Sunday, March 17, 2013

Teepee!

Wow! Didn't realize that it's been SOO long without a post! In all honesty, not much has truly been going on! Hum drum, monotony of life with wee children!

I've been day dreaming about the garden as I always do, but it wasn't until this past week that the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun did SHINE!

Kids and I had a GREAT week! I walked downtown in the sun twice and the kids and I spent two afternoons outside, in the backyard. It was FANTASTIC!

I think the best part was that they are now both old enough to be left outside for a few minutes while I tidy up without them underfoot! Now I have to keep the windows and doors open and read Ruby the 'Riot Act' about playing nicely but both of them seem to have a darn good time diggin' in the dirt! Apparently Elias thinks the mulch pile makes a great 'slide!'

Nick has been working mega OT, and while the extra $$ is nice, I get tired and irritable. The kids behave badly and poor Nick is bombarded by demands as soon as he gets home.
"Daddy! Up! ... Tickle me!... Colour with me!.... Nicholas, I need this FIXED!....." Ce la vie!

Still haven't done any work on the green house, which is making me frustrated but I understand that he's really just TOO tired. So I sprinkled some grass seed with Ruby (it was interesting with 'help' from the three year old), I weeded the raspberry patch, aerated one section of the large veggie bed and planted spinach and swiss chard. And then I built my teepee!!!

Yep! Ruby also 'helped' with that project and it looks AWESOME!!!! I was at Canadian Tire and purchased 3 bags of 6, 6' bamboo rods, for $6.50 a bag. I only ended up using 2 bags, but I figure I'll use the rest for something garden related. The project took me longer than I had expected, over an hour I'd guesstimate, but it's pretty freakin' COOL!

I covered it with garden mesh as the pinterest site suggested, this makes it easier for the plant to really take over and give it the 'living' look. I'm hoping that it'll be wind resistant as we can get quite big wind storms living this close to the beach but I dug the rods 2 inches into the soil and then back filled them so I have enough 'good' soil to plant the cukes in another few weeks.

I just read on West Coast Seeds website that the danger of last frost is typically March 28th, for our region. So I've bought a 'green house' tray for $5 to get some of my more delicate seeds started early. I'll now start collecting my egg cartons to use as well. Filled with dirt the egg carton can start seeds, once germinated just cutting the 'pods' and placing them directly into the garden bed is an excellent way to recycle!

I'm also waiting for my mail order seed catalogue from TandT Seeds in Manitoba. I have researched high and freakin' low for Lingonberry and Nanking Cherry plants for my 'edible hedge' and was just about to give up when a random forum suggested this Canadian company. SOOO excited! They appear to specialize in 'hard to find' but easily grown in our climate plants.

Nick has cleaned up the wood pile, he has a few more afternoons of chopping and stacking before we're all done but we're well on our way. This week if the weather holds, I'll need to clean up the lawn debris from Nick pruning the apple and cherry trees. Gotta get ready for that 'first mow' of the season!

I've 'tilled' the remainder of the large veggie patch and transplanted the onions that were planted this past fall. FYI, onions are like icebergs...only 10% is showing on the top, the other 90% are under the surface. Learned this the hard way! Hopefully they survive!

I also planted some seeds in the 'green house' container I'd bought. But some of my seeds didn't look to healthy so I didn't fill up the tray. I'll wait for my catalogue and pick out some new ones!

We're going to take our trailer out for our first 'camping trip' of the year around Easter. CAN'T wait! While there is MUCH to do around the house and yard we need a BREAK! The routine with small children is VITAL but it is also draining. An odd double edged sword. Hoping to pack their bikes and just sit back with a GF Brewski and relax!

Life is good! Spring is nearly here!

The Teepee! ... Apparently 'Eli' proof! Nick saw him just 'reefing' (?) on it and was himself so impressed by its sturdiness he went to inspect it with a closer look.


Raspberry/Rhubarb patch weeded.

Bottom of the Cherry tree which I planted bulbs last November

Freshly tilled

Soon to be Swiss Chard and Spinach coming up!

Ruby's Greenhouse tray

Mama's Greenhouse tray

Grass Seed... instructions say to 'spread evenly.'

Ruby's contribution to 'spreading evenly.' *Sigh*

Hubby's Organizational skills! ... He impressed me!

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