holy cow.

Hello September.

What the hell happened to August?!?

We went on vacation to Myrtle Beach and had so much fun.

We came back from a great family week to madness. Paul flew out to Hawaii and back (which isn't as great as it sounds, well Hawaii is apparently great, but his trip was not). My garden was in full bloom. It was harvest time.

We have been eating fresh tomato and peppers with our salads. I have so far canned 7 quarts of tomatoes, 10 8oz jars of bruchetta, and 5 pints of relish. I also have 1 8oz container of pesto sauce in the freezer. Today I have to can more tomatoes. It's a fair amount of work but it's worth it to have home grown food.

August was also filled with back to school shopping and the first day of school.

The first week went well. I definitely had some tired and sensitive kids by the end of the week. I'm grateful now for this four day weekend. 

You would think that getting the kids out of the house would free me up, but it hasn't yet. I don't exactly expect for me to get bored. There is always something for me to do. This week I have been preparing for a big consginment sale. You can read about it here. I have dug through every bin of clothing. My living room has bins everywhere. It will be a while before I get everything back in order again. 

I have piles ready to go straight to donation. A pile that goes to one friend. A pile that goes to another friend. A pile that goes to storage until the spring sale. A pile that goes into storage until the kids can wear it. And lastly the pile that is tagged and ready for the fall sale. Lot's of piles, lots of bins, but it's all going somewhere and most of it is leaving the house. 

I also don't plan on being home all year. I have been interviewing for jobs. I am confident that something will come down the pike that is right for me. Something that offers the flexibility I need and the opportunities I crave. 

Well for now I will marvel that it is September. My kids first cross-country race is this weekend. The second week of school is only four days away. So many new and exciting experiences are coming our way. 

fast updates.

Well it's August. There's truth in the saying "Time flies when you're having fun."

July
We had Catherine evaluated by the Orthodontist. Molds were made, pictures taken and the prognosis is in.
The girl has a tiny mouth and will need lots of metal to make it bigger and her teeth straiter. In my opinion her mouth is plenty big, but from an oral hygiene perspective not so much. In preparation for hardware installation she had to have two teeth removed. So off the oral surgeon we went and 30 mins later she had two less teeth in her mouth.
And like a good mother, I took her the day before we left for vacation. And because I love her so much I took a picture of her mouth full of gauze, and laughed hysterically at her drug induced state. The rest of her orthodontics will take place in the next few weeks. Should be lots of fun.

In the meantime, July flew past us in a daze. We celebrated Paul's birthday. We went to the beach for the 4th of July weekend (though the actual 4th was spent at home). My garden has grown out of control. Everything is growing bigger than I expected and faster than I can keep up with.

The end of July brought us to our family Vacation. This was our third trip down to Myrtle Beach, SC and once again we had a blast. We've been going every-other-year and this year might have been the best yet. Our drive was good (though I can't say that driving through VA has ever been easy), the kids are champs at fast pit-stops. We left the house at 5am and were on the beach by 7pm.

Vacation week was spent between the beach and pools. The kids love the swimming and splashing in the waves. They are finally big enough to do a lot of it on their own. We only pulled out swimmies for one day. The biggest pool has a large 3ft section which meant all of our kids could touch bottom. 3 out of 4 of the kids discovered they love being underwater. And they all learned to cannon ball into the pool. All in all the week was great. I look forward to going back again.

July gives way to August and I can't believe it's already the second week. The kids go back to school in just two and half weeks. I've done the uniform shopping now it's time to do the supply shopping. It's all so exciting and overwhelming at the same time. This year is a big one. All four kids are going to school this year. I can't believe this day is finally here.

In the meantime I'm still hunting for work. I've sent my resume out several times to no avail. I'm praying something comes up soon. So while I continue my job search I will spend my time on crafting and house work (all fun stuff right?).

I'm hoping to get our dining room project done soon. When it is I will post a picture or two.

july garden.

Remember when I was talking albout gardening. I put up a few pics of my piles of dirt. Well here we are. It's July. The soil I ordered was horrible. It's the weediest soil I've ever worked with. Two layers of weed block and I've been weeding since day one. It's also very clay like and clumpy. Not smooth at all. But my plants are still thriving. I had some issues with starting from seeds but that was due to weather not the soil. The seeds would spring up and and die in the heat of June. It was a hot hot month.

Above is the long box filled with celery, watermellon, peppers and tomatoes.

Above is a tomato plant growing taller than the cages. This might be the tallest I have ever seen them grow.

Tomatoes ripening up only a few more days. These plum tomatoes are wonderful. They are coming off the plant crisp and tasty. Soon I will be canning like a mad women. I'd say right after vacation it will be canning time.

Watermellon, a week ago this was the size of a grape today it's the size of a baseball. I didn't know they grew so fast.

This last photo is my small box. We had lettuce but it tasted horrible so I ripped it out. Strawberries are growing nicely though they haven't sent out too many suckers yet. In the back is the cucumber. I have two picklers and one slicer. I'm not sure how I will keep them apart now that they are climbing all over each other. Oh and in the middle there is a sprig of basil. Yummy Yummy

the veggie garden.

