The Corn

OH! The corn... I forgot to follow up.. for those of you who were left hanging.. I am sure that you have been checking my blog every hour to see what has happened...

(I AM kidding, ya know....)

The corn is holding! It has put up it's little flowery things (a farmer, I am not... ) and is looking really healthy! It looks like Andy's hard work is going to pay off!

We have a second crop of those purple beans. I am considering pickling this batch.

Still no sugar snap peas, the plants are going this week for sure. The tomatoes are growing, just waiting for color! I have a handful of recipies ready and waiting. (though, I will just eat them sliced with salt and pepper, or some balsalmic... I will eat them ALL..... oh, o.k. I will share!)

The Garden - O.O.C. (that's "Out Of Control")

It grew fast and we have already harvested! We grew purple snap beans (like green beans but a bit fatter and purple) and had them for dinner last night. We were all kind of bummed and surprised to find that the beans turned green when we cooked them!

We have had a few small tomatoes and lots of parsley, sage, rosemary and cilantro! The pumpkins have taken over and we have figured out a better configuration for next year. They have spilled out onto the grass and we are going to let them continue right where they are. The vine that went down looks like it will be a pretty good producer and we don't want to damage the vine by moving it. The sugar snap peas never really did much and we have two tiny plants that we have already eaten all of the peas from. They will be coming out thereby giving more room to the pumpkins.

The corn fell over the night after I took these pictures and we decided that the seed had not been planted deep enough. Andy came home and piled about 3 more inches of dirt around the bases and staked them up with bamboo. We really hope that they make it! Purple sweet corn, who knew?

How Does Our Garden Grow?

It is all coming up! Everything is looking good, our only problem is that there are tomatoes popping out everywhere and it is hard to tell what should be pulled up and what should not!

The sugar snap peas did not come up at all, which is strange, but Andy is going to replant. They grow so fast it won't really matter!

I think that I am most excited about the corn. Last year's was a complete failure, but we have four rows this year and I am hopeful that it will work! The carrots and the cucumbers are barely showing but the beans and pumpkins are doing great! We are also going to plant watermelons in some tubs down the driveway. We don't have room in the garden and we think that it might just work. Keep you posted!

A Quick Update

Our next project.. Ella's room!

Gavin's room is really done! REALLY!!!! The fan is up, the glow stars on the ceiling are up and the little party lites under his bed are up! I feel so much relief! I love his room and I love how we all worked on it together and I LOVE that it is DONE!

In addition, we re-arranged Ella's room, moved out the last of the jungle features and brought in her furniture (even though it has not been refinished yet). This really helped us get a better idea of how the room will work and what we need to do to get her bed put together properly. We bought an old 1920's dresser and bed set for her at a yard sale and the bed is not the same as the current standard size so it will need some modifications. Bringing it in and setting it up was the only way that Andy and I could figure out what we needed to do! Now, we feel energized and excited about tackling this next project. If only I could decide on paint colors! Andy is going to start painting next weekend, so I had better get with it!

We had our yard sale and what we didn't sell was carted off to the Goodwill. My patio is back (and boy does it look BIG) and we made $128! We hoped to make enough to buy bikes for both kids and if we go with the less expensive models... we did it! We sold Gavin's old bike, so he gets first pick and Ella has her heart set on a Barbie bike. Toys R Us, here we come! We also sold the dresser and night stand that the kids had in their bedroom - which is why we had to bring in the unfinished dresser. I was not willing to have Ella's clothes on the floor for the next couple of weeks (or months)!

The kids got to go to the Circus with Gramma Sharon and Grampa Jack while Andy and I continued to work around the house. We also got to run errands, shop for a couch, get some decorating ideas at some new model homes and have dinner together! Andy got the garden planted while I took the kids to church on Sunday and then we all went down to Bellflower to shop for some Dutch goods at the Holland American market. After that we stopped in Little India to have a snack! It was a fun and very productive weekend! I feel rejuvenated and energized!

I have a TON of work to do for my classes and I have to study for the CSET (which is completely freaking me out) but ... there is nothing I can do but WORK. Work hard and be persistent and focus. That is the hard part, the focus. I feel torn between my job, and the house and the family but I know that right now, I just have to work on the class work and then I will have time for all of the other stuff. So, my nose will be to the grindstone for the next couple of weeks and I will have to let some other stuff go. (oh, darn.. when I just started to feel on top of things!) Off I go!

Here are some pics of our little garden!

My herb garden- sage, cilantro, parsley, basil and thyme! The kids planted marigolds in between!

The rows of corn!

We also have, red bush beans, sugar snap peas, carrots, cucumbers, and white and orange pumpkins.

Some tomatoes from seed and some plants. There are sungold, San Diego heirloom, Giant Steak, and Cherokee Purple and some other funky kind that Andy got!