Pumpkins ... hopefully

I'm hoping for pumpkins next fall.  It's not that I'm actually planting pumpkin seeds come springtime in order to grow them, I'm just hoping they show up.  Here's why.

Last summer Mom ended up with a yard full of pumpkins.  The previous fall she had pumpkins on her porch and when they started to look shrunken and what not, she didn't throw them away.  Instead, someone kicked them off the porch and they became part of the earth again.  Nature - leaves, snow, rain, etc - did its part and *presto* she ended up with pumpkin plants growing. 

Back in October the boys got a couple of pumpkins when we went to a pumpkin patch.  They decorated them and we put them on our porch.  When they started to look shrunken and what not we dumped them in our side-yard.  I took some leaves and covered up the pumpkins so animals wouldn't come and eat them.  I'm hoping they're becoming part of the earth again and I'm hoping leaves, snow, rain, etc will all work together and we'll *presto* end up with pumpkin plants this spring/summer and nice fat, orange pumpkins to decorate and cook up in the fall. 

Recipe Wednesday - Patio Weed Killer

Not a food, but hopefully you'll find some great use for this "recipe" !!! 

When we moved into our house the previous owner's daughter gave us a great tip.  Use vinegar to kill the weeds on the patio.  She gave us this tip because, at the time, our little Ajay was about to celebrate his 1st birthday and she figured we wouldn't want chemicals where he would be playing.  Ain't that the truth!

So here is what I do. 

At the start of spring I put on some junky old clothes and have a seat (criss-cross-applesauce style) on our back patio - which is made of brick.  I put on my gardening gloves and pull out the weeds that have grown in.  I then take a squirt bottle filled with white vinegar and spray in the cracks.  (I use the stream nozzle, not the fan-out nozzle.)  I'm generous without being wasteful.  I do it a few squares at a time.  I've learned to make a mark of some sort (the kids' chalk works great for this) so I know where I left off and don't re-spray.  (Ideally, if you don't finish this project in one sitting, then you can get back out there and finish up before the rain washes the chalk line away!)  This treatment usually lasts a few weeks to a month, depending on how much vinegar you use and how much it rains.  Would work great for the sidewalk or driveway, too.

Super simple, cheap, healthy. 

Biju's Birthday + A Garden

Biju had another birthday. Funny how those things keep coming around. We didn't do anything too grand. We went to an Indian restaurant in town for lunch. We'd been to this place in the past but they changed buildings so wanted to see what they were like in their new digs. Turns out they were pretty much the same...but busier. It was nice to see them getting more business. I like having more than one Indian place to choose from. After lunch, we all took a nap. Ahhh. I love nap time. After nap, Biju made a trip to buy our plants for the garden (yay!!). Biju did most of the planting this year, but Ajay and Alex and I did get our hands a bit dirty. A little.



While B was out planting, the boys and I made up his birthday cake. I typically make the cake and icing from scratch, because it tastes so much better, but this year we just went with the boxed cake mix and tub of frosting. I had asked him to pick out the flavor he wanted - he came home with two cake mixes and two frostings. Ha! (Don't worry, we put the second pair away for another day.)

Ajay wanted to help with the frosting and sprinkles (what kid wouldn't??)



Alex figured he needed to "help" out by taste-testing the frosting.



When it came time for cake and ice cream, I didn't manage to get a still shot, I just got a video clip of the boys and I singing the Happy Birthday song. (Which, by the way, the boys had been singing to him all day long.)

Here is a quick rundown of our garden this year:

In this corner this year we have okra (on the left side) and watermelon (on the right).




In this section, starting on the left, we planted two rows of Peaches'n'Cream Corn, then two rows of green beans, then 4 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants and one hot pepper plant. We have since bought our zucchini plants, 2 sets, and they will get planted tomorrow, where that big open space is on the right.



We used a new space this year. It is up against the house, and we're hoping it works well for the STRAWBERRIES we planted. Sadly, we have to pop off every bloom that comes on this year, but it is only for the good of the plant. Hopefully next year we'll have more strawberries than we'll know what to do with! There are 10 starts in there.



I can't wait to put new photos of the garden on here, with lots of green growing everywhere - and I don't mean weeds!

The Garden Name Game

Okay, folks. As you might've surmised by now, I'm NOT one who knows a lot about the foliage of our great outdoors. I can name your typical rose or lily, or dandelion, but for the most part, I'm clueless. Therefore, I'm very curious to know the names of some of the greenery growing in and around our garden. The space that is now our veggie garden used to be a flower bed (vines overtook the pretties and it was a big tangled mess, so we just hacked it all down). Despite using the rototiller 2-3 times, many of the flowers are growing back. We transplanted what I think are the peonies to the edge but the rest of what is growing in is so random, I won't be able to move it. I have an idea for some Monday fun (to keep those of you at work away from your work!) - I will put some pictures up, and you all get to tell me what everything is! (a couple of the things I do know, but they were growing out there, so I took their pics)

A)

B) (These are the same plant, one is just further along than the other)

C)



















D)














E)



















F) What is wrong with our pepper plant(s)?



















G) How do I get rid of this?



















H)














I)



















J)

Just click on the "comments" button and write out your answers and any other suggestions :) (Okay, so by the time I got this posted, it was too late to procrastinate your Monday workday, but maybe you can ignore your bosses a little longer on Tuesday!)