I started gardening about six years ago. I had no idea what I was doing. I was bored and I wanted to try something new. We had this tiny patch of dirt that we didn't know what to do with in our backyard so we decided that I would attempt to garden.

I think the first year I planted some tomatoes and cucumbers. With limited knowledge I watched the cucumbers grow out of control. I learned the hard way that cucumbers are vines and they need a place to grow. I also learned that tomatoes grow tall and get heavy and need strong stakes. That was year one.
I took what I learned the first year and set out the second year to do better. The second year was better but I still had some learning to do. Each year I would build my knowledge base and keep going. Now, six years later I consider myself a decent vegetable gardener.

Here are some general tips to vegetable gardening:

• For me it was all about experimenting. I would buy packets of seeds dig holes in the ground plant the seeds and see what happens. At the end of the season I would take note of what worked and what didn't work. I would note what we liked to eat and what we didn't like. I would also note if we had enough of what we liked or too much. So true tip number 1: Start a journal. write down what you are growing, where you planted seeds, what you liked, did you have enough?
• Raised beds are the way to go. If you plant about normal ground level you will have better drainage and your plants will thrive. My beds this year are about 6 inches above ground level, we shall see how this goes. In my old house they were 12 inches or more. 
• Growing tomatoes? Buy cages. Stakes are fine but are more time consuming. I have collapsable triangle shaped tomato cages. Once your plants start to grow just put the cage around the plant and it will provide the support you need. Stakes require that you tie the plant to it as it grows, cages don't need any kind of ties. 
• Have a trellis for vines or give them lots of space to spread. I personally like the trellis. It looks prettier when it grows and it keeps the vegetables cleaner. A trellis won't work for heavy fruits like melons or pumpkins. 
• Weed block is your friend. If you are starting from scratch at the bottom of your bed place weed block. It's not 100% proof but it will help significantly. If you already have a bed and don't have weed block you can still put it in: You can remove about 3 inches of soil lay the block down then replace the soil. Don't want to spend money? Newspaper works too. Works best about 3inches from the surface. Put the paper down (2 to 3 layers thick) spray with water then cover with soil. (my plan for this year is to put the weed block at the bottom of the bed and the newspaper towards the top--I really hate weeding)
• When watering your plants be sure to water at the roots (and never during the hottest period of the day) and not water the tops of the plants. 
• To stimulate plant growth prune the bottom branches. If you cut of lower branches your plants will grow taller and stronger. 
• If you are transplanting (moving plants from a pot to the ground or one pot to another) be sure to loosen the roots before putting them in their new home. Squeeze the roots and shake them out. This will help them spread and take root in their new home. Also plant deep, meaning that you plant deeper then they were in their previous spot go down the stem 1-2 inches or more. Again, this is all in an effort to strengthen your plant. 

Well that's what I have for now. As I think of new things I will be sure to update this post. As of today I have tiny sprouts that my kids started from seeds that are just waiting to be put into their new home. Between too many rainy days and other family events coming up I haven't had the time to put the finishing touches on my garden, so no transplanting just yet.

I have only one book recommendation. It's called: Carrots love Tomatoes. This was a huge help for me. I started gardening in an urban environment and needed to know how to maximize my space. The book goes into great detail about plants work together well and what doesn't. It also encourages you to plant things closer together than you might think is possible.

Gardening should be fun, can be relaxing and is most definitely rewarding. Let it be one big experiment. Try not to over think what you are doing and let conventional wisdom flow out the window. 

poison ivy an other lessons.

My cyber friend Marjorie has inspired this next post. I use the term cyber friend because I only met her in real life one time, but we talk online quite often. If we lived closer I am sure that we would be more than just cyber friends.

I feel a bit itchy right now and despite the title of today's post I am not infected with poison ivy. yet. Last summer I discovered poison ivy in my backyard. I discovered it the wrong way. I was clearing out a patch of overgrown weeds in my yard I was simply pulling everything out and throwing it in the yard waste pile. Days later the first red bumps started showing up. Within two weeks I had a full blown breakout. My arms, and thighs had seen the worst of it. When it wasn't clearing up and causing physical pain when I walked I went to the doctor. After a shot and a five day steroid treatment it was cleared up. Weeks later Paul attempted to clear the brush and while he thought he was being safe he still broke out. And again at the end of the summer we both got hit again. You would think by this poit we would learn something. We have tried cleaning out the brush with long sleeves and wearing gloves. We have thrown out the gloves after use and immediately take cold showers (hot showers let the oil in open pours while cold showers keep pores closed and helps rid the oils). And yet we continue to have breakouts.

Today I took the kids out back and showed them wear the ivy grows. I would not wish this discomfort on anyone, especially my kids. We are going to try some expensive chemical treatments on the areas that we have detected. I want the kids to play freely in our backyard without the fear of getting infected.

