Sweet Peas and Tater Tot.

PART 1
"Me and Ellen is just like peas and carrots."

Well, it may not be a farm by your standards, but is sure is by mine. Year two and we are older, cuter and wiser. Remember last year when the pumpkins hung from the corn stalks and the zucchini nearly suffocated the melons? No need to tell us twice. We've lived, learned and invited our resident horticulturist, Mark. No, I'm not kidding. He's a pro. Proven by some sort of gibberish regarding two rows of corn instead of one for cross pollination. I know! We also got smart and and opted for power vs turning the earth by hand. We planted in proper rows, sections and mounds as necessary. We fenced the tomatoes with proper gates instead of PVC, 2b4's and other sturdy construction materials. So here's the roster for the garden 2009: sweet corn , tomatoes (cherry, heirloom, big boy and yes even a few yellow ones), the chives are alive, cilantro, numerous varieties of peppers (ranging from red bell to burn your eyeballs out habanero), green beans, onions, carrots, cucumbers for canning, cucumbers for slicing, melons and sweet peas. So yah, hose off your farmer feet, cuz that's that.

PART 2
"Movin' dirt and labrador retrievers."

So sweet peas are, well sweet, but you ain't seen nothing till you catch a look at our four-legged farm hands. Roll call! You 'member Foster, right? Lil, Zoom was getting some extra care at the doggie hospital-happy to report she is doing well. Here'z Miss Kato. But I'm pretty sure you haven't got a good look at Tater Tot. Ah, corn shucks, she's got the cutest smile I've ever seen. She's sassy, she's spunky and she's got a face a labrador loves.

More than a miracle.

Talk about spring fever. The grass is just starting to green up and a few lucky trees are beginning to bud. While I'm not sure about filling my window boxes with blooms just yet I am desperate to play in the dirt. But this. This is gonna take more than Miracle Grow, I'm gonna need a flat out miracle. But I was sold immediately when I scored these three mini herb cachepots. Here's how weird the science is behind this. A little dried up turd of dirt grows like those ever expanding foam toys by, "just adding water." Directions request adding no more than ten seeds to the tiny pots. Of course, if 10 are good the whole pack is better, right? Sprinkle (as not to flood) them with water daily and hope 65 degrees and sun becomes a little more common. Oregano, Sweet Basil and Chives - I'll keep you posted.

Holy Melons!

You won't believe it (and neither could my HUBBY)! The garden has erupted with vegetables, and yes, melons galore (and obviously I had too much sun). I am dumbfounded by how expeditiously these fruits of the earth expand. One day a zucchini, or a melon, look too small to pick and then WHAM! A few days later you have a "state fair" blue ribbon winner. The harvest is officially on for zucchini, melons, cucumbers, green beans and peppers, upon peppers, plus peppers. Who needs em? Come and get em! Soon to be freshly picked will the bushels of tomatoes (once the hundreds on the vine start to turn red), sweet corn and pumpkins. Next year we will be sure to give the fall "jack-o-lanterns" a little more space, currently they are "bunking" with the "jack and the cornstalks."

Proud Mama!

It's happening! It's like someone flipped the "growing" switch and greenery bloomed, well, blossoms and blossoms turned into vegetables! I mean these green peppers are remarkable b/c we (Ellen, Jerrid and I) are virgin vege farmers. And get a look at my melons! (he-he, made ya look!) And how can you miss me, to the left, the proud mama of our first baby zucchini. But as the world food chain turns, we enjoyed our prized summer squash roasted on the grill with a little butter, fresh chopped chives and S & P to taste. Yummy! All this gardening has not gone without a little blood, sweat and sunburns. Weeding has proved to be a back stiffening, tedious task. Poor Ellen has been watering the be-geez-uhz outta that damn dirt since Motha Nature has not sprinkeled in some time. I promise to bring more updates as we spy green beans, pumpkins, watermelons and actual cobbs of corn. Be patient and wait. With baited breath. Ya, right.

Tomorrow, a birds eye view of the work being done on the Freedom Tower.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO MY "BETTER THAN A BOYFRIEND COLLEGE SIDEKICK KRISSY!" I'm a doofus-I missed the real day-forgive me? Hope you and your ever expanding family had a perfect day!

Hiding in "perennial" site.

Gear. We've got waaay too much of it. Gear for biking, for fishing, for golfing, for wakeboarding, for tennis and above all tons of gear for bird hunting. My job in all this? To hide it. Behind buldging closet doors, in the jam-packed-full crawl space, in the attic above the garage and the most dreaded spot: under the deck. Yes, if you store the"stealth" duck boat your husband won at Cabela's under the deck; you might (are) a redneck. It bugs the you know what out of me each time I look in the general direction. Why in the heck it can't be suspended from the garage ceiling like all the bikes and fishing rods is beyond me? But there she sits just a-muckin' stuff up. So what do I do? You guessed it. I try and hide it. A couple summers ago I planted 3 'Karl Foerster reeded prairie grass plants. Perfect since their plum like foliage throughout the harsh winter months. But, I wasn't foolin' anyone. The one person boat was hiding in plain site. My friends at Dundee hooked me up with some great full-part sun perennials at a rate of buy 3 get one free. Then the fun part, getting those hands dirty, but only after a little manual labor of rock moving. After you have the layout complete and holes dug it's always best to mix in a little peet moss with the native clay soil in the Grove (be sure to check out the ever nostalgic "yard cart" courtesy of my late grandpappy). I planted two neon stars in the front, one yellow tiger tail front and center, two pixie miracle grace in the mid level (garden mezzanine if you will) and one towering bee balm in the back row center (just like me in my 4th grade classroom photo). All this while my trusty side kick went for a little afternoon swimmy-poo. A little pat on my own back for the finished product. Look MOM, no boat! Not bad, huh?

