Elemental Stitches

Fall and Winter Garden Preparations

I spent the last two days at my moms house working on clearing brush and cutting firewood so the fire department doesn't write her a ticket.  It was nice to prepare for the winter season.  Even though it was 100 degrees F outside we were still thinking of when there will be freezing winds and rain.

I did get a chance to work on the garden for a short time.  I soaked the hard packed earth turned the soil with a shovel.  My mom had created small raised beds using black plastic and tires a couple years ago.  I am going to re-use some of the existing beds if they are still in good condition.  For the new beds I decided to use drawers from an old dresser that has been destroyed by the sun and we haven't thrown away yet.  The drawers are still in good condition.  I just kicked out the bottoms and put them down on the turned dirt.  Next week I am going to go get some compost from the garden center to fill them up.  I think I have time to grow more summer veggies but we are probably going to grow those up on our deck in pots.  That way they use much less water.  The water company recently tripled the price of water here and they plan on tripling it again next year.  My husband and I have been seriously considering settling permanently up north because of the price of water down here.  Water is our most important resource.  If we are already short on water and they are raising prices, its not going to get any better.  I never wanted to settle here anyway.  We are still looking seriously at Oregon.  Toms best friend just put an offer on a house there and my best friend just requested a job transfer to Oregon.  I love the woods and the rain.  I think we would be really happy there.  Anyway back to the garden.  Here is the front entrance.  Not much but it will get there.

This is the inside.  I cleared out a bunch of the bushes and trees before I took this photo.  Here is what I did today.

I am going to need to add some sand to this dirt before I use it.  It is 2 year old fallow compost that has baked in the sun.  It needs some water, some sand and maybe a little supplement compost from the garden center.  I am going to grow a bunch of leaf lettuces, different kinds of radishs and carrots, peas and chard!   Oh I cant wait!

A New Land, A New Garden

I told you the sunsets were beautiful!

This weekend was full of fall and winter garden preparations.  I took the camera out to get before and after photos but the battery was dead!  I will get pictures next time.  My mom had a successful garden for a couple of years but it became too much work for her and she abandoned it two years ago.  Now that I am back I am starting it back up again. 

This time I have plans for chickens and lots of other things that I wasn't able to grow in my little community garden plot at UCSC.  Hopefully next summer we will have rows of corn, giant pumpkins and lots of heirloom tomatoes and summer squash. Technically I could squeeze in a summer crop if I planted transplants sometime in the next week.  I might run out and get a tomato and zucchini.  I cant imaging going the whole summer without homegrown tomatoes.  I gave away my plants that I was growing in Santa Cruz.  My friends and neighbors gladly snatched them up. 

I have chopped down trees and raked brush all day, but we can at least walk through the garden now.  Our garden area is located in the lower half of the yard next to the half dead orchard.  My mom tells me that they almost tripled the price of water here over the summers and she cant afford to water all the trees.  We have decided to try and save what we can and replace the lost trees with drought resistant dwarf varieties. 

The garden area is fenced off to keep the dogs and other animals away from the veggies.  The tentative plan is to pop out the bottoms of old dresser drawers and use them as small raised beds.  The garden area is pretty big so I am only going to work on a quarter of it at a time.  The chickens are probably getting their own quarter and they will be able to wander among the veggie plants eating bugs and fertilizing the dirt. 

Here are a couple more sunset shots that I hope you like!

Have a beautiful week!

Spring Garden Update

I haven't done a garden update in a long time!  I have many things growing this year in my garden.  I am a little disappointed about moving in the middle of the summer growing season, but I can always count on a new late summer garden in a new garden plot. 

Summer lasts until November here and we will not be moving to Oregon anymore.  My hubbie accepted a different job offer that will keep us in California and even close to the same areas we live in now.  I am happier about this then I realized.  I am not sure I was ready to move to another state!

Back to the garden.  I currently have lettuce coming out my ears!

Peapods popping up everywhere

 

These peas are so yummy!  I had them in a delicious salad that I made a couple days ago which I eat almost everyday in the summer.  Here is what I included.  Usually this is just a mix of what is ready in the garden.

Garden Fresh Salad
Lettuce - Various kinds from your garden
Grated Carrot
Peas - fresh out of the pod
Green Onion sliced thin
Tomatoes - from the garden if they are ready
Greyere Cheese - Grated
Vinegarette of your choice

Mix together and enjoy!  I ate a huge amount of this salad, right out of the family salad bowl with a little cut up chicken breast.  So yummy!  I love to add broccoli, cucumber, or squash depending on what is ready in the garden.

Perfection!

Carrots are one of my favorite veggies to grow.  All they need is loose soil, sun, water, and some patience. 

My pepper got started late but look at how many buds are on there already!

I am also growing on my deck again in pots.  I have four tomato plants in pots that are looking fabulous!  In my community garden tomato plant diseases seem to run wild.  Once one gets one they all seem to get it so I only planted a couple in my community garden plot.  I am going to save that extra space for squash.

I started growing my tomato plants in large pulp planting buckets that cost about $3-$4 each.  They work perfectly  and I even put several earthworms inside the bucket to help feed the soil as the tomato grows.  When I planted my tomatoes this season I needed to use the pulp pot from last year that still had a dead tomato sticking in it.  I pulled up the tomato and started emptying out the dirt.  I thought there was something weird going on when I saw the beautifully rich earth I was pulling out of this bucket.  I wasn't expecting that!  I finally came across a bunch of earthworms halfway through my pot!  They had not only survived but thrived and multiplied in the pot over the rainy winter!  If you dont know about earthworms, their poop makes a nutrient rich natural fetilizer and they help keep the soil healthy by bringing in air as they crawl through.  I scooped up every drop of that precious poop ridden soil and added it to all my plants.  I have a couple that are already growing little tomatoes!  I wonder when the first tomato will be ready?  I am aiming for before the end of May.

I finished another dress from Weekend Sewing.  Pictures soon!

Little Surprises

I was going through a giant pile of all of my garden supplies from last year and look what I found!

It was thrown out last year because I thought it was dead.  I guess it was just dormant!  These bulbs are my favorite!  A little more searching and I found another revitalized bulb.  I love life's little surprises.  They bring so much joy.

Week of Summer

I have been enjoying the beautiful Mediterranean weather we have here on Monterey Bay.  Its been in the 70s for weeks, the sun has been shining continuously.  Late afternoon walks are becoming a compulsion.  I know that the rainy season is only a couple months away so I am trying to enjoy its warmth now.

Everyone knows about California's fire season and our earthquakes (did you hear about the one in LA this week!)  This photo shows you why.  That dry brush is 2-3 feet tall and it covers most of the state during summer.

Another part of the sunny central coast.
Hello King Bambi!

Of course I have been busy crafting.  This pattern is the lap quilt from Doodle Stitching.  The embroidery is my pattern but I followed her directions for the quilt top.  I will have more pictures of it soon.  Cutting and sewing took about 2 hours.

And finally, our first tomatoes, right in time for dinner.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

As my daughter has gotten older and more involved in the day to day activities of the family I have been trying to encourage her to "help".  Her helping isn't always a help, but I am patient and I try to remember that she is learning too. 

Getting the whole family out to the garden to harvest has never been much of an issue.  Except that we need special clothes.

And a special basket

Lots of searching

Plucking each bean, one by one

Until we have enough to share.

Beginnings of the harvest season

I collected some of my first good squash!

It quickly became fried squash.

Then they were quickly eaten. 

Summer Days

Summer has barely started and I am already looking forward to harvest season.  I cant wait for my garden to pour fourth its abundance.  We have harvested a few yellow squash and cherry belle radishes which were wonderful, but I want rich red tomatoes and fat green beans!  Look at this tomato!  I could almost eat it green.

The above tomato is a Legend Tomato(I think) and the one below is a Sungold.

Our patio also has cucumber, a patio tomato, several herbs, squash and green, yellow, and purple beans.  I am hoping to have some pics tomorrow of the bed garden to show. 

Thrifting is one of my favorite hobbies (yes its a hobby) because of all the great things you can find for really cheap.  Every once in a while...jackpot...

These little garden cloches were about 1.00 each.  I found three!

A quick shot of my recent embroidery.

and the other..
 

I got this dress pattern from a fairy coloring book of my daughters.  Coloring books are great resources for patterns and they can be easily turned into a design by tracing them with a sulky pen.

Okay, now I am off to make dinner; the lions are looking at me hungrily.

Heavy Artillery

On Saturday I caught some aphids feeding on my plants and decided that it is time for my army to step in especially since they are just starting to look better. 

Go Ladybugs Go!

You know those aphids I found on Saturday?  They were the first to be eaten.

My hubbie thought that the ladybugs were not going to be enough so in a few days there will be 200-500 baby praying mantises in the garden.  I think I supplied enough troops for the whole garden community!

Mr. Ladybug to Mrs. Ladybug, "There is something about 200 carnivorous predators in vitro that makes me horny baby." (look in the left of photo)

Here is my friends garden plot.

We are planning on some beefsteak tomatoes, corn, beans and watermelons.  I think that will be it.  I might plant a cucumber plant in there just to get one off my deck.

I also just planted some colorful beets, radicchio, and leaf lettuce.  I am planting some mini butterheads out there too in a couple days. 

I love taking care of my garden.  Its inspiring me for crafting.  I have begun looking longingly at my sewing machine and embroidery supplies waiting impatiently for summer to begin. 
Three more papers, one 90 min presentation, one take home final, and a photo show then I am done for the summer! 

Holding my Breath (and some fun)

I went to the garden this morning to find that my plants have further yellowed.

This is my squash.  Not only has everything yellowed a bit but nothing is growing very fast.  I have been watching my neighbors garden plot and her veggies are growing way faster then mine. 

The top one is my zucchini and the other is the beans.  So, I came home and looked up yellowing leaves and stunted growth and found a lack of nitrogen to be the suspect.  I dont remember fertilizing the garden at all other then a little compost which I thought would be enough.   So, I grabbed my organic fertilizer and fertilized the garden anyway.  Its good stuff and we will find out soon if it worked.

I am also thinking of feeding the acid loving plants some coffee.  Coffee has lots of nitrogen and the squash, tomatoes and some of the others will love it.

One thing that is growing a little more noticeably is Jack the Bean Sprout :)

I got another garden plot too!!!  What should I plant.  Should we make this a bloggers choice?

I will take some pics of the garden to show you what we are starting with.   I cannot grow any perennials in my garden so no artichokes or asparagus, unfortunately.  Everything else is fair game though.  Any ideas?