What have I learned from this experience? Be careful! Honestly, after the first out breakout I thought I was being careful. The reality is that poison ivy is ugly and painful. I am sure that I will breakout this summer, but I am going to do the best I can to avoid it.

Tips for my readers regarding poison ivy:

• poison ivy has three leaves, but then again so do other plants.
• their leaves are shiny
• poison ivy can be a bush or a vine. We have the vines
• The stem of the vine is hairy-like
• poison ivy thrives in acidic soil. How do you know if your soil is acidic? You can buy a test kit or look at what is growing around you. Ever greens are acidic plants. 
• if you come in contact with poison ivy taking a cold shower with non-moisterizing soap is the best way to get most of the oils out.

If you couldn't tell by my previous postings I am a gardener. An amateur for sure. But still over the last few years I have developed a love for gardening. I'm going to focus now on gardening tips. 

Up first Potted Plants. 

Tip for all pots: put rocks at the bottom of your pot. This will do two things: 1. improve the drainage and 2. reduce the amount of soil you need it each pot. Also, when watering plants never water during the hottest part of the day. Either early in the morning or late in the day. (This rule is true for all gardening)

Part 1. What kind of Pot are you using?

Terra cotta - these are my favorites. They look so nice all the time. They truly stand the test of time. They tend not to fade or stain which makes them re-usable year after year. Things to know about terra cotta: 

• The do not retain water very well. It is clay after all and very porous. Plants will need to be watered at least once a day and very thoroughly. Not only should you pour water directly into the soil but you should also fill the saucer that the pot is sitting on. 
• They tend to get heavy, which means that they tend to hold up in high winds. In the past I have placed filled pots going up my front steps with no issues. 
• The real problem is that they are fragile. It doesn't take much to brake one. Not a good thing when you have clumsy kids. 

Plastic pots - also nice, easy on the budget. They also come in a lot more colors and varieties than terra cotta. The disadvantage is that they do fade over time. General tips

• They do retain water. Most of the time you only need to water these plants once every other day and not use nearly as much water as with clay pots. Either pouring into the soil or filling the saucer is usually enough water. 
• Small plastic pots are light, and can blow over on a windy day. Make sure you position your pots in places that are blocked by the wind. Or move them up against a wall on a windy day. 
• Because plastic is more sturdy  and lighter going with plastic is recommended when going for the larger pots/plants. (My blueberry bush is in a giant plastic pot. I don't have to worry about the pot breaking or cracking in cold weather, and it's easier to move than a large clay pot would have been. 

Coated clay pots - a clay pot that is either painted or coated gives you the look of clay with the advantages of plastic. They will be heavy (meaning that if you have a large clay pot it will be difficult to move once you fill it). The coating/paint will allow the pot to retain water better than an untreated terra cotta pot. The best thing is they come in lots of custom designs which could really spice up your landscaping. 

Notes about large pots- If you are using oversized planters take note of it's ability to drain before you start to fill it. Most do not have holes in the bottom which means it will not drain excess water. What does this mean? You must be very careful not to over water your plant. You definitely want to have a thick layer of stones at the bottom on the pot (about 1/3 of the pot should be rocks). If it does have drainage holes then be careful wear you place the pot especially if it doesn't have a saucer. 

Final watering tips: Knowing when to water should be common sense but sometimes it's not. If your new to gardening it's a good idea to check your plants daily. Literally stick your finger in the dirt, if it's dry it needs water. If it's wet don't water. 

Also, look at the plant itself. If it's wilting it maybe drying out. A thorough watering can bring it back to life. Over watered plants will also wilt and turn a bit brown and slimy. If it doesn't seam to spring back after a day or so of sunshine, you may need to repot the plant to get the excess water. 

Well that's it for now. Up next I'll focus more on vegetable gardening. 

spring...

The things I look forward to this spring.

1. Gardening - Last year I couldn't do much because of our move. This year It is on. This weekend Paul built me a garden area and it is huge. Today I bought some seeds to start in small containers. Next I will be ordering some veggie plants (to speed up the process). 
2. Hanging clothes outside to dry - I just read that you can save up to $1.75/load if you use the cold cycle to wash your clothes and hang your clothes outside. At an average of 7 loads a week that adds up quickly. We've been washing our clothes in cold water for years now (we don't use special detergent either and everything comes clean), but hanging things out to dry is new as of this past summer. 
3. Teaching my daughter to ride a bike - Okay I lied, I'm not looking forward to that. It's going to be a challenge but I want to do it. I do look forward to the time spent in the sunshine. 
4. Warm Sunshine - no comment needed. 
5. Grilled food - I love the smell of grilled food. I love the smell of burning charcoal. I love the taste of grilled food. I love the taste of char... he he just kidding. 
6. BURGERS - okay I know, burgers are grilled. We generally don't eat burgers in the winter and I have a special love for burgers. If Paul made me burgers everyday of the week I'd be in heaven. Maybe I should buy him a burger cook book. 
7. The end of the school year - School is a lot of work, for both kids and parents. I look forward to the much needed break.