Tomorrow another treat for green thumbing bloggers... an update on the vege garden!

Knee high by the 4th!

I can't believe my eyes! Three ya-hoos playing in the dirt, staking out rows and burying seeds beneath the earth. It all sounded great and was a perfect excuse to spend the afternoon with Ellen, Zoom and Foster. Somewhere down deep, I must admit, there was a little skepticism. We have never planted an official garden before. Flowers, shrubs and trees-yes. The occasional tomato and herb plant-yes. But a "for real" vegetable garden starting with the tinest little seeds tucked in a shallow bed of dirt? Seems like a craps shoot. But, to my delight (and a little bit of shock) it worked. We are officially producing. I'm gonna go out on a limb and just call it... we are farming. The first crop of tomatoes, beans, peppers and onions have already been harvested. And corn-starting with just a crow of kernels will officially be "knee high by the fourth!"

Ellen: Thanks for doing all the "dirty" work of watering (yikes), weeding and nurturing our salmonella free garden!

Sowing all sorts of seeds...

I am STILL trying to pry the dirt from cuticle beds, but I wouldn't have it any other way. We spent the better part of a day with a dear old friend, whom Jerrid and I adore. This is one of the coolest, most sincere, greatest gals I know. Ellen, has been a dear friend since back in the town house days of "15645G, as in great." How we ever got lucky enough to move into a hood with her right across the street I will never know. Many a days were spent in our shared driveways resolving the problems of the world (and mostly gossiping about our other neighbors). Our friendship sort formed from a titch of bitter and tad of sweet. Our neighborhood was full of people who looked like the pets they walked or in some cases the pets that walked them. Doggie sees as doggie does and it sealed the deal... we adopted Miss Kato. After we brought that green eyed, fluffy little ball of brown fuzz home we noticed we didn't see much of Ellen and her perfectly buffed cocker spaniel, Sport. We didn't know... Sport had gone to chase the rabbits and eat bones in the sky. When I found out I stuffed Miss Kato into Ellen's arms and said "here get your puppy fill." AND when I almost quit my job because I wanted to stay home with my dog (I wish I were kidding) she came over and loved Miss Kato (and Miss Kato Sport of Ashburne, formally named after Sport, loved her right back). Anyway, good friends always have a way of connecting and picking up right where ever things left off. So, what was my point? Gardening, oh right... Ellen has this great house on a great piece of property with an amazing yard that would make any dog "the cats meow." We decided time to put all that black dirt to good use. So first we marked off the perfectly measured and staked off rows (what did you expect when my hubby was along?). Then we turned the earth the old fashioned way-with a little elbow grease while Zoom sought out some shade, and Foster (named b/c he was originally going to be a foster dog-yah right) shared in my hubby's coffee break. Then the fun begins. We planted tomatoes, more varieties of peppers than I can count, onions, honeydew, cantaloupe, pumpkins, soybeans, green beans, peas, rosemary, basil, chocolate mint, lavender, chives, corn, rhubarb, cucumbers, carrots and well, I am certain I have forgotten something (and that was only half of the garden)! So 7-10 days-ish for germination on most and 50-60 some odd days till maturity, then keep your eyes peeled for the 3 and the fancy-schmancy Lexus on the side of Hwy 12 selling our home grown veges (we hope). Ellen thanks for a most perfect Spring! Here's to our future harvest-FFA (Future Farmers of America for all you city slickers) look out!

I'm No Pansey!

I have stage 4 spring fever. I am so sick of the cool weather and the grey skies I want to subscribe to one of those unlimited tanning salon promos. Why are we being punished with these 35 degree days when the AVERAGE high is supposed to be 55?!? Maybe that is the reason Paul Douglas (a local TV station's "goof on the roof") got the boot... folks 'round here think he's jinxing things. I am so over my winter wardrobe and ready for fun skirts, no sleeves and sandals-even though my feet are in need of some serious work. I love all my blogging friends in the Lonestar State but I am green with envy over the foliage I keep seeing in all their recent posts. Finally, yesterday Old Ma Nature decided to get her rear in gear and gave us a "hit" of sunshine to give me a little vitamin D fix (Hi, my name is Brooke and I am a sun-addict) I have been hankerin' for. I took FULL advantage. I drove myself straight the the nearest greenhouse with the windows down & the heat on so Miss Kato could ride with her head out the window. My pursuit? An annual as hearty as the people who put up with this crappy un-spring-like weather. The cute green-thumbed-gardener assured me pansies are no push overs. She said to acclimate them slowly over the next few days by keeping them tucked in over night since they are used to the toasty warm green house. Eight containers of pansies and $14.71 later I am back in my front yard filling my Southern exposed window box with my own little taste of Spring. And just because I love you I took a few pictures in attempt to put a little "Spring" in your step too. And if they die... I'm gonna go back to that greenhouse and poke holes in that woman's hose if ya know what I mean.

Ahhhhh, can't wait to see you again tomorrow-I think the forecast is calling for sun!