April Showers

It was quite an uneventful day in the garden today. The April showers have started and it's going to be off and on all weekend - total bummer.

I did put on a coat and hat and made my way outside a few times today to check on my greenhouse full of peppers, tomatoes, marigolds, eggplants, herbs, and cucumbers. Amazing everything seems to do better when the weather is rainy and warm.

8 sunflowers have sprouted in the cucumber patch. I realized I need more if I plan to use them as a trellis for the cucumbers. I think this idea is going to look really pretty when everything is in full bloom and the bees will love the flowers.

The kids played a lot of play dough and crafts. This keeps them busy for hours. Give them a rolling pen, some cookie cutters and a clear working space and they are immersed in there work. While they played it gave me a few minutes to sketch out some more ideas for the greenhouse/office. If you follow me on Pinterest you are probably seeing a few ideas I have pinned. I am just combining all the elements I like and drawing up some plans.

I do have a quick tip to share today. I really don't know why this idea has never popped in my head before.

When prepping a jar of homemade chicken broth for the freezer I cut some notebook paper to fit under the ring of my mason jar then labeled with the contents and date.

Totally easy and I can see at a glance what I have and the date I threw it in the freezer. It also saves time when washing, no more scrubbing permanent marker off lids or jars.

How do you label jars? What kind of system do you have when organizing your freezer? Leave a comment, I love to hear from you!

Hope you all had a wonderful Spring day where you are!

Spring Planting has Begun

Today is about 12 weeks before the last frost so I decided to sow some cabbage seeds. Not many, since last year, or maybe the year before that I had a horrible infestation of cabbage moth caterpillars.

I have a feeling there is a technical name for them but I call them cabbage moth caterpillars and encourage the kids to chase and catch as many cabbage moths as they can.
Year to date: Kids 0 - Cabbage Moths 100

We have also been busy emptying out the raised bed because some how a mole got through the mesh wire stuff at the bottom and ate all my Piment de Padron peppers and some jalapenos and I think it took out my lavender plant and a bell pepper. We will not have that problem again.

I plan on turning the raised bed into a permanent herb garden. Oregano has taken over an entire corner. That stuff is like a weed or peppermint. It roots itself overnight and the next morning it's everywhere!

Here is a picture of last years garden.

Which turned out OK considering I lost my entire collection of starts and nursery stock.
Because me and my vast knowledge of gardening decided to roll my green house out into the garden where it could warm up. Not bad right, until I heard a crash and discovered you shouldn't move the greenhouse let alone move it in the middle of the garden on a windy day. It blew over and everything was a pile of dirt and seedlings. I cried.

But my mistake will surely help someone else, at least I hope.

What are you planting this year? Have you started your seedlings?

Happy planting,
Heather