Summer Garden is DONE!

The summer garden is planted! 

Today I planted all the vines. We're talking watermelons, cantaloupes, summer squashes, winter squash, cucumbers, pole beans... Sadly, when I was hardening off the vines, a few didn't make it into the house overnight, so my eggplants and a few melon varieties didn't survive. Oh well, there's always next year! Also, I was pulling a few weeds here and there, and GUYS! I HAVE POTATOES! I guess I didn't get all of them out of the ground last year, because there are little potato leaves poking up out of the dirt. Meanwhile, I had already seeded potatoes for container gardening, mostly because it's easier to harvest that way, so we're going to have LOTS of yummy roots. 

I did realize that I haven't planted any lettuce. But lettuce is easy and grows just about anywhere, in any condition. And I am officially a crazy plant lady. 

Know what else? School gets out in two weeks. I am real ready to be done for the year. It's just been a hard year for all of us, and we are going to take some time to regroup, and we are going to have lots of mini adventures all summer long. They have to be mini adventures because big kids have big kid things to do. We are going to be so crazy busy, and THAT'S OKAY. It will be a good busy, because I have lots of OUTDOOR IDEAS, because sunshine is delicious for our souls. 

In other news, the fridge is finally fixed! It's cold again! Not having a refrigerator FOR OVER A MONTH was not the funnest for us. We have a second fridge, but it is SMALL, and it basically held the condiments. And even though my canning season is supposed to just be starting, I had to adjust because the freezer stuff thawed out and there is NO WAY IN HELL that I was going to be tossing all that defrosted meat. So I made a LOT of chili, and a LOT of taco soup, and a LOT of bone broth, and ALL THAT JAZZ. But tomorrow, I do want to get some rhubarb something going. I'm going to make a cranberry/rhubarb chutney thing that is amazing with pork and chicken. And obviously I have to make some sort of pastry thing. We shall see. I always have grand plans, but they don't always come to fruition. Ah well, that is life, and life is good. And I need to remember to take a picture of everything before it starts getting big! 

Dreaming of Warmer Weather

I've been updating the coding on some of my old websites, and MAN ALIVE, you stop computering for a year or two and suddenly you're illiterate. I also forgot how much hurry up and wait is involved in the back-end of things. It's like the internet has other things to do besides immediately index my changes. RUDE.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get our summer plans coordinated, but it's not going too well because I don't have all the necessary calendars. I need people to be on the ball with calendars and schedules! So far, the only person registered for school next year is Taylor, because we weren't waiting on a boundary variance for her. And we applied for a boundary variance for Thaddeus (you know, because we LIVE CLOSER to that high school) and it was denied. And we were going to appeal the decision, but the other day, we got a letter saying that he actually WOULD be able to attend the requested school. I guess they had extra openings for sophomores. HOWEVER, this now means that Thaddeus will go to one high school, and the other kids, well.... maybe not. Whatever happened to just going to the school you live by? WHEN DID THIS BECOME A PROBLEM FOLKS? 

Meanwhile #2: it's snowing again. Has been for the last 2 days. Not a lot, and it's not sticking, but I would really like my yard to start greening up and flowering again. I LOVE my backyard. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Have I ever shown you pictures? Hang on a sec....

Okay, these are some of the flowers in my front yard. I have just now realized that I need to take photos when everything is in bloom all at once. I have a lot of perennials, which I LOVE because no maintenance.

For the most part, I grow pretty things in the front yard, and I grow FOOD in the back garden,  with some flowers here and there to discourage certain naughty bugs, and encourage bees and butterflies.

I have three huge dogwood bushes that I like to cut them into shapes.

I actually want to take those big old shrubs OUT, and replace them with blueberry bushes for two reasons: 1. Blueberries are delicious and pretty, and  2. I'm allergic to dogwood. I had to get rid of a few other perennials due to allergies, and the 3 big dogwood bushes are pretty much my last allergy problem to eliminate.

I have two big rhubarb plants. If you are looking for a gorgeous plant, I vote rhubarb. It's just a bonus that you can eat the stems. Rhubarb is a perennial, so it comes back on it's own, year after year. It's hardy, and both heat and cold tolerant. It's HUGE, so it is definitely a statement plant, and you can eat it too! I also really love that it's SOUR when eaten raw... like, SUPER sour, and that's my favorite! But when cooked or combined with other fruits, it can bulk up the recipe without altering the intended flavor profile. AND it's a cut and come again type of plant. It's one of the earliest producers, and on the first harvest, I got eighteen pounds of stalks. And I easily get at least three harvests like that. RHUBARB FOR LIFE.

Here are some of my strawberries: 

And here's two more pictures of my early harvest. 

Oh friends, I just love playing in the dirt! But I guess while I'm waiting for the ground to thaw I can be productive in the house.