New Impatiens

I bought these:

Because I killed these:

Note to self: Stop over loving your plants by giving them too much fertilizer. They don't like it.

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World's Largest Radish

Look what I grew in my garden:

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My Grandma's Rose is Back

My biggest fear through this whole remodel was that I was going to lose my Grandma's rose. For 50 years, it was at the home in which I grew up. When my sister-in-law didn't want it anymore, I moved it to my house. It was there for 3 years and was doing well. Then, the contractor said that they had to dig out our foundation. So, I moved it to my veggie garden over the winter. I transplanted it again to its final resting place (I hope) in front of the new trellis this spring. I crossed my fingers that it would live. Not only did it live but it bloomed!!!

I now believe that this rose will survive a nuclear war:-)

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Before and After

We are FINALLY done with our walkway. It looks spectacular!!! It was exactly how I envisioned it and I love it.

Here is how it looked last year:

And here it is now:

The roses will be bigger next year and it will be even better!

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We started laying brick yesterday on our walkway project. (Yes, the weather is finally cooperating!)The orange brick came off of the house before the remodel. I think it looks great as a garden edge.

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Gravel Walkway

We got as far as getting the gravel in for our brick walkway before the rains came:

Damned weather! Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

Digging the Walkway

We spent the weekend starting our sidewalk project. We bought the bricks, measured out the area and got 3/4 of it dug out before we had to leave for a piano recital.

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New Birdhouse Hat

Another garden project came to fruition:

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New Irrigation System

This weekend, I worked on installing my new irrigation system for my newly remodeled gardens. Now, my wonderful plants will get all the water they need this season:-)

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Mulch

This weekend, we tackled getting mulch on our new gardens. Since I have a lot of gardens, this was a HUGE accomplishment.

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New Bushes

It's getting there. This weekend, we bought some new bushes for the front of the house. I also moved my grandma's rose up there (just in time for the cold). And, we made a little bird sanctuary with our bird bath and bird feeder.

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Spring Cleaning Gardens

I tackled spring cleaning my gardens. Here are my veggies:

My radishes are doing awesome and so are my greens except for my spinach. My spinach is really made at me. So are the bunnies on my property. I found two babies in my peony garden. I hope their mommy comes and gets them soon. You don't need to go home but you can't stay here.
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Daffodils Already

It is unbelievable to have daffodils on the first day of spring in Wisconsin! Unheard of!!!

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Trellis Trio

As part of my quest to rebuild my gardens from the destruction that the remodel caused, I needed some trellises to support my roses in the summer and create interest in the winter. I wanted them to be round on the top to echo the arch that was already present on the property. Everything I found was $200 a piece and since I needed 4 (3 here and 1 in another area), that was way over my budget. After searching all off season, I found some perfect metal trellis for $50/each at Stein's. The only problem, they were green. I wanted cream to match the accent colors on the house. Solution? I painted them and now, they match perfectly! Check them out:

I can't wait to get those roses out there!!

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Row Cover

This weekend, I tried starting the season early with a row cover. I transplanted cold weather greens and sowed radishes, peas and beans directly into the soil.

Wish me luck that I can keep everything alive:-) Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Garden Update

I haven't done a garden update in forever. Probably because I haven't had a garden in a while. Here are my sprouts. 

Another thing happened in the garden today. The best way to describe it is to share an email I sent to my husband today:

"Ok....wildlife hates me. After sowing some seeds inside, I ventured outside to see how things are going out there. I turned the compost and pulled out the old plants from the veggie garden. Man, there are a TON of weeds in there:-( I would LOVE to get a hold of that this year. Anyway, I tried to turn the soil and there was no way. Rock solid. Then, I turned my attention to the peonies. I thought I could get a jump on spring cleaning by pulling those out too. I mean, the veggies came out really easily. And I thought, I could pull them before the new stuff starts to come up. Well, I took one pull and out popped...a bunny!!! I screamed like someone was stabbing me repeatedly! I am sure the neighbors love it when I go outside because it is so entertaining. I went directly inside to pull the crap out of my pants and I am done for today. ##%^^^& bunnies!!!"

Nice.

Herbs for the Holiday

Did you forget to plant your herbs for your holiday dishes? Me too! But no fear, Woodman's has a poultry pack for $1.99 and parsley for $.99. So, for under $3 and some old spice bottles, you can have this display:

I think that my table is going green this year. Lining these up down the middle will be perfect!!! Way cheaper than a centerpiece from the florist:-)

How do you preserve the summer? I wrote earlier this week that I organized my Canning Cabinet. Organization is essential for canning with ease. I am NOT a canning expert but, I have had some success using the instructions from this little number:

Following this manual, I can break it down to some steps.

First, boil your jars and rings:

Score your tomatoes with an "X" on the bottom:

Here is where the pictures end but,

Next you boil your tomatoes for 30 seconds and then shock them in ice water. This will make the tomatoes easy to peel and seed.

Quarter your tomatoes and place them at the bottom of a hot pan and crush them with a wooden spoon.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Ladel into warm jars with a 1/2-inch headspace.

Secure the lids with the rings tightly and place in the canner.

Bring your canner to a rapid boil. Once a rapid boil is achieved, start the processing time of 45 minutes.

Remove jars from canner to a clean towel and allow to cool over night.

In the morning, check that seal by lightly pressing on the lid. If it doesn't make a popping sound, you know you did it right. If you didn't, refrigorate and use within a week or remove another 1/2-inch and freeze for up to a year.

Canning Cabinet

This week, I tackled organizing my canning cabinet. Here is what it look like before with all the dirty glasses and all disorganized:

And here is what it looks like now all shiny and labeled:

Now, I am ready to keep going and can up the rest of summer:-)

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Processing Tomatoes

I wonder how many of these....

...will come out of my 55 tomato harvest?? Today, we will see:-)