how our garden grows

last night we finally got corn & beans planted. we are soooo late. the priorities around our place have been severely screwed up for several months, at best. in my heart i thought there was no way the garden would get neglected, but things happen to the best of us.

between all the rain & the general absence of a certain master gardener - tiller extraordinaire, the big plant got delayed, and delayed again.... big time.

like i said, these things happen to the best of us.

but on other fronts, the strawberry patch is cleaning up nicely. 3 days straight of weeding, eyes burning, itching, sneezing, keeping my kleenex box in the garden next to me, the big boy and i did some serious damage to the clover population.

*note to self: find a way to keep the clover from coming back.... ever.


i think these are some of the sweetest berries we've gotten out of our patch. this variety is honeyeye. they are described as "sweet" but i generally think they're pretty tart. normally i find that the later part of the picking season produces the sweetest berries, but these have been really sweet so far.

***now, here's where things get reeeally boring unless you're into gardening & you've got nothing better to do than keep reading...

have i mentioned what's going on in the "no tilling allowed!" section of our garden?

well, 2 years ago i planted dill for my pickles. sources told me that dill would return (even though it's technically an annual). then, last spring we had the till-happy mishap where everything got tilled under, even the asparagus that was in it's 2nd year - major ugh! moment.

so just to be safe, i planted more dill, which, as we later discovered, probably wasn't necessary. the dill made it's way back, even after being tilled under. (alas, no asparagus survived.)

along with dill & some other herbs we also planted cilantro for our salsa & all the summer pico de gallo that happens here. cilantro would also happen be an annual.

now this year, since we learned our lesson, we now have a "no tilling allowed" section of the garden where the dill and asparagus reside. come time to buy seeds, i could not see any sign of the dill.

weeds, yes.
dill, no.

and last week i tried to find dill for sale, only to come home with one measly little pack. i was pretty bummed. i go out to the garden to check again for any sign of the dill popping up and i was pleasantly surprised to find many little starts making their way up through the "weeds" surrounding it.

upon looking a little closer (wake up girl!) i notice the "weeds" surrounding my little sprigs of dill are actually cilantro.... or rather what i like to call "cilantro gone wild"!

we're now the proud owners of a 8 x 4' patch of cilantro.
good. night. nurse.

so hey, if you're in the area and need some cilantro, you know where to get some☺

happy vengence

it's amazing how some things can take off & get away from you without your notice. that is what my perennials have done this spring.

i have one little flower bed that i have accumulated perennials in over the time we have lived here. i am so glad i went with perennials because i do not have the patience for the annual ritual. i like the renewal of these flowers each year, something to look forward to with expectations each spring.

the early birds have already finished blooming like my irises & ground cover. (if anyone is interested in a dwarf white/purple iris, let me know because i'd like to split it this year!)

i've been surprised to see that my globeflower has reappeared after a no-show last year. this confounds me! and i guess my poppies are not going to happen (i would really love to have some poppies!).

this year some of my plants have just gone ginormous on me. i'm not sure why. i'm sure there's a logical reason having to do with something like the climate over the past year... that's just my guess. but regardless, in the flower bed and in my garden (more on the herbal takeover later) things seem to have returned with a happy vengence☺

the blessed lupine has come back in a big way. i have never seen so many blooms on this plant. (these photos were taken almost 10 days ago, so by now they are maxxed out to full bloom. this is the stage where i like them best)

the salvia. i have found that i have an over-abundance of purple flowers in my garden☺

if the skies allow, i'll be posting more flowers as they arrive.

happy gardening ♥

the garden... first harvest 2010

last night i spent some time weeding the ever-loving strawberry patch.
we have out-of-control clover in parts of the patch.

it's terrible.

i have never seen anything like it!

the conviction of will that it took for me to spend an hour weeding just a tiny 3 x 1' stretch of patch was mind-numbing.
not to mention the hopelessness that came when i looked at the next 25 x 4' that still need attention.

ugghh!


so anyhow, the 2 casted boy came over to check out my hard work (since he's too handicapped to help with the weeding, don't you know).

he noticed that there were radishes that needed picking.
he explained that radishes & cucumbers are his favorites of all things to pick from the garden.
this doesn't shock me, whatsoever.

can we all say "very little effort required"?!

so here's the first crop. there's still more out there to pick, and once they're ready, we'll plant more. radishes are nice & they let us grow them pretty much all season long.

