Vege Garden ...

Well I'll tell you up front, I suck at vege gardening and am known amongst my vege guru friends as the 'virgin vegetable gardener' ...

It's a funny thing to think that I grew up in a family who vege gardened and that vege garden provided us with much sustenance and yet, I know nothing about the intricacies of vege gardening. I'm hoping it's 'in the genes!'

So last year I started late and my vege garden surcame to the sunflowers (from the bird feeder) and weeds. My successes were peas, and tomatoes. Now before you think I'm blowing my own horn, I DID NOT plant the tomatoes ... they were in my compost and just came up! I also grew some plants from seed which came up this year - green onions - so mum transplanted those for me. But I am thankful to those tomato plants as they have spurd me on to read, build, and get bigger :) - the vege garden that is!

I like to be creative - like growing potatoes in a trash bag, using the many rocks around the property for walkways, and recycling plant/tree pots into mini herb gardens and potted veges. My friend H. put me onto Patti Moreno who is a pioneer of urban sustainable gardening, so I do snoop her website and hope to get to see her place one of these days. (She is on the Farmers Almanac gardening cable show - although we only have basic cable and so don't get to see that show).

So this year I have the original vege garden (a perennial garden that I had to move), 2 vege boxes, and a lot of pots! I'm working on some of the 'Square foot Gardening' methods in Mel Bartholomews book. So far so good! My mum gave me the kick off with actual plants, helping me build some trellises, and getting the pea seeds in the ground. Such a boost to see something already in the ground, that I just kept on going. Now I know there is such a thing as 'planting times' - but as a virgin vege gardener, I'm not there yet, I'm still on a whim and trial basis - that's why the plants were good.

Where I'd like to be is with a vege garden that really helps with cutting food costs down, saving my own seeds, canning my own foods, cold frames and storage, while crossing over to a pure 'organic/heirloom' vege garden! So I'm starting to see what books are out there to help me upskill in these areas.

I will be adding some up to date gardening photos as my garden progresses. In fact I just walked the garden and realized that I'm needing to plant more lettuce seeds and bush bean seeds in the next day or two, in order to rotate the crops and keep the veges coming all season long. So there you have it! Lets just hope that I learned from last year and can keep up with it all!!!

The Virgin Vegetable Gardener

No Difference by Shel Silverstein

Here's a great poem that we had at school yesterday. I thought I'd share it as it speaks to how even though we are all different, we are all the same.

Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We're all the same size
When we turn off the light.

Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We're all worth the same
When we turn off the light.

Red, black or orange,
Yellow or white,
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.

So maybe the way
To make everything right
Is for God to just reach out
And turn off the light!

Memorial Day Week-end ...

Well, before I start, I just wanted to say a very big thank-you to those individuals and families that have fought so that we can live in a free land - I appreciate that for many the sacrifice was great. And the families who struggled while their loved ones/ones were away, thank-you too.

We were supposed to be in New Jersey this week-end and this week helping hardwood floor our friends hallway and stairs. But their sons operation was moved forward so we'll be rescheduling the week to NJ. Instead we trenched. Last week-end and this week-end we've been adding to the sprinkler system. PJ kindly reconfigured the sprinkler so that my vege garden gets it's own TLC, and now we're adding a new line for the lawn also. It's taken longer than we had hoped and it didn't help that I used my favourite pick-axe, which is great for trenching, and broke 2 existing pipes ... ooopppps!! So that delayed us, as we had to repair those pipes also. It looks like another week-end will see the job completed.

Memorial Day itself we had some friends over. The kids got to have their extended playdate, and the parents got to relax and hang. Cody calls them his 'squishy friends' and they play very well together. The food was great, the relaxation was enjoyed by all, the smores delicious (I didn't have one), and the company awesome! Thank you squishy friends!

As for friends, I am constantly thankful for the amazing friends I have bee so blessed to have in my life! It's not like the ones at work who are there because they are there and work where you work, it's the kind that choose to be with you and have similar interests. And it doesn't just stop with the kids, many are friendships which involve the families.

I definitely value the friendships I have with the mum's. The kind of friendships where you know you can just pick up the phone and call for help, knowing that you have a network of support ... and visa versa!!! The topics for conversation are wide open! We discuss everything from schooling, parenting, food, toxins, gardening, politics, fertility - you name it! The information I learn is amazing, and they constantly help me challenge the way I look at life and approach it!

That's it for now ... off to solar dry my clothes, cook food, clean up from the party and the list goes on ... and thanks to those out there who are my friends! You are very special to me and I just am very thankful each day that you are you and that you are in my life! Thank you ... Kiwi

The month of May!

Since I'm just a beginner at this whole blog thing, I'm thinking I'll start with a snap shot of May. The obvious milestone was that Cody turned 7 years old. Where the heck did the time go? I'm so thankful that I get to spend my days with him and enjoy his company! I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. I am blessed and very thankful to hubby for his support and his great gift to me.

We're still waiting to hear from DSS to see if we are a match. Even thought we are waiting for our daughter, we are continuing on making the most of each day. It seems silly to put life on 'hold' when we could miss out on so much!!!!

It's been enjoyable having our hummers back - I do miss them when they go away south in the fall. And they talk to me at my kitchen window telling me all about their journey. Amazing little creatures! I still look out my kitchen window in absolute awe of them! And as go and come each year back to me, we actually have quite the friