Oct. 3rd

Because all of my hobbies apparently aren't good enough, I've decided to take up another. Cross-stitch. I think I might like it even more than embroidery to be honest... I suppose they each have their perks. I love how simple cross-stitch is. No frills.

Anyways, here it is! I got the frame super cheap at one of the thrift stores in town. It only took a few hours to do.

My next project might have to be THIS. A sampler using a quote from Always Sunny.

Sept. 12

This might be one of the last garden updates for a while unless I have luck with a fall garden.

I still have only had luck with my cherry tomatoes.... currently there are a few flowers on the Cherokee Purple but I fear it's too late in the season for whatever is growing to mature. My Patio tomato has fruit on it but it has fallen over... not died, just fallen over. I have no idea if it will continue to grow. We've had the best luck with an orange Sundrop cherry (Patrick says these are his fave). The other cherry could either be Super Snow Drop (white) or Mirabelle (yellow). The tomatoes seem too pale to be yellow, but they could be.

Our Basil is still going strong too, I have only been harvesting the Genovese for pesto and letting the other varieties flower. I don't know exactly which variety this one is (probably Siam Queen, but not sure) but the flowers are gorgeous! I'm so glad I got it. 

My mums from last year have started blooming again too! I know a lot of people dislike mums but I think they are wonderful. The colors are so great and there's something about plants that flower when everything else is getting tuckered out. 

August 28th

I am an avid Pinterest-er, and as soon as I saw this project I knew it would be useful and something I would want, so when I got engaged it was one of the first DIY's on my list.

Turns out it's super easy, all you need is a small frame, the cardboard that came in the frame (glass not needed, you can find glass-less frames at thrift stores super cheap), felt, and a pushpin. 

Note: I didn't use the white felt at all.

I cut out a piece of felt the size of the cardboard in the frame, figured out where I wanted the ring to hang and embroidered a little leaf pattern around it. 

Stack your embroidered felt on the cardboard and stick your pin in the right place, bending it 1/4-1/2" away from the ball at about a 45 degree angle. Tape the pin to the backside of the cardboard, put it back in the frame, and voila! 

You got yourself a ring frame.

I put mine above the sink so I don't have to wear my ring when I do dishes.

August 10th

Garden update!

First of all, I harvested my carrots (mixed variety from Cubits) and while they were very tiny, they were very adorable and after I saved some to give as a birthday present, we just ate them all raw. I loved this mix, though I didn't care so much for the light colored carrots, so next time I may just get a pack of the purple and a pack of the orange and forgo the variety pack. I planted the rest of my Parisian carrots so hopefully there is enough time to get them grown before it freezes. 

My mystery peppers are growing and are so big! None of them have turned colors yet, but I've already picked a couple. I nibbled on them and they don't seem hot, so I really have no idea what kind of pepper they are.

My tomatoes are all fruiting (except for the Cherokee Purple... the only one I actually bought at the greenhouse) but alas, they have yet to ripen, so I still don't know what kind of tomato they are. The tallest is about seven feet tall at this point though. It's crazy.

And lastly, I have some beans! They are tiny and adorable.

July 23rd

Everything is going on just as usual over here in blogland. The garden is growing bigger and getting drier... I finally have some fruit on my tomatoes and now I know that the three mystery tomatoes are all cherries, though the specific variety is still unknown. One of them is taller than I am now! I have fruit on my mystery peppers too, and I can tell that they are hot, but I don't know the variety yet. I may wait to see what color they turn before I pick them.

I've harvested a ton from my parents garden so far... enough cukes and peppers for a couple batches of pickles and tons of jars of pickled jalapenos. They have lots of overgrown tomato plants with fruit just waiting to ripen, though some seem to be getting eaten by the chickens. Later this week I'm going to see if their blackberries are ripe yet. Yum!

The first round of chicks are looking more adult by the day.... luckily there are more babies and even more eggs waiting to hatch later this week.

These  are the newest chicks, and even though it's only been a week or so, they already have so many feathers!

In wedding news, we've finalized the ceremony location. It's at a stone gazebo in Topeka and I'm excited to have it all figured out. We'll probably have a laid back camping reception and maybe even a pig roast! I've sketched out the save the date picture and might work on painting that tonight. We shall see!

July 8th

So in under a month my tomatoes have gone from this...

to this!

None of them have flowered yet, so no fruit and I still don't know variety the first three are, but the last one is Cherokee Purple.

I did end up putting beans in the whiskey barrel, so hopefully those will get bushy and start flowering soon.

I harvested my garlic, and they're all pretty small. This fall I guess I'll just have to feed them more and hope that does something. I think I'm going to plant more this year.

I've been getting some more perennials since they are all on clearance at the little temporary greenhouses. So far I've gotten a couple more columbines, quite a few heucheras, a chinese primrose, and a foam flower. I might have to get a couple more heucheras actually.... they are so great!

The primrose

The foam flower, two heucheras, and my coleus.

In the background of the last picture, you can see a lily that has failed to bloom or produce any buds. I'm wondering if it's too shady, so it's possible that I will attempt to move it this fall to the little bed I made by the shed that is currently housing mostly purple and white flowers.

June 23rd

Just a little update today. I planted some beans last week as of today, all of them have sprouted! I need to set up some kind of trellis for them, but it's getting about time to rip up the peas, so I may see if I can reuse their trellis... I don't know what to put in the whiskey barrel once it's empty though. Maybe I'll just go crazy and plant twice as many beans!

I also have a miniature rose blooming that I bought for a couple bucks at the grocery store this last winter. All of the buds fell off as soon as I transplanted it so I hoped it would re-bloom for me.... and it's just one bloom, but it makes me so happy to see!

Lastly, I also got engaged! Be prepared for some wedding planning related posts in the coming year!

June 13

Well it's finally been long enough that I have something to show of the flowers I started from seed! I feel like it's been ages, but I have a pansy and some alyssum blooming. 

There are also some blooms on my clematis!

I also have a final count on tomatoes and peppers for the season: One Cherokee Purple tomato, three unknown tomatoes that I started from seed (could be Cherokee Purple, or any random color of cherry tomato), one jalapeno pepper, and two other unknown peppers. They don't look like my jalapeno, but that's all I have to judge what they are, a friend gave them to me.

The tomatoes I started from seed are still kind of small, so I may not even get much out of them, but who knows, maybe they will grow fast.

In news from the rest of my garden, something has been eating up my carrots, and it isn't a rabbit, as the pots are elevated a few feet off the ground. Maybe some kind of fly or grasshopper? It's been eating a lot of other stuff in my garden as well. I pulled up my onion seedlings because they weren't growing at all and it was really frustrating. I'm going to put beans in their place with hopefully more success. 

I also have some garlic scapes growing! I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, so if you have any ideas, let me know!

May 21st

I see it has been a while since I've updated.... I just had my last day at the greenhouse yesterday, so now I'm just looking forward to my garden growing and being happy without adding a whole lot more. Warning: this might be a bit image happy for some folks.

I've decided that my winter sowing experiment was a bit of a failure, possibly due to the cold spring. None of my seedlings have grown past that itty bitty stage other than my onions, and those are still nowhere near the size my mom's are that were planted from sets. 

These are my Cherokee Purple seedlings.... I gave up and just bought a full sized plant yesterday.

The strawberries I took from my dad's patch are fruiting, and the one I bought from Henry's outside of Topeka just put out its first pink flower!

My basil is growing great, I'll need to even start pruning a couple of them soon.

I'm probably the happiest about my sweet little Allium I planted last fall. Its flowers are so pretty! I wish they lasted longer.

I've also been sewing lately, so sometime soon I'll have to get pictures of my dresses to show you all!

May 8th

I made jelly for the first time!

More specifically, redbud jelly. From this recipe. In hindsight, it's a bit sweet so I may find another recipe that uses less sugar.

Now that I've had my first canning project, I'm looking forward to doing more! It wasn't nearly as difficult and time consuming as I feared. I'm thinking strawberry jam.....

May 6th

After a freakish snow a few days ago, spring weather is finally back to stay (I hope). My garden is looking a bit more full with the perennials coming up and I finally have peas, carrots, lettuce, and onions in the ground.

I have a few strawberries in pots and before too long if my tomatoes end up getting big enough (there are only a few seedlings and those don't even have their true leaves yet, so I may end up having to buy tomatoes after all)

Later this week I'm heading off to my parents to help put in some more veggies in their garden. I'm looking forward to growing cucumbers, zucchini.... all sorts of sun lovers that I can't grow at my place. 

April 14th

My tulips have started blooming!

April 5

The weather has finally been staying warm regularly so I've been going a little crazy with outdoor projects. One of my good friends just moved into a new house, so I've been helping her with random things. We dug up some mimosa trees and lilac bushes out of my parents old house on Tuesday and planted them on Thursday (not to mention non-gardening activities, like tearing out her chimney!)

In my garden I've built a trellis for the sadly neglected clematis patch (they were attempting to grow on a single stick propped up against the wall and had amassed into a huge tangled clump), though since I don't know what kind of clematis it is, I don't really know how to prune it properly. I trimmed it up a bit and transplanted one that was totally in the wrong place. I can't wait to see what they look like so I can treat them better come next spring.

Today I planted my carrots in two containers; they're a rainbow mix from Cubits. I have some little round Parisian carrots I need to put someplace too. I also planted some lettuce in the ground.

Now onto some pictures! Here are just a few, there are more on my Flickr page if you are curious.

This is the clematis patch. I counted at least 6 different plants, and it's possible that bot 2 and 6 are multiple plants in the same bunch. Only time will tell!

These are some basil seedlings that I snagged at work after thinning a few flats. Shhhh......

My alyssum have kind of blown up! I hope they don't get out of control before they are big enough to separate.

Here is some coleus (top) and blue sweet woodruff ( bottom). I'm excited for them to get bigger!

Lastly, here is an update on my onions. They are getting pretty big! An inch or two for sure. They're going to go in the ground and maybe also at my parents place when they are ready. 

March 18th

I have a few more sprouts coming up in my winter sowing jugs.... the lettuce isn't doing much more than it was in my last post, but now I have alyssum, pansies, and some onion seedlings!

Alyssum

Onions!

Two little pansies.

I've started working at a local greenhouse part time and it's amazing how far ahead everything is there.... the pansies have been in bloom there for weeks! It would certainly be nice to have a little greenhouse to start things in.

Here's one more picture just for good measure of our new kitty cat! We've had him for two weeks now and he's fantastic.

Feb. 27

We've had quite a bit of snow here in Kansas over the last week or so, which has certainly dampened my winter sowing experiment a bit... before the snow my lettuce started to sprout, but it hasn't had enough heat to grow any further. Hopefully this snow storm counts as the lion of March (albeit a week early) and we'll get some lamb the next month.

My winter sowing milk jugs

Little lettuce sprouts!

I also started my part time job at the greenhouse again this week. It was awesome to go into a place where there were green plants; the pansies were even blooming.

Feb. 12

The best way to get back into a groove is just to go for it right? Well here goes blogging:

I took some pictures the other day of my garden, and I wanted to put it up so I can see a difference once everything starts growing again. So far it's just a few bulbs popping up, but since I didn't live here in the spring last year, I'm not sure what they are, so it's exciting!

I'm also experimenting with some seed starting this year with the winter sowing method. So far nothing has sprouted, but it's still a bit cold.... I'm planting some flowers and veggies, plus a few perennials.

Here you can see one side of the front garden and evidence of my winter sowing (milk jugs).

This is the south side and the only area to get any sun. The buckets will house tomatoes!

This area is pure shade, but I built a little bed so I hope I can grow a few flowers at least.

These guys are a couple of blueberries I got last fall, hopefully they'll get busy this summer.

Evidence of growth. I'm not sure what these are, daffodils maybe?