Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Two month Garden Update

At the beginning of January I took a big chance and planted a 'Spring' garden. This was two months earlier than most recommend here in zone 7B. The winter had been super mild and was forecasted to continue being mild...so I spent $20 and got busy.

This week is generally considered the beginning of planting season around here. I am finally seeing pots of started plants in the stores and gardening tools out for sale. I have planted two Spring gardens, about two weeks apart. Instead of just getting seeds in I'm not too far away from beginning to harvest.

Here is my larger garden today...


It needs weeding, we had a lot of rain over the weekend and I have not gotten to it yet.

I'm using container gardening to increase our garden size this year. I'm hoping to have a deck full of green by mid-summer.


Robbie and Emily planting their strawberry plants we got for free from the garden shop this weekend.
The strawberry starts from last year that I found buried under some mulch and replanted.
Parsley that overwintered really well this year.
Chives...other herbs will be planted as the season goes on.
Pots of rosemary

The hens are doing their jobs too...


Turning the mulch over the garden and eating the weeds.
Producing our eggs
As money and time comes in we will continue to add to the homestead. In about a month , just after Easter we will be doing our big planting.

The kids and I are excited about the way our garden is coming together this year.

Amy

Sunday, February 19, 2012

New Curtains

It is a rainy cold day. Perfect for the number of indoor jobs I have on my list.

I am on a mission to re-fall in-love with my home again. After basically six years of neglect to basic decorating while we waited for the kids to get a little older, I am ready to tackle several home projects in 2012.

One of my goals is to repaint the kitchen/family room area. I believe I know the paint colors I want to use, but we have to wait until after Spring sports, garden planting, etc to tackle the painting. Going through my fabric stash I found material that I thought would be perfect for curtains in the kitchen area. And, this morning would be perfect for hiding away at my sewing machine... three hours later

You can see why a paint job is such a high priority for us. That white has been stained with many little, muddy hand prints over the years.
The kitchen is going to be cream & red with peacock blue accents. Doesn't is just pop with color in an otherwise neutral room.

To make the curtains I used material from my fabric stash. I had bought the striped material for another project, but did not end up needing to use it then. The plaid was leftovers from a pair of maternity pants that were made when I was pregnant with Mary...yes nearly 13 years ago.

There you have my $0, rainy morning project.

Amy

A family of six living and learning. You might catch us outside in the mud or working on crafts. We always seem to be on the go, come on and join us.