The Grow Op

Yep, the Grow Op. That's what my husband lovingly calls my collection of seedlings that are slowly overtaking our home.
It started out innocently enough, but now it spans across three room on two floors, occupying every square inch of real estate in front of windows. My dearest, darling, ever-loving hubby has said that he's okay with it - so long as it stays organized (read: out of his way), and fortunately Gabriel doesn't play with the lower plants too much (he uprooted one of my precious tomato seedlings today, but that was an off moment I think).
If you'll remember a while back, I wrote about planting dill, beans and peas just to get something growing. Well it turns out, beans and peas really don't need to be started that early. I've had to build a container staking system for my peas out of coat hangers and I expect to see my beans bud any time now! As for the dill, it's happily filling three ittle pots in my kitchen - the only piece of my kitchen's culinary garden thus far. I had been intending to thin out the less healthy plants, but they were all doing so well that I've now got a lot of dill that I might be gifting this summer.
During round 2 I planted some tomatoes and some Bells of Ireland. A load of the Bells started dying off recently because they were running out of room, so I repotted them all today into 4" Jiffy pots. I just hope the weather picks up before they outgrow those, too!
During round 3 of planting I put in my Tawny Bell Peppers, some Cypress Vine and even more Bells of Ireland. Round 2 and 3 were space about 2 weeks apart and the only difference between the two planting methods was that I used indoor plant lights for round 3. Well, my Bells from round 3 caught up to the ones from round 2, and my Cypress Vine is now 4-5 inches tall - and that was only a week ago! My peppers haven't even finished their germination period!
So today, while I repotted my Bells and tomatoes from round 2, I also repotted some Cypress Vine and more Bells from round 3. I also repotted a dwarf sunflower that Gabe has been growing (He loves his 'flower'. He checks it daily, talks lovingly to it, moves it to the spot with the best sunlight and even pets it)
Oh, and as a little tip, when you buy store-bought pasta sauce, buy varieties that come in mason jars. Pasta sauces often go on great multiples sales (5 for $5 at my grocery store), so you can get a jar of sauce for a meal or two, plus a cute mason jar for crafting for dirt cheap! That's how I got the one I transpanted Gabe's sunflower into! I also used a plastic bowl from our kitchen for repotting today. It was one that was cute, but a bit repetitious in size, and I prefer glass anyway, so we were going to donate it until my brilliant husband suggested I use it for this purpose! He's so smart!
Well, after all of my replanting, I thinned out some of the less healthy seedlings and was left with a number of those jiffy seed-starting pellets begging me to fill them. So I did. I planted Sweet Basil, Thai Basil, and a fluffy, pink ornamental grass. I know, I'm insane. But at least I'll have at least half a chance of a nice garden this year!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)

New boots!

Joy of joys, I got out of the house for an hour last night! My loving, thoughtful, wonderful husband let me have some time away from the house while he watched the kids at home! I must say, I'm feeling a wee-bit spoiled. My mother was so concerned about my isolation that she stopped by to drop off a slurpee yesterday, and my husband brought me home a Timmy's coffee as well - and then a free pass to go do whatever I wanted for an hour??? Awesome!
What did I do with my time? I shopped! And not just shopping for more medicine for my sick child - I shopped for fun things!
First stop, I went to Value Village. I've been cruising their aisles a lot lately, in part because I'm looking for crafty things, and in part because I'm cheap. Well, I didn't find any particularly crafty things (or rather, none that the price justified buying used) so I shuffled past the shoe section before I left the store. I was very well rewarded, let me tell you. Now, I don't often post about clothes, and that's mainly because I am so incredibly cheap when it comes to clothes that I have nothing worth writing about (seriously, who wants to read a post about a mass-produced $5 shirt that I bought at Stitches?) but ever so often I find something so great that I just need to tell you about it. This is soooo one of those times.
I found boots! I actually found lots of boots... There were knee-highs, mid-calves, fuzzy ones, sleek ones, heeled, flats... there were a lot of boots. And from what I saw, the most expensive pair were $12. I tried on a number of pairs, and wished that a few more had been in my size, but when it came down to the line, I opted for a pair that I knew I would never buy new because I refuse to spend more than $30 on shoes. They're a faded brown, felt-lined, knee-high boot with zippers on both sides, pointed toes and a killer heel. So pretty!
Oh yes, and they were only $10! One my way out of the store I happened past the coat section and remembered that my spring/winter brown jacket was getting a bit worn (I had bought it at Value Village a few years back and the lining was finally giving out) so I figured I'd have a quick peek, and I came out with a new coat for $12! One that matched my boots, no less.
From Value Village I went on to Walmart to pick up some groceries and some gardening supplies. My minions of seedlings are overtaking my house. And I suppose my beans, which are now taller than the average bean bush, and my peas, which are now requiring staking, don't really qualify as seedlings anymore. Anyway, the other week when I started some new plants, I didn't have enough room to do all of them in my seed-starter tray, so I picked up a new, larger tray, which will now house my tawny port peppers, some leftover Bells of Ireland and some Cypress Vine. My tomatoes and first batch of Bells of Ireland are growing quite well now; they're both about 3" tall now. Not bad for just over a week! I've been doing some garden plans lately and am growing quite excited for Summer. Since we're currently in the process of seeing whether or not it will be possible to sell our house this Summer, Matt and I decided against finally putting in the long-time-coming raised vegetable garden, but I've decided that I won't let that hinder my aspirations of growing vegetables and numerous beautiful plants. The trick will really be container gardening. And I've recently been dreaming about a lush, overgrown garden with a touch of whimsy in its corners, so the containers that I plant in will most likely be unique. I'm thinking coffee mug planters, bird-bath flower beds and troughs of leafy greens. One interesting thing about this approach will be to see if it's my fault that nothing wonderful has grown in my yard in the past 3 years, or if it's the soil. When we bought the house there were about a dozen full-grown trees in the yard. We cut down a number of them, but there are still 4 full-grown spruce, 1 MayDay and 1 diamond-leaf willow in our back yard. There are so many roots spread through our yard that we always knew a sunken vegetable garden would be near impossible, but I'm wondering in the trees have actually sucked so many of the nutrients out of the ground that my plants never had a chance. I suppose we'll see!
If we do move this year I know one of the things I'll miss most about this house is the incredible yard.
Well, I just got word my husband is coming home early, so I'd best go and get some cleaning done!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)