the giraffe life

Last garden update of 2014 - crazy!  The strawberries have completely covered the bottom edge of the left garden bed. I'm hoping that means an even better harvest next year.  Very little still growing, food wise - just the beans and my volunteer tomato. But the flowers continue to fare exceptionally well, the marigolds and zinnias in particular. (This is my first year growing marigolds from seed. I usually just buy plants, and they always do well, maybe doubling or so in size. But this bush blows my mind.)  The black eyed Susans out front are dead and shriveled, though I can't bring myself to cut them down just yet. I'll probably wait another week or two to start the cold weather prep. How's your garden? 

Usually my garden is winding down in September (the cucumbers are certainly finished). We've already had cool nights in the 50s (10-15° C) so I know the end is near. But! I have bean plants and strawberries that aren't ready to call it quits.  The strawberries I planted are some odd variety that produce fruit twice per season (I had no idea they even existed until I started to notice a lot of fruit on my plants and looked it up). They've put out a ton of runners this season so I think the harvest will be even better in 2015! And the bean plants I planted in late July are still growing. No signs of bean pods yet though. I knew I would be cutting it close by planting mid-season, so next year I will definitely plant them in the spring. Check out this volunteer tomato plant - it's growing out the side vent on the compost bin! It has 8 green tomatoes on the vine, ha! Mr. G is pumped. Oh, and while this isn't from my garden, it fits nicely here:  I bought...

Lots of changes in the garden over the past month. The biggest thing is that we built a trellis! It's occupying the space that was originally potato plants (all harvested now). I ordered bamboo and lashing cord online and we followed these directions without too much trouble. We didn't manage to get all the pieces straight, but the beans we planted won't know the difference ;) I think the most exciting part about the garden this time of year is that so many things are ready all at once. Here's a sample basket from a couple weeks ago: I've also discovered that pulling up carrots would be a great activity for anyone feeling stressed or angry. What can be better than ripping up plants and getting yummy carrots as part of the bargain? The flowers have really taken off too (some are nearly as tall as I am), and along with the ripening cherry tomatoes, they are making this side of the garden especially colorful. We've seen a lot more bees and butterfl...

I've mentioned before that new foods scare me sometimes . But I took the plunge on another one last week because my hubby was interested in trying it - black eyed peas. We used them in this tasty jambalaya-esque dish and now we both can add another food to our like lists.  Mr. G isn't a fan of anything spicy, but both vegan sausage and chili powder would be good additions, so they're listed as optional ingredients. Vegan Jambalaya Ingredients •  1 tablespoon oil (I used grape seed oil) •  1 medium onion, chopped •  1 chopped pepper/capsicum (I used bell pepper, feel free to also add hot pepper) •  1/2 teaspoon thyme •  2 cloves minced garlic •  3/4 cup basmati rice  •  2 1/2 cups vegetable broth •  2-3 tablespoons tomato paste  •  15 ounce can black eyed peas, rinsed •  1-2 zucchini optional:   •  1/2 cup vegan sausage, crumbled (I like Mexican Chipotle by Field Roast)  •  1/2...

Before I had a blog, I would think about taking pictures of the garden but never actually do it. Last summer I finally followed through (I think because then I could share the photos with you guys) and I am so happy about it. I'm one of those weird people who is thrilled by plants growing and pictures prove it much more impressively than my descriptions. So without any further yammering, here's the garden: And May and June, for comparison's sake: That big bare patch of ground is where the compost bin used to sit. We moved it so we could stir it top to bottom, and there was quite a lot of usable soil at the bottom. An added bonus is that now Mr. G can make one pass through the beds (and onward) with the lawn mower. Amber mentioned magic beans in her garden last month (they turn from purple to green when cooked!) and was kind enough to send me some seeds. :) I'm hoping to plant them in the empty space left behind when I uproot my potato plants.  Everythi...

It's that time again! Mr. G installed the rain barrel for me. In a previous life, it carried olive oil from Greece. One good rain fills it up and then I use it to fill my watering can. We've used it for 2 summers now and it makes a huge difference on our water bill. On to the garden beds. So much green: The garden's growing quick! Take a look at last month for comparison: And that "cage" you may have noticed around one of the beds is a rabbit fence. Rabbits are adorable, and I love when they visit our yard to munch on clover, but they were eating the strawberry and cucumber leaves like crazy. So we had to do something. Thankfully the strawberries shrugged it off and a month later, they look like nothing happened: The potatoes have definitely taken off! I watched a youtube video and found that I haven't been burying them quite enough so I have to go back out tonight and take care of that.  Because squash have a way of taking over, I only plan...

