard.  After six years of knowing me, he is hardly ever surprised by any of my strange requests.  We went out and smashed away, then did a bit more smashing the next morning.  I went to Joann's Fabrics and bought 4 yards of tulle and threw it over as a floating row cover to keep any other bugs out.  The chicken wire cover is to keep birds and rabbits out as well.  Now my plants have perked up quite a bit, especially the cabbage.  The worms have practically destroyed the swiss chard, I don't think any will survive.  I have already enjoyed a few radishes and sampled a tiny green tomato.  I couldn't help it, they looked so tasty.  

On the knitting front, I am three rows and a bind off away from finishing a new design.  This one really flew off the needles, but mostly because I have quite a few secret projects lined up and don't have time to waste.  Hopefully later on, either this afternoon or tomorrow I will have a few photos of it blocking to post.