nummy nummy in my tummy tummy tummy

This is one of Macy's favorite lines (see title above), but I thought is was appropriate for today. I picked and ate the first strawberry and the first pod of peas today. I ate them all by myself and didn't even share them! And, my kids didn't even see me! Greedy, I know. What can I say?

To admit the truth, I'm afraid to let Macy see the fresh strawberries, because I don't think any of them will E V E R make it in the house after she discovers them.

happy little plants

(This post is named in honor of Bob Ross, the painter that used to be on t.v. Do you remember him, or am I dating myself?)

I'm trying to expand my "greenie" thumb, meaning, I haven't had much experience caring for plants, just planning where they should go. We've slowly but surely started working on our yard. This is one of the first areas....the strawberry patch. We pulled out more sod to create a planting bed just for the berries and planted one of my favorite ornamental grasses Karl Foerster to help block some of the reflected heat from the house and keep them from burning. (They're on the south side of the house.)


We've also had a trouble spot in our garden that manages to grow weeds all summer long. It's only about 18 inches wide, and, up until yesterday, it was barren. I decided to try tome new groundcover this summer to see if it will help the problem.

It's called tricolor sedum, and, as you can see, it's obviously named for the green, pink and white. In case you're interested, there are several different kinds of sedum - some are more of a groundcover type, some will fit it better with your perennials. Some change colors throughout the season. All are drought tolerant and love the heat!

We'll keep you posted on our garden progress...so far, so good! (Well, that is except for the marigolds in the garden, which are still not doing well. On the positive side, we've only completely lost one of the sixteen! The others are dismally hanging in there!)

square foot garden

Jeremy's sister Miranda told us about square foot gardening last summer, so we're giving it a whirl this year. I read Mel Bartholomew's book, and his ideas about a more compact garden to produce more produce seemed the perfect fit for our small backyard! We've been working on it for about a month in bits and pieces, and finally attached our nylon trellis material for our vertical plants (tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, etc.) this week. Here's the journey:

taking out the sod

building the boxes

placing the boxes, mixing the soil and building the vertical supports

planting

hanging the nylon trellis material (just in time for the peas)

watering

and more watering

So far, so good....that is, except the marigolds! Aren't marigolds supposed to be practically fool-proof? Why is it that in my garden they are either dead or seriously struggling, and they've been in the ground less than one month??? I always plant them to help keep the bugs out, but I can never seem to keep them alive!?