A chat with a rose ...

So, we came home from something or other the other day, and Eddie noticed that "his" roses weren't as big as his sister's rose. (Basically, one of hers had bloomed and his were still buds.)

These are roses we bought at stupid-big-box store years ago. Just roots, really, and the one Eddie picked out got damaged the first year. I don't remember if it was while I was planting or after or what, but it's never been as bloomy as the one Abby picked out. So when he got out of the car to see one of hers blooming big, and his just (finally) starting to thrive (thank you TAGRO), he was upset. We explained that his were coming, and all sorts of things. But he was still upset.

We, I thought, all went inside. After a little bit, we look around. Where's Eddie? We call his name, nothing. Shout downstairs, nothing. Shout out the back door, nothing. I finally walk out the front door and spot Eddie still standing on the sidewalk, in front of his rose.

"Eddie, whattaya doin'?"

"Talking to my rose. To help it grow."

Wow.

We've joined the club! Swallowed the pill!

I think my household may have entered the gardener nerd club this week. The VERY entry level club, but the club nonetheless ... why, you ask? Because we actually traded plant starts with a neighbor yesterday. My husband has been taking seeds from things and planting them in (what else) TAGRO Potting Soil. We have mini orange trees, melons and I'm sure other things sprouting in random containers throughout the house. So yesterday one of our neighbors came over with some volunteer tomato starts from her garden and walked home with some of our melon starts. We're excited to discover what kind of tomatoes we'll get, as we've been informed that while she's pretty certain they're some variety of cherry tomato, they could be yellow pear, plum, or who knows what type. The kids are happy that there will be another edible in the garden.

OTHER UPDATES:

I found out why the kids didn't like the cilantro leaves so much the other day ... ours grew big and flowered, and apparently when they go to seed the leaves turn bitter. The key to cilantro is to use it use it use it. So perhaps I planted too much ... because cilantro is a once in awhile thing. So perhaps more spinach and mint, less cilantro.

My random seed spreading in one flower bed is finally starting to show signs of life. Ok, it's shown signs of life for awhile, but the flowers and shade plants I scattered are sprouting up. I'm anxious to see color emerge ...

Corner garden coming ...

So, apparently my corner veggie garden in the sun won't be a dream for long ... the lovely husband has dug holes for the fence! A fence, you ask? Well, the deer wander our neighborhood hunting for roses, the raccoons are nothing but trouble, the cats like to find litter-box worthy dirt, and I don't EVEN want to know what other kind of trouble my future veggie garden could get into if unprotected. So when my neighbor said fence, I did not flinch. So -- fence posts dug. Cement about to be bought. TAGRO Potting Soil about to be ordered, and many more EDIBLE VEGGIES about to be planted. Woo hoo! And it's only June 1. Apparently my fantasies ... at least some ... just might be coming true this year ... :)

Incredible, Edible ... PLANTS!

My husband told the kids today which plants in my garden are edible. The chocolate mint plan, the cilantro and the spinach. And apparently my kids were hungry. After determining that the cilantro's not so great just straight, they went around munching leaves of mint and spinach the rest of the afternoon. Seriously. Plucking leaves off the plants and eating them, and claiming to enjoy them. With E, this doesn't surprise me so much. He likes to eat onions raw and has been known to push his hot dog aside and take someone's cast off burger fixings, chomping on onions like fries and rolling up lettuce and chomping on it like a carrot. But the eldest? She's known for not touching anything green and leafy. Broccoli, yes, but SPINACH? Spinach NOT covered in Ranch dressing? Wow. She just monched on it. And the neighbor girl came over, saw what they were up to, and was like "I'm hungry ..." So, apparently the way to get your kids to each their veggies is to randomly grow them, not make a big deal out of it, then tell them they're edible ... whoah. I need to get to work planting the rest of my veggies ... fast. More incentive for a greenhouse I suppose.

Two birds, one hose

For anyone who has kids and a lawn, and now that it is hitting close to 90 degrees in my neck of the woods, I highly recommend obliging the children and letting them run crazy wild in the sprinklers while you water the lawn. That's a bang for your utility bill buck! Just remember to have dry towels on hand. Or a mop. Needless to say, I have very happy children right now. And a soon-to-be greener yard! :)

My fairy gardenmother to the rescue!

So my neighbor across the alley has tripped upon this blog and -- gasp -- figured out pretty quickly whose blog it was despite my meager attempts (I said meager) at anonymity. She read about my dreams and yearnings to make the mess that is the back corner of my yard (the one closest to her) into a garden that actually produced produce rather than spiders and blackberry bushes. And instead of teasing me about how long it's taken me to attack that corner (though I have been attacking other corners!) she got to work. This genius of a landscaper is once again lending some of her energies to my yard (and making sure she has something prettier to look at than a couple blackberry runners that keep re-emerging and the pile of bricks left by the previous owner when we bought the place more than five years ago.) Like I said, she is my fairy gardenmother. She's been plotting with my husband on making this a real plot. They've staked it out, ran the string, figured out which neighbor was about to get rid of the fencing, she even squished some nasty looking spiders and turned the pile of bricks into a border for the soon-to-be growing space. Pretty soon it will be ready to have a giant load of TAGRO Potting Soil dumped on it, some seeds and starts planted within, and then I will have no excuses for not keeping this corner kept up. So thank you, fairy gardenmother, for kickstarting some magic in my backyard, especially in that horrid corner, and for being patient with our household of gardening/yardscaping idiots over the last five years -- and for helping take the fear and mystery out of just getting growing. I look forward to you having a prettier view from your yard -- and to me becoming less of a gardening idiot.

Growth spurt!

On any other blog I'd be talking about the kids' growth spurt, but I'm talkin' about my garden plants. While I'm still waiting to see if the mixed flower seed I spread in one area a few weeks ago will actually emerge (there's something coming up, but I haven't discerned whether it's weeds or what I planted) ... other areas of the garden/beds are positively popping. The kids and I added a little extra TAGRO to each of the plants in the main flower bed ... and perhaps that's it, perhaps it was the warm couple days, or perhaps a little of my imagination, but today the pansies each have more than a half-dozen buds (and these aren't big plants), the peas doubled in size, my zucchini start exploded with happiness, the garlic's stalks are sitting up straight ... it's like they all got a little jumpstart. Perhaps it's a combo.

Now, the only PROBLEM with letting the kids help me shovel and such is when the 4-year-old boy gets frustrated at his 2-year-old sister and takes his kid-sized shovels and STARTS WHACKING HER ON THE HEAD WITH HIS SHOVEL!!!

Seriously. However, you will be happy to know that she was wearing her bike helmet at the time. Which is probably the only reason he even did it ... but still. NOT cool.

But the growth spurts of my green stuff ... very cool.

And now I must pay the front beds a little attention. All the TLC has gone to the back, and it's about time the sidewalk-walkers got a little peek at my newfound powers, too. :)