*i have no idea what happened to that reject in the lower right corner, but other than being a freakish shade of purple (which by the way bled off onto our hands like ink), it wasn't especially hot or strange tasting. it was devoured in one bite by the big guy, along with almost every other one we picked, at supper.

oh, and ps.... we did pick a couple of strawberries too. SO excited, i can hardly wait for them☺

miss f, part 2 | nappanee newborn photographer

i just couldn't get enough of this sweet little girl, so i had her back for another session.

in these photos she's 10 days old, and i'm telling you - i have some new all-time favorite photos right here from this session.

don't they just ooze baby love?☺

love you baby girl!

can't wait to capture more of you☺

xo

aunt apryl

miss f, part 1 | nappanee newborn photographer

back in march i had the great opportunity to photograph my very pregnant sister-in-law while she was carrying her 6th child.

now little miss f is here and she is adorable! how could she not be? she's surrounded by beautiful siblings, every single one.

i was excited to photograph her, and since newborns & photographers are both pretty unpredictable, i got to do it twice! these are some of my favorites from the first of 2 sessions, she is 8 days old here.

don't for get to check back tomorrow.... i'll be posting part 2!

excitement | part 2

as you know, i have piano players at my house. this is something that really thrills me as a mom and as a music lover. i played piano (and not especially well) most of my childhood & into the teen years. as my youngest showed interest in the piano, we searched for something we could afford & since bringing a piano into our home, i have renewed my love of the instrument and for learning with it.

both of my boys are finishing their 3rd year in lessons and they both have done very well. this past sunday was their spring recital.

a bit of a wrench was thrown into the whole situation this year because of "the broken arms". as luck would have it, the 2-casted boy broke his arms 5 days before recital. weeks of practice & hard work and he wasn't going to be able to play. this was truly a bummer, probably more for me than for my boy. it was so nice of their teacher, mrs. stichter, to play his songs on his behalf during the recital. it was really a special moment & i was proud, even though he wasn't able to play.

as for the big boy, for the first time since he's started playing he was really nervous about performing. as a kid, i hated recitals. a deathly-type of hate, i tell you. put me almost anywhere, but don't ask me to perform in front of people. i hated to have him feel this way and really want him to be confident. plus, he can really perform his work well & i didn't want that to be diminished by nerves.

so i had to hope & pray for my big boy. hope that he would do well & pray for his nerves to calm down. i have always been so proud of how well both boys have done performing... always.

at the recital he had 2 songs to perform and i could hear his nerves in the first piece, but the second song went smoothly. i was very proud of him!

little did i know, the really proud moment was yet to come.

each year at recital, mrs. stichter gives out 3 awards for different "bests" in her studio. when she started to describe the recipient of her "best technique" award, i listened intently. as she went on, she talked about how much improvement she saw in this student's technique, how diligent he was in working hard to do everything that she asked of him & how prepared he was every week. she described this student as being a lot of fun to work with and as growing up & getting so tall, and having to grow into his "man-sized hands".

my heart almost pounded out of my chest as i knew this had to be my son! (there aren't too many big boys in the piano studio)

when she said his name, i was brimming over with pride & so excited that my boy was being recognized for the work he's done at the piano. i'm sure most parents think so, but i truly believe he works hard (with a few nudges here & there from me) and is capable of going as far as he's willing at the piano.

if you know me, you know i'm not a gusher. but right now, i'm gushing!

i love ya dude & i'm so proud!

you can really work that piano if you want to☺

keep up the good work!

xo

mom

excitement | part 1

we have been keeping busy around here.

personally, i prefer hum-drum. really - i don't have a problem with mediocrity because frankly, i'm too lazy for a whole lot more.

lately, we've been losing lots of teeth. being the slacker that i am, i owe this kid about $5 over the past few weeks for all the teeth he's lost.

what else's been going on??? uuhhhh....

oh yeah. the arms. the broken ones. we've been dealing with that too.

two, no less. we're still trying to wrap our brains around this one. and really, it's kind of interesting the looks i get taking this boy anywhere.

not something you see everyday, i guess. ☺

*see that crud between his fingers there - yummy, don't you think? try not being able to really wash the hands of your boy for 5 weeks. truly, a mother's nightmare.

lesson to be learned: acrobatics are best done with belts & ropes, and at the very least, a thick & fluffy mat to land on when you go flying from a swing, head first in the wrong direction.