Garden Expo!

My mom and I went to the annual "Garden Expo" on Saturday. It was a blast! There was a ton of neat stuff. Admission was free and there were far more booths and vendors than at the "Home & Garden Show" that was at the Convention Center that cost 8 bucks a ticket. This was a one day only event and I'm bummed that I didn't know how awesome it was going to be until I got there. Next year, Mike will definitely be taking the day off and we'll be saving up some money to buy some neat stuff. They had booths with the MOST GORGEOUS Japanese Maple trees in varieties I have never seen before. There was a lady selling beautiful outdoor furniture, trellises and arbors made from willow branches. There were a couple booths with handwoven "african" baskets, perfect for harvesting veggies and herbs from the garden. There were several booths from lavender farms. I actually got some great tips about growing my own lavender from one of the ladies. Apparently lavender doesn't need much water. This particular lady has 12,000 lavender plants and only watered them 3 times last year! I got a lot of information on "sustainable living", with recipes for environmentally friendly homemade household cleaners, and too many tips to type out now. There was a place focused on water conservation that was GIVING out wildflower seeds that require almost no water or fuss.

I was bummed to learn AFTER we had left and the next day, that there were seminars and things going on throughout the day that I would have LOVED to be a part of. One was about Japanese Ikebana (flower arranging). One was about composting, with everyone getting a free compost bin to take home.... Argh!! Next year....

My only purchase (besides a Mothers' Day gift for my mom) were these "Tillandsia" or "Air Plants". They require no soil, and you don't fill a vase with water either to grow them. You only need to dunk them in water once or twice a week, then shake them off and put them in whatever bowl, trinket, knick-knack or whatever you have lying around. You could even glue them to a log... After blooming, they will sprout "pups" at their base and once they have reached half the size of the "mother", they can be pulled off (like a banana) and arranged elsewhere. I am amazed by these cool plants. Possibly an indoor plant that I won't kill???

No water in this arrangement...

The plant in the teacup should grow and bloom to look like this...

The one on the right should bloom like this... just more purple-y...

I think the grassy one will stay grassy looking.

The Garden Comes Together

i've been piecing this post together since Saturday. It may not make a lot of sense...

This weekend was all about the garden. On Mike's days off he picked up the lumber for the 3 stand-alone beds and we got them put together on Thursday, with more digging and leveling on Friday. Friday after go off work, I picked up some stuff from the garden supply store and got to work. Here is what things are looking like now...

Side yard before... even before the fence...

Side yard after. Today we put up the trellis netting for the peas and other shade-loving, climbing plants.

And more after. Sunday evening we planted the starter peas against the trellis netting... I'm not sure there will be any room for anything but peas. We may need to extend this bed and add another trellis...

If they all survive, we'll have pea farm! I can't wait.

Weedy back corner of the yard before...

New vegetable garden corner. Here I plan to (someday) create gravel or bark with stepping stone walkways in between the boxes. Our planting beds are 3' x 8' and built out of 2" x 8" boards (not sure what kind of wood, but not pressure treated). We spent a lot of time digging to break up the very hard and rocky soil and make the area for the beds a little more level. The backyard is VERY slopey. On Sunday, I planted potatoes (russet, yukon gold, and fingerling) in the single bed, in the half closest to the camera.

These are the bags of nutrient rich amendments I picked up at "NW Seed & Pet" to add to the dirt we have to make it so things can grow. We picked up 2 bags of this "Harvest Supreme" natural & organic soil amendment with 15% chicken manure. Then picked up one more bag on Sunday evening...

We picked up 1 bale of Peat moss. This was enough for the 3 beds AND the "side yard" bed.

We got 3 bags of "Whitney Farms" organic planting compost. This stuff was cheap! 3 bags for $12. We'll probably pick up another 3 bags sooner or later. (picked up 3 more bags on Sunday evening).

After mixing the soil for the three beds yesterday and getting them put together, I realized that I had completely forgot about getting any kind of nutrients or soil for the side yard bed. I went to WalMart for other stuff and found this "Miracle-Gro" Organic Choice garden soil for only $4.44 a bag. So I grabbed two bags for the side yard and added to that some peat moss. I'll probably need another bag or two of this soil to build up the bed to the height of the trellis so the peas aren't reaching up far for the netting. (Purchased compost and soil amendment to fill in instead, see above).

Here is a picture of how big some of the rocks we dug up in the yard were. We think there may have been a road or something where our house is in the past. After digging about 6" down, we found asphalt that we had to chip at to break up and pull out. It wasn't everywhere, but in the one perpendicular bed, it seemed to be the worst.

My sister gave me some petunias that she had gotten from her boyfriend's mom and I planted them in this hanging planter that my mom gave me. I still have a bunch left that I'm not sure what I'll do with yet.

It's all coming together!

Today, I found something to fill the big empty wall space in the dining room. I REALLY want to put a china hutch there, but for now, the giant Chinese wall hanging does nicely.

Is it me, or is does it feel like this arrangement is staring? Yes, I know the frames are crooked, I fixed them later.... I think maybe the frames need to be spread a little further apart.

The main/guest bathroom

Our dogwood bush is blooming! At least the two surviving clusters are.... So sad.

Bill (Gramma's boyfriend) gave us even more gnomes..... This is Gnomad and Gnomette.

Today was very productive for me. I did all the laundry, then folded it and put it all away. Even the socks!!! I hung the pictures above the buffet and added some other decorative pieces. I hung the giant Chinese art thing in the dining room and a couple "coat hooks" in our closet to use for robes. I attempted to arrange photos for a big wall collage between the dining and living rooms, but got discouraged due to the sheer number of framed photos I have, and I get nervous about putting holes in the wall. Even though this is OUR house and we can do what we want....

The thing I'm most excited about was actually cooking dinner! I made us Japanese noodle bowls with "buckwheat soba noodles" and sliced steak marinated with soy sauce, peanut oil, grated ginger root, cilantro and green onions. It turned out pretty good, but not the same as when I've made it before. I swear sometime during the move, I forgot how to cook. It is so frustrating because it is something I really enjoy doing.

Sunshine, Finally!

It was so nice outside today and I only worked a half day. Hooray! When I got home, I made Mike lunch, then potted more of our veggies. Mainly peas and mesclun. After Mike got home, we planted our 2 "Blue Ice Bog Rosemary" plant/shrubs in the front yard. I love the way it turned out.

The "BIBR", should grow to be about a foot tall and three feet wide. And it's hard to see in the pictures, but from April-August, there are cute pink "flask-shaped" buds.

I absolutely loved being outside in the sun. At the apartment, we were never motivated to go outside, sell, Mike went outside to smoke, but that was about it. Now, all I want to do is be outside, digging or planting or sweeping off the driveway. I say, "bring on the nice weather!!"

Although, I'm pretty sure I've already got a sunburn from today. It's OK though, the pretty yard and peas in pots are well worth the burn...