It's hard to believe that my garden bed looked like this a couple months ago . . But now it's looking pretty good.  We decided to build another bed this year in hopes of growing more plants in general, but also adding some perennials like strawberries. I'm so grateful to Mr. G for building it for me! He bought three 8 foot long boards (2.4 meters), cut one in half, and screwed them together like a giant frame. It's a good size for me because I still have easy access to the middle. He finished right after Easter, so I planted the strawberries and potatoes then, and got around to all the seeds this past weekend since we have officially passed our last frost date! :) (I'm taking pictures from the opposite angle this year so the compost bin won't get in the way.) And somewhat related to gardening, we gave Mr. G's mom a flower pot full of annuals for Mother's Day. Hopefully she enjoys them! Are you planting a garden this year? 

The perfect activity for a dreary Saturday morning? Paying a visit to the garden center, where it's always warm and colorful. Are garden centers your idea of a good time? linking up for wordless Wednesday

Seed catalog mailings are perfectly timed - I usually get mine in late January or early February, and they serve as a great reminder that spring will be here soon. I've looked through mine about 8 times, and finally narrowed down my purchase to zucchini and broccoli seeds, seed potatoes, and strawberry plants from Burpee and catnip and coneflower seeds from Victory Seeds. (My parents grow the catnip and bring over clippings - the plants would be lovingly destroyed by my cats if they were in my backyard.) Are you planting a garden this year? Have you ordered seeds? linking up for wordless Wednesday

This'll be my last garden update for 2013! Can you believe we only have two months left in the year?  We had a few overnight frosts last week, so everything was looking cool when I took this photo around 6:30 in the morning. (Pretty soon it'll be time for  hot chocolate for breakfast !) Mr. G and I trimmed all the Black-Eyed Susan stems right before Halloween (they grow into the path and we didn't want any issues with trick-or-treaters) so they're resting in the garden now until the spring. Then we'll put some in the compost and some out in the woods house to decompose.  And the 30x30 update. Just to refresh your memory, this was a challenge I'd read about on RA's blog back in October, and I decided to join in. The basic premise is to pick 30 things to wear (clothing and shoes) for an entire month. You can read her thoughts for October  here . Here's what I decided to wear: This challenge turned out to be extremely difficult for me - and I...

Ahh fall. I love the crisp air and cooler nights, but it also means the end of the growing season. Usually about this time I'm itching for a break from the garden and yard work in general so it's perfect timing. And this year is no different - hubby mowed the lawn one last time last weekend, I trimmed the dead stuff hanging around and put the Halloween decorations out. But the garden's not ready to close up shop yet. Specifically, the tomatoes. We are still steady picking cherry tomatoes - about 30 - 40 a day. The plants are actually lifting their support cage out of the ground! (See how it's tipping to the left?) So I guess I won't get my break from gardening for another few weeks. But I can't complain. Free food is free food!  How's your garden look?

Summer has almost come to a close, and so has gardening season. Here's a look at the garden bed: The cucumber vines have all died back, but the tomatoes, peppers, and marigolds are still going strong. The tomatoes are a big tangle of vines. I think next year I'll buy another tomato cage and separate the plants a little more. Hopefully that'll make picking the tomatoes easier too. (This year I put all four plants around one cage which has proven to be a little chaotic.) But they're still producing mightily (averaging about 50 - 70 a day). The pepper plant is  finally  doing well. We have 6 peppers growing! I planted some radish seeds last week since our first frost date usually falls around mid-October. This variety of radish needs 24 days til harvest so we should have plenty of time. It's nice to squeeze in a little more growing right before the end of the season. It's almost the end of days for the Black-Eyed Susans: And a similar fate is co...

My husband doesn't particularly enjoy mowing the lawn. I understand - I don't either. It's boring and hot and tiring. And I don't want a monotonous expanse of green as a backyard.  We have clover, thistle, cattails, dandelions, and other weeds I can't identify growing out there, but not much grass. (I think the random assortment of plants is one of the reasons rabbits love our yard.) So I have an idea to make this better for both of us:  more flower beds! :) Right now we only have flower beds lining the sidewalk up to our house. That's where you can see the Black-Eyed Susans and hibiscus . That leaves both sides and the back of the house open for some flower bed business! Here's the first area, right behind the sunroom: Not too exciting. I'm being picky about the plants for this bed. They have to be native to the eastern US, pretty (in my subjective opinion), perennial, and easy to care for. Basically, I want to put in the time and effort picki...