In Between

This morning while Avery was out on a walk with my parents and then later napping, I did some gardeny type chores--weeding, compost turning, trimming the greens for my lunch later in the day. I gave every body a late morning drink before the heat of the day sets in-- It may be fall elsewhere but down here in the Land of Eternal Summer the heat index still occasionally hits 100.
Everything is growing so well! The beans and peas have the very beginnings of blossoms; the cabbage typ plants-- collards, broccoli, actual cabbage-- have nice green leaves. The sunflowers have nice strong stems and track the sun through the sky. The ones in the ground are doing better than the ones in the pots, so now I know that. The sweet potatoes, though,  are still an enigma. They've been in the ground for months and keep putting out a vine with healthy leaves, but the actual potatoes aren't anywhere to be found. Next summer, it's a sweet potato tower for sure.
Everything seems to be in between times. Not seedlings, nor fruit producing. Soon, though.

recap

So I totally crapped out with the blogging this summer. Here's what happened: no squash, zucchini, or melons; LOTS of lovely peas!; good yummy tomatoes; a lot of okra spread out over a long period of time.
So for the fall: salad greens in pots; sunflowers in pots and in ground; onions, peas, bush beans, collards, cabbage, broccoli, spinach in the bed. I have also planted two black berry bushes. A volunteer tomato plant appeared out of nowhere (well, most likely from either a seed that was in the compost or from the spring plant). My sweet potatoes salvaged out of the compost is flourishing despite being munch on by a bunny and raked by norm. I'm still not sure how to know when they are ready for me to eat them. Next spring I think I might plant some sweet potato towers to make the process easier.

coming soon

Pictures of the well flourishing garden are coming soon-- tomorrow if it's not rainy like today! Everything is green and lush and beginning to produce! Squash are also coming soon as are snow peas!
Gladis's post on breast feeding and homegrown food prompted me to post this somewhat troubling editorial published in yesterday's St. Pete Times. How upsetting to me that this woman basically forced herself to nurse her babies based on the medical evidence. My mom-- who pointed the article out to me-- said she sounded like a spoiled brat, and I agree. I also think this article is dangerous and undermines the value of nursing.

Gross

Lately, I've found myself doing a lot of gross things. Avery is on antibiotics for an ear infection and a staph infection (!), and his digestive track is all out of whack. I've given him yogurt to eat but the last couple of days his diapers have been... gross. Yesterday I made the executive decision to use dispoables until he's back to normal. Swishing out diarahhea into the toliet is not on my list of fun ways to spend an afternoon. Gross.

Today I decided to figure out what's Going On in the compost bin. I usually use a shovel to stir things around but I could tell that there was a good four inches of compost that wasn't getting air. So, I dumped it on the bare ground. And I wasn't wearing gloves. Smart. I had to use my hands to get it back into the trash bin. My hands smell, odly enough, like horse shit. I've washed them three times and they still smell. Gross.

But, I discovered that most of the food particles have decomposed. The execption being a stalk of broccoli that has some shoots growing out the top of it. I might take a page out of Gladis's book and try to plant it. I like broccoli. There were some major clots of slimy grass roots. I am going to either take it out of the bin and put it on the ground, or poke holes in the can.

It was absolutely glorious out: lot's of sun, warm, and breezy. I did a close inspection of the garden and found out good things are happening. The salad greens have put out true leaves that look like something you'd find actually in a salad. The zucchinie are getting HUGE; the squash are finally up as are the cantaloupe. The watermelon- both seeds and transplants-- are doing well. The pumpkins are well established, but the peepers look a little frazzled. The okra are thriving and the peas are at least THREE inches tall. My poor bedraggled marigolds are still blooming in spite of being trampled and munched on regularily.

Some of the wild flowers have begun to show signs of life. My herbs and my trays of peppers and tomatoes are still showing nary a green shoot.

I'm going to go wash my hands one more time, and hope for the best.

Momentous occasion!

Tonight for dinner, I made Moo Shoo Beef lettuce cups topped with bean sprouts THAT I GREW! The first meal made with food grown (or sprouted) here in the Bohler homestead. I can't wait until I am planing meals around what's ready to be picked.
Also! All of the vegetables in the patch have sprouted! All of them! We may be swimming in squash and vucchini very soon. I have visions of giving it away as favors at the upcoming Bohler-Park wedding.
In other news, you may have noticed that someone else has posted. Welcome to Kathleen, who I went to Lesley College with and who also has a lovely little boy. She is growing things is pots on her porch but she knows much more about this than I do. There may be some other voices joining the conversation.

To Do

*Draw up garden plan
* Plant veggies according to plan
* Start tomatoes and peppers plants in tray
*Find a plot for herbs and dig it up
*Plant herbs
* Plant wild flowers