Garden Update

I thought I'd include some pictures of my garden that I took this morning. It's really coming along. We ate up the 2 squares of mesclun and the square of radishes. I decided that the spinach wasn't doing that well, and I didn't want to wait for the swiss chard anymore, so I pulled those 4 squares up and replanted all the empty squares. Ethan planted beans in 4 squares, Emily planted carrots in one square, and I planted basil and lavender in the other 2 squares. Emily is playing Vanna for me with her new glowstick (Thanks Kim and Willie!).


This is box #1. There are herbs on the front row, lavender, lettuce, and beans (just planted) on the 2nd row, carrots (just planted), lettuce, and beans on the 3rd row, and tomatoes and cantaloupe on the 4th row.













Here is box #2. It has 1 little viola plus mostly squash on the first row, beans on the 2nd row, pepper, tomato, and basil (just planted) on the 3rd row, and cucumber and watermelon on the 4th row. Yes, I know the "don't plant cucumbers next to melons" rule, but I ran out of room. I also know you can't see as much in this one because of the beans. I picked a few yesterday, but not enough to cook! I planted the watermelon mostly to test the frame. I'm curious to see if it holds or not.















Here is another view of box #2, of the back row. I'm sorry it's sideways - I don't know how to turn it. It's right side up in iPhoto, but when I put it in here or paste in an email, it's sideways again. Please email me if you know how to fix this. I would appreciate your help! I'm a little worried that the watermelon might take over. I might have to trim it back at some point. It's growing very quickly. I guess I can just let it go over the fence if I have to.



I know there's not much of any substance in this post, but I really like my little garden. Everything has at least a bloom, if not actual produce yet. Since I put it together, the maintenance has been really easy. I just go out and check it most days and spend a couple of minutes pulling weeds - there usually aren't many. If it needs water, I use a 2 gallon watering can (the water spout is very close). I'm not including a picture, but I also have a pumpkin plant in one of the flower beds, with a trellis for it, too.

I finished chapter 2 of the Bible study book a few days ago. Whew! It takes me a while to read because I actually have to think about it. I'm not used to that!
;-)

As a teacher I always enjoyed having summers off, but as a parent, I'm not so sure. I enjoy having Emily home, but she and Ethan are constantly at each other's throats. Well, that's not exactly true. They were pretty good between breakfast and lunch today. We'll have to work on that, I guess.
Willie, Kim, and Jake came to see us last weekend. I must have been using their camera when taking pictures, because I don't have any good ones of Jake! They came Friday night, and we grilled chicken for supper. Saturday morning, John and Willie went for a bike ride, and we played with kids and got showers. We all ate lunch at the bakery - yum. I even got pie for dessert. At least Willie and Kim shared theirs. Nobody else would help with mine (coconut). By the way, Jake is the most happy and easy-going baby I've seen, including my own children (who were great)! He hardly ever fussed. He's also chunky for 4 1/2 months, so Kim has some great biceps from holding him. Very sweet! It wasn't enough to make me want to get pregnant again, though. Two is enough for us. :-)



Speaking of dessert, my weight has gone up 3 pounds or so. I have started walking every weekday with a friend at the civic center, so I'm hoping to trend back down in the next couple of weeks! We meet at 6, so I've been trying to get in bed earlier. She can't go tomorrow, but I will. I've been starting to do some slow jogging, too. I used to really like running, and am looking forward to doing that again. I haven't had any trouble with my knees so far. I think losing that 15 pounds helped with that, plus walking so much before starting to jog.
Well, I'm starting to ramble, and I just got a new book at book club tonight that I want to start before falling asleep. The last one was sad, but good (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan). Good night, all!