March 2012 Seedlings

What an amazing day today is!  I was able to work a couple more sections of the garden.  I have to be really careful as it's full of poison ivy.  That is what happens when you clear a wooded area. 
I've planted a bunch of seeds in starter containers. 
I have a slew of seedlings at my mother's house.  I, unfortunately, don't make it there enough and they're not faring too well.  I should really get there more often to water them.  I used egg cartons, which is economical and easy.  But, when you forget about them...

For our home, since we don't have a suitable place for a lot of seedlings to sprout, I bought a tray (yes, by the hated Burpee) with a pad to hold in moisture so watering isn't a priority.  And there's a cover, so it acts like a greenhouse.  I have to admit...it's pretty awesome.  My seeds sprouted in less than a week.  I have a bazillion kale seedlings and about 25 tomato seedlings.  I can't wait to transplant them into bigger containers and then into our community garden. 



Tomatoes up front.




Reaching for the sun...




Pretty Kale.




First round of poison ivy from the other day. 



Grape Arbor

We've expanded our garden.  Well, we've cleared a whole other area on our land that measures probably 30 x 40.  I'm just guessing, though. 

We're teaming up with some friends and starting a little community garden of sorts.  As long as they come and help weed, they can take home part of the result. 

We've got grape vines galore over here.  I don't know what kind of grapes they are.  They had attached themselves to trees and grew upwards of 30 feet in the air.  The husband built an arbor for them upon my request.  I love it.  He originally suggested using store-bought wood.  I wanted a more rustic look.  We've got tons of wood from fallen trees...why not use those?  Here is the finished product...

I had to yank down the vines from the tree.  There is still one left that won't budge...and I'm not climbing up there to unhook it.  While pulling them down I hit my face with a vine.  I've got a nice scab on my nose now.  It also busted my glasses...  I need to start wearing protective goggles when I go outside. 
From the vines and from pulling up saplings and roots and such, I've now got poison ivy on my face.  Saw that one coming.  I'm thinking I'll have poison ivy on my face from now until November. 

Daylight Savings...



Sometimes your children will fall asleep while waiting for you to get off of Facebook...




And sometimes they'll hang out with you while you're up close and personal with bees...



And sometimes your kids will get along AND pose for pictures.