Gardening

Crossed Off!

6 Jul posted by pattyanne

~~Sidewalk Garden~~

My new and improved garden has actually been done for a week!!!

I love it and it’s so much more welcoming than it was in it’s previous state.

The garden makeover was done on a pretty tight budget as I need to revamp my entire yard. All of the plants were transplants from other spots in my garden except for the clematis plants. Those were from my favorite store, Waldoch Farm and Garden Center. The trellises are the $7 cedar model from Menard’s and Chris was kind enough to hang them for me.

I find myself making excuses to go out through the front door, even if I need to get to the back yard.

Sidewalk Garden

15 Jun posted by pattyanne

When we first move into this house the shrubs along the sidewalk were so over grown you could barely get to the front door.

That first year, I trimmed them back, then they died. The second year, I cut them down and last year Chris removed the stumps. Now it’s our fourth year here and time to finally finish my sidewalk garden.

Yesterday, I removed a little over half of the rocks. I put them in with the other rocks on the the side of the house as I couldn’t find anyone who wanted them.

Not even for free.

I love progress…

I also found some treasures beneath those rocks, rusty nails, giant staples, a broken bracelet and this guy.

This little gargoyle, well, I think that’s what he is… has a new home in my strawberry patch.

Maybe he can scare the bunnies away.

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Filed Under: Around the House, Gardening

Spring Clean Up!

25 Apr posted by pattyanne

I hope you had a nice Easter! It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time celebrating with family.

Today is also beautiful and it’s the perfect weather to work on my spring garden cleanup!

Also, the wreath is still up on my front door…

I have been waiting to take it down because a bird started to built her nest here and I just couldn’t take it away from her! Sadly, it’s been several days since I’ve last seen her so, I think she may have moved on.

I’m a little disappointed I won’t get to see the baby birds up close.

Well, I better quick take the wreath down before some other critter decides to move in or my neighbors complain!

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Filed Under: Around the House, Gardening

Still Waiting

7 Jun posted by pattyanne

I have been keeping myself occupied this week and reminding myself: baby is going to come when baby wants to.

Yesterday, I stopped at Waldoch Farm to get my tomato plants and a hanging basket because I deserve a present. By the time I got there it was pouring rain…but they have umbrellas!

Also, I learned that planting on a rainy, cloudy day helps to reduce transplant shock. So, as soon as I got home I put the tomatoes in the ground and they are looking pretty happy today.

Today is a beautiful day and on the agenda is gardening, baking cookies and a visit to the dog park. Perhaps baby will make a grand appearance too.

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Filed Under: Gardening, Parenting, Photography

Patience is a Virtue

1 May posted by pattyanne

After the garden expansion last year, I spent the winter dreaming up this years garden plan. Last year, about one-third of it was a strawberry patch, another third was tomatoes, and the remainder was miscellaneous vegetables. This year, I really wanted to plant some asparagus. Asparagus is one of those vegetables I love…grilled or broiled with salt, pepper, a little olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. It just tastes like summer.

Well, I planted some today, using the trench method and a trench digger (his name is Chris. Hey, I’m not supposed to be digging trenches; Doctor’s Orders.) It’s just too bad I have to wait three years to harvest them…I am not the most patient person.

Speaking of patience, I am pretty certain my future child will also be lacking this trait. Baby Schuette tried to make another early appearance on Wednesday. A little trip up to the hospital for a burning shot in the arm thankfully took care of that, however. For being an impatient person I really just want a healthy baby, so I am in no rush to have this kid early. Besides, I still have things on my list to finish up.

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Filed Under: About Me, Gardening, Parenting

Garden Bed Addition

13 Apr posted by pattyanne

Last year, my husband and I built a raised garden bed in our backyard. The soil here is pretty sandy, we thought it would be easier to go up. This garden was about 15 feet by 3 feet and it was great, except for one thing. It was just not big enough…This year I have begun an expansion project, it is mostly a solo venture since Chris is working a lot lately. He was a big help on the hard part though, brick transport- from my car to the backyard…all 48- 22 pound landscape bricks.

We piled up the bricks

With string and stakes I marked out where I wanted the perimeter.

It happened to be a bit different than the old one…

The new addition is nearly complete!

Now, I just need to move the back side of the old garden

After I get that moved, I can fill the bed with dirt. There will be a lot of trips to the compost heap near my house. In case you were wondering, the hay was covering blueberry and strawberry plants. Now, it’s keeping the weeds down until the bed gets filled. Hopefully, my garden expansion will be completed and ready to plant by Memorial Day!

A Produce Aisle of Your Own

24 Mar posted by pattyanne

Here in Minnesota the growing season is short, too short, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own fruits and vegetables. Last summer, I grew a lot of our produce including: green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes. My own vegetable garden is a raised bed, approximately 15 feet by 3 feet and it’s built with retaining wall stones from our local home improvement store. It was pretty easy to build in an afternoon. This small garden provided us huge savings at the grocery store last summer and anything we didn’t grow we bought at the local roadside stand.

This roadside stand happens to be conveniently located at my favorite greenhouse, Waldoch Farm and Garden Center. Recently, I was invited on a tour there. I happen spend a lot of time there in the summer so it was really fun to see the baby plants! It was also very informative, I learned about starting seeds, plant propagation and honey bees.

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So this year, I have been planning my garden since the snow first fell because last summer I had big plans for canning salsa, but sadly, they didn’t pan out. It’s a funny story, my sister was house/dog sitting for a week (which I really appreciated) while Chris and I were on vacation. I left her several pages of notes on everything (yes, I am a little obsessive,) but somehow the tomatoes were forgotten. This may not have been a problem if they were planted in the garden but they were in clay pots on the deck. When we arrived home from South Dakota the tomatoes were shriveled beyond recognition…

All this garden talk has really put me in the mood for spring, I am truly disappointed to hear more snow is coming!

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Filed Under: Earth Friendly, Gardening

I Voted

21 Mar posted by pattyanne

The election has been over for a long time now; but still I love seeing where people put their “I Voted” stickers. This has to be my all time favorite sticker location and I just happened to have my camera.