Week 2

Here we go:

Reading:  My Lady of Cleves
Audio Book: Dresden Files #6
Podcasts:  History of England, Radio Westeros, Hardcore History
Bible: 2 days behind
Garden:  Finish planting
Cooking:  Beef with Broccoli and Egg Rolls

Social/Weekend:  Monday night dinner with Aunt;  Tuesday funeral, dinner with Daddy; Saturday shopping and social;  Sunday forum and dinner.


Busy busy busy.

Now for something completely different...

Let's see if I can actually update this way.  As I am certain no one reads this, I'm just going to use this as an update on me page.  Here we go:


Reading: My Lady of Cleves
Audiobook:  None
Podcasts:  History of England, Game of Owns, Christmas in Europe, Radio Westeros
Bible: 5 days behind
Watching:  Doctor Who (12th doctor), maybe Captain America.

Weekend Plans:
Saturday may meet with a friend for her birthday.  Mowing, edging, trimming, and planting lettuce, carrots, squash, beans, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Maintenance on Momma's car.

Type minutes and send announcement for BRW.

What I'm cooking:  keftedes, rice and veggies

Selling:  Pumpkin butter, pickles, and jalapeno jelly.


Aren't I interesting!  :D

Tap tap tap!  Is this thing on?  Every once in a while I remember I do in fact have a blog, and I should update it.  *sigh*

So, despite this little ninja cold spell we are currently experiencing, it is Spring in South Texas!  Garden season is about to kick off and here are some plans for mine this season:

New varieties:
Tomatoes -
Blue Berry
Amish Paste
Cherries Jubilee
Salsa Verde Tomatillos

Squash -
Jumbo Pink Banana
Cupcake Hybrid

Melons -
Hale's Best Jumbo (musk melon)
Crimson Sweet
Sugar Baby

Herbs -
Chamomile

Yes, you read that right, I am putting in a melon bed.  We will see how that goes but I am excited.  Pictures to follow, I promise.  The tomato seedlings are up, hardened off and ready to plant next weekend I think.  Need to get out there and clear some winter stuff out (greens, radishes, etc.) and trim up the never ending peppers.  Oh, and weed out the onion bed.  So until next time, garden on my friends!

Here We Grow Again

It is February and while the north deals with snow in record amounts, spring has sprung in South Texas!  My project last weekend was to build my garden beds.  2 beds: 4 foot by 16 foot by 1 foot deep.  Made from pressure treated lumber that I have coated in black trash bags (see, still frugal!) to keep even the possibility of chemicals leeching into the soil from the boards.  I also used these wonderful little Aqua-corners from Gardener's Supply Company.  You can fine them here.  I will let you know how they work out.

Dirt is coming this weekend, I will add pictures then.  Happy growing, y'all!

A long time coming...

Been a while, ain't it.  Life has changed quite a bit since I last updated.  I still garden, I still penny-pinch, I still stockpile.  But I bought that house, and I even paid off all my debt, but for my mortgage.  Car, medical, credit cards, all of it, gone and by God, it will never be seen again.

I drank the Dave Ramsey kool-aid.  Pitchers of it.  I knuckled down and paid off over $9,000 in about a year.  Next on the list, building my bank account back up to over 5 figures.  To the left of the decimal.  :)  As I sit today, I am at $840.  Yes, less than the Dave approved $1,000 in baby step 1, but I got sick at the end of BS 2, so I tapped into the Baby Emergency Fund for a little of it.  At least it isn't on a credit card...

I have a few 'big' things to do right now:  take my cats to the vet for their annual shots, get 2 new tires, get my car tuned up and checked out.  Once those are done, which should be around the end of August, I will start going full-throttle on the Fully Funded Emergency Fund (BS 3).  Until then, check back for updates and inventive ways I am saving!

-A

Garden Progress: 3/27/11

And now for your viewing pleasure... Swiss chard left over from the winter, some tomatoes and lettuce. The big herb in the middle is oregano. We Greeks have to have LOTS of oregano! Basil, tomatoes and herbs in the front. Thyme, Aloe Vera, and catnip. :) My big, long row of tomatoes. Sugary cherry tomatoes growing up! There is also varigated oregano, italian oregano, flat leaf parsely, and basil in the same pot with these tomatoes. Italian dinner pot! Lettuce and lavendar in a pot. Tumbling Tom red and yellow tomatoes. Specifically designed for hanging baskets. Satsuma Orange and Key Lime trees. They are covered in flowers! Cukes (county fair hybrid, one of the few hybrids I grow) in the famous HD buckets. Tomatoes to the left (Delicious), Golden California Wonder Peppers in the middle front, Black Beauty Zukes to the right, and that monstrosity in the back is rosemary, climbing the fence! Strawberries, Ozark Everbearing

Getting started for 2011!

Well, it is about that time of year again. I have already started seed for my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants for the Spring garden! What am I growing this year? Well glad you asked!



Tomatoes:

Yellow Pear

Yellow Mortgage Lifter

Mortgage Lifter

Pink Giant Belgium

Black Krim

Cherokee Purple

Delicious

Mediterranean

Australian Giant Oxheart

Tumbling Tom, red and yellow



Hot peppers, sweet peppers, and Black Beauty Eggplants.



I have 4 different carrots already sown in the garden, Cosmic Purple, Atomic Red, St. Valery, and Tondas. Radishes and Spinach have been sown too, plus I have brocoli and collards growning like weeds currently.



Momma and I are going to be attending a spring veggie class at Maas Nursery in Seabrook next month. There is a fee ($40) but in addition to the wealth of information you get from Jim Maas (a go to garden guy for this part of the world) you get containers full of veggies and a whole lot of other stuff to take home. Should be a great class.



Until next time, gonna go eat some of my broccoli.



-Amy

Just a few updates from the garden. Below is a picture of my Folliar Feeding Experiment. As you can see, there is no discernable difference between the Sea Magic and the Spray N Grow pots, but both have more blooms than the regular control.



This is a Hardy Cinnamon Tree that I got from the city for Arbor Day. I sprayed it with Sea Magic and it already has new growth!



As you can see, in the 3 weeks since I last took pictures, everything is growing like crazy! These are the Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans, Dill on the left and Garden Salsa Peppers on the right.



Lettuce in the middle of this picture, behind that gigantic Oregano, and the Tomatoes are growing nicely into their cages. On the fence is some kind of Jasmine that Momma planted that is taking over that fence, but it has really pretty yellow flowers.



You can see the Rattlesnake Pole Beans growing up the fence. The tomatoes are doing well, and the ones on the left (Black Krims) already have tomatoes the sizes of gumballs on them. That little herb in the center is Catnip, and the only reason it isn't big like the rest of the herbs is because Rusty and Jude like to lay on the cinder blocks and face-plant into it. I'll have to get a picture of that.

My squash have gone CRAZY! Compare this to the picture of the seedlings from a few weeks ago. My trick? Other than the folliar feeding, I spike their soil with blood meal. They are heavy feeders and LOVE it.

Happy Growing, y'all!

Funky Carrots... :)

This is the coolest, weirdest thing I have ever seen....

Hope you are having an amazing day!!!

Other Pretties...

Just some pretties! Here are some carrots I harvested for my SIL the other day, Tonga, Atomic Red, and St. Valery.
My Satsuma Orange tree, Little Sweetie variety...

And my Key Lime.

Look at all the little mini-baby limes!

I love this time of year!

Garden

Here is my set up. The edges of the garden are cinderblocks, providing little 'pots' for the herbs. The back is hurricane fencing, which I allow the pole beans and cucumbers to trellis up. The large herbs in this picuture are my Greek Oregano. It has begun rooting itself in the garden soil, even. Closest pictured are the Beefsteak Tomatoes, Purple Cherokee Tomatoes, Romaine, Rocky Top, and Green Leaf Lettuce. Mr. Stripey, Yellow Pear, and Giant Belgium Tomatoes are in the corner. The big fern-like plants on the right side are my carrots. The cucumbers are too small to be seen, but they are on the fence-line.

Here is a close up of the corner. Marigolds and Basil are planted in with all my tomatoes. They help control pests, Basil for the Nematodes and Marigolds for the Aphids. There is also my little squriel, the only kind I like in my garden.


Close-up on the Carrots. Broccoli is in the back-ground. Those 2 tomatoes in cages are the Black Krim. The herbs are, left to right, Sage, Thyme, and Aloe Vera.

Here are more tomatoes, Early Wonder, and Rattle Snake Pole Beans on the fence-line. The large herb is Flat Leaf Parsley. All along the right side are squash.

Close-up on the squash. I forgot what order I planted them in, but there will be Golden Scalloped, Yellow Crookneck, and Zucchini, so it will be a surprise when they start blooming. You can see the Rattlesnake Pole Beans in the background. There are also Garden Salsa Peppers planted on the left.

This is the far right side. Onions on the right, with peppers and dill to the left. Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans are along the fence-line.

What's Growing On? - My Spring/Summer Garden - 2010

I worked outside a lot today. I'll post pictures tomorrow, but I wanted to let y'all know what I'm growing this year! Itallics means not in gorund yet.

Tomatoes:
Mr. Stripey (1)
Yellow Pear (1)
Cherokee Purple (3)
Giant Belgium (4)
Early Wonder (7) - Hybrid, free seed from Tomato Grower's Supply
Brandywine (2)
Beefsteak (2)
Black Krim (2)
Sweet 100 (3)

Peppers:
Emerald Giant, Bell
Garden Salsa Hybrid

Eggplant - Purple Rain Hybrid

Beans:
Rattlesnake Pole
Kentucky Wonder Pole

Cucumber:
Thai Green
Bush Champion

Squash:
Early Crookneck Golden
Pattison Golden Marbre Scallop
Grey Zucchini

Lettuce:
Romaine
Green Leaf
Rocky Top Mix

Broccoli - Packman

Carrots (left over from winter garden):
Atomic Red
Tonda Di Parigi
St. Valery

Texas Sweet Onions (leftover)

Leeks (leftovers)

Herbs:
Mint, Spearamint
Oregano, Greek
Sage
Thyme, German
Texas Tarragon
Marjaoram
Beebalm
Dill, Fernleaf
Rosemary
Catnip
Lavendar, Provincial
Mint, Chocolate
Mint, Lime
Oregano, Italian
Basil, Sweet
Chives, Garlic
Parsley, Flat Leaf
Cilantro

Citrus:
Key Lime
Satsuma Orange, Little Sweetie

Blackberries, Kiowa

And if I can convince Miss Jamie to give me a row out on her property (if it dries out enough for a tractor to get in there) then I will be growing Orangelo and Georgia Rattlesnake Watermelons!

The Great Foliar Feeding Experiment - 2010

So I keep hearing about 'foliar feeding'. How plants do better with supplemented with nutrients and minerals taken in via their leaves and stems, in addition to traditional feedings via their roots. It does make sense, in that it is additional food. So I got to looking and I found 2 products that sounded like the best: Spray-N-Grow found on QVC and Sea Magic found through a number of seed companies such as Burpee and Park Seeds. But which one works best? Well, that's where little Miss Biology comes in. I'll preform an experiment!

Hypothesis: Foliar Feeding gives additional nutrients to plants via absorption of those nutrients through the leaves of the plant. We will test the effectiveness of 2 leading foliar feeding products, Spray-N-Grow and Sea Magic.

Variables: Sun-light, soil composition, root-fertilization (traditional), foliar fertilization, water, plant quality.

Experimental Design: 3 Petunia plants (Petunia x hybrida) will be potted in a garden soil (Scott's) and compost (composted cow manure) mixture. All three specimens will be set in full sun-light for optimal growing. They will all be watered as needed and will be fed every 2-weeks via traditional root feeding with Miracle Grow (watering can singles, 2 packets per 2 gallons of water, warmed by the sun). Specimen A will serve as the control and will not receive any additional care. Specimen B will receive a Foliar Feeding spray of Sea Magic ever 2-weeks, mixed as per the instructions of the product. Specimen C will receive a Foliar Feeding spray of Spray-N-Grow ever 2-weeks, mixed as per the instructions of the product. Foliar Feedings will be administered via pump-sprayers.

Measurement: Pictures will be taken at the time of planting, and ever week (Sunday) thereafter. The experiment will conclude in 2 months.

Theory: The specimens that are Foliar Fed will produce more blooms and foliage than the control. Because of its organic properties, the Sea Magic will preform best.

Check back for updates!

Well, let's see if I can keep this up...