kinderGARDEN Thursday: week 24

Matthew has watched me garden for as long as he has been alive. This year I wasn't going to plant a garden, because I knew we were going to move right after we needed to have the seeds in the ground. When Kim, at The Inadvertent Farmer, announced the kinderGARDEN contest, I knew Matthew and I would have to find a way. So we decided to try growing a salsa garden, in containers, so they could move with us. We also settled on a few extras, like purple green beans. We hurried up and ordered seeds.

Matthew planted every pot.

Soon after we set all our pots out on the porch for sunshine. That's when we discovered our year old dog wanted to drag them around and the year old cat wanted to dig in them.

We covered them with chicken wire. It didn't help alot, but the hot sauce did. Once we moved, we thought the pots were safe, only to have them overrun with little caterpillars that were killing everything! Awww, the joys of gardening.

For Matthew's birthday, a very good friend came to visit. Matthew showed him every single plant and had him sniff every single plant. Matthew had pride in his garden.

I talked to my co-workers enough about our attempts, that they both wanted some purple green bean seeds. Matthew and I happily gave them seeds. Then a fellow kinderGARDENer said she wished she had some, so Matthew and I sent some to her and her son. That was really fun. I love spreading the joy of gardening.

In one of the kinderGARDEN posts we were encouraged to let our kids take the camera into the garden. I was brave and let an almost 3 year old boy take photos.


He did a very great job. He came up with interesting views. I've let him borrow the camera more often since then.

While waiting for things to grow, which happened very slowly, if at all this summer, we watered.


Sometimes we recycled the melted ice in coolers, instead of dumping it.


We watered alot with the hose.

But when that gets boring, there is always watering through the hollow handle of the watering can.

We got to pick purple green beans (which turn green when they are cooked), peppers, and finally a tomato!

Later in the summer we planted more seeds; turnips, carrots, and radishes. One carrot is growing, turnips are going like wildfire, and I think the radishes are finally sprouting. We may have a fall harvest after all.

We planted hollyhock and poppy seeds, along with irises, in the spring. We planted more hollyhocks and irises in August.

We picked apples.

We picked them several times and finally learned how to can all that goodness we picked!

We picked pears this week. We have more tomatoes, peppers, and purple green beans coming on. This has us begging for a little more time, before Mother Nature sends her fall frost.

It has been hard to condense the last 23 weeks into 1 post. It has been a wonderful experience for both of us. I wish that things had grown better, but the weather and caterpillars were against us. Thank you so much Kim for inspiring us to make gardening work this summer. As we prepare to move again, I can only look forward to doing all over again, in a new zone, next spring. I hope there is a kinderGARDEN contest part 2 next year!

For the last wrap-up posts of the season, go to The Inadvertent Farmer. Do check in next week to see who won.

Our news on the last day of summer

You know how I know it's basically fall? I see the fuzzy caterpillars on the move again. Goldenrod and sunflowers are in their prime. The sedum has turned a beautiful shade of pink. The grasses have started turning golds and bronzes, while the occasional maple is starting it's spectacular show. The air is cooler in the morning. And most of all, I feel slightly melancholy. I always do this time of year. I guess it's because fall is ushering in the close of the growing season, bringing with it all the new things that go with new school years. I suppose it's heightened this year because we are moving November 1st to Fort Hood, TX. It will be the first time, since Phil and I have been married, that my family isn't close by. It will be the first move, that we won't have any family closer then 500 miles away. It could have been worse, but it could have been better. I'm sure once we are all settled in there will be many positives we can think of, but for now there is only 4 I can think of. 1. we'll be a real family again, all under the same roof 2. we'll be within 5 hours of the beach (BP made have ruined this option) 3. winter will be warmer 4. I can grow some more exotic plants.

It shall be an interesting journey. Keep us in your thoughts, prayers, and hearts as we go on this new journey.

kinderGARDEN Thursday: week 23

This is the last week of show and tell on kinderGARDEN Thursdays. Next Thursday is the judging of the final post, which is to be the best of the last 23 weeks. Ohhhh, the pressure to write up a really good post! (It talks about it in this weeks The Inadvertent Farmer.) But we aren't there yet, so let's see what Matthew and I did this week.

I learned to can last weekend! My relative, Lorri and I made applesauce, apple butter, and apple jelly. Yum! We used 3 bags of apples and I left a fourth bag for her mom. Then I visited my Auntie, who wanted the last bag for crockpot applesauce. Since the week before I had picked everything you could get from the ground, up I had to go. Dad and Matthew raised me way up in the air, in the bucket of the loader tractor, to pick another 2 bags. That's the last of the apples I can reach for the fall. 8 bags total. Since Monday, I've made crockpot apple butter and apple sauce so that we can save our canned goodies till deep in the winter.

I checked on the garden at Dad's house. We have turnips going to town. The pumpkin vines look good, but we won't get any pumpkins this year. Sigh.

We noticed Dad has a tomato bush covered in 17 pear tomatoes finally! The Brandywine even has a few. I was so disappointed that mine own didn't have any, especially since the 2nd tomato rotted on the vine.


But our purple green beans keep going strong.

And then I noticed them next to the beans. 2 Cream Sausage babies.

And next to them, 3 Black Pineapple babies! Maybe we might have a handful of tomatoes before frost after all. I'm overjoyed!

The weather has been so fall like lately that yesterday Matthew and I went to the local nursery and looked at mums for the front porch and pumpkins. Truly, I think he wanted one of very color (and I did too), but for now we brought home his favorite. He is impatient to get this little guy turned into a jack-o-lantern. But he'll have to wait a bit. After all, it's only September...

I should wait...

...for kinderGARDEN Thursday....







...but I can't! I'm so excited! I learned to can over the weekend! Lorri, my cousins mom, taught me how to can. We made applesauce, apple butter and apple jelly. It was a long day of peeling apples, but oh, it was so fun! Thanks so much Lorri, you are the best!

kinderGARDEN Thursday: week 22

All week we've continued to watch our 2 tomatoes slowly turning the perfect shade of red. Boring stuff really. We had to find other ways to amuse ourselves.

One day I came across this little guy making a bed in my oregano.

A couple days later this guy was in my hollyhock sprouts kicking dirt out of the way. (I would have thought it was the same one, but the spots are different.) They've been quite the addition to the garden this week hopping all over the place.

Still the occasional frog/toad sighting wasn't enough to keep us busy, so we head back for more apples. Matthew has been asking for apples morning, noon, and night. It's all he wants to eat. He has basically ate all we picked last week. This time we pressed Poppa into service.


Matthew had a blast "helping" his Poppa.


This picture is to help show how truly big this apple tree is. Dad is around 6'1 1/2". It is taller then the machine shed it's next to. And this is only half of the tree. We got all the good apples that were in arm reach. The whole top half is still loaded with apples. I felt like the fox that wanted the grapes, but couldn't reach them. We gathered 5 grocery bags full. This weekend I'm taking some of them with me to can! I can't wait!

Don't forget to see what is happening with the rest of the kinderGARDENer's. Head over to The Inadvertent Farmer and see a hobbit house!

Something about...

...seeing all our clothes on the line just makes my heart go pitter-patter with pride. I've got to get one of these at our house!

To the Dr. again

It's impetigo and the poor boy is slowing being covered on his back half and has several on feet, hand and legs. It's another joy of having such bad eczema. So he's back on antibiotics and should have it fading soon. Maybe this will be the end of infections for the fall...

We had company

Thursday, some very old friends of our's (Phil served with Daniel way back when) came halfway across the country to see us. They have 2 kids. Devon...

And Cailey. The kids had a wonderful time playing outside and in, while Tara, Daniel, Phil and I talked about the old days and new.

It looked like so much fun our neighbor boy came to join in the action. Unfortunately, I didn't get a group shot of any of us adults. I'm just not on top of it anymore.

Saturday we went to Wildcat country. Why didn't I make Matthew wear a K-State shirt is beyond me...

We had such a good visit. I hope to see them again soon!

kinderGARDEN Thursday: week 21

Sunday, when Phil was getting ready to head back to KC, he looked at me and asked, "Are your 2 tomatoes ever going to ripen???" The very next day this one started.

Now the 2nd is under way too!

While we wait for tomatoes to ripen, I tackled this iris bed. This is how nice it looked because I intensively weeded it a year ago in May.

There it is again behind Matthew at the beginning of the summer. I ripped everything out. It fills up with weeds and tree starts and crab grass.

Tuesday found Matthew and I planting the plants here at my parents house.

Nothing wrong with double fisted digging.

Then we started the long process of watering.

Guess who announced, "Watering is my job." I think it will look good. The irises will fill in all the empty spots they had going up and down the sidewalk. I also rearranged plants in a better height order in the front beds. I'm not finished, but very close.

I also potted up some of the hollyhocks, so that when the time comes, it will be easier to replant them.

Our pepper plant is still plugging along.

The turnips have come up and are looking good! This is Matthew's turnip patch.

The butterflies on the male pumpkin flowers were sure pretty. Sadly the pumpkin didn't get enough pollen and has died. I see tons of male flowers, but the female flowers have been in very limited supply, like only 1 has bloomed all summer.

Today we went and picked apples. The tree is absolutely loaded with them. We never spray and they are awesome anyway. I guess we're lucky. The tree is located at my Granddad's house. He would be so proud to know that his Great Grandson is enjoying apples from the tree he planted.

Matthew ran to the tree and had an apple picked in 30 seconds, I kid you not. He loves apples.

Sometimes he had to reach really high.

Sometimes it was at an easy eye level.

When you looked up you saw tree and apples. It'd be so fun to have in the yard and play under.

Ready to go home with our bounty.

The minute we walked in the door, Matthew was pulling out the apple slicer and getting ready to sample them.

Yummy! They are so good. I finally found a relative that knows how to can, lives in the area, loves it AND would love to teach me!!! I'm so excited. I'm going to see canning apples or applesauce is an option and suggest I bring some to work with. I can't wait to learn!

Don't forget to head over to The Inadvertent Farmer and see what else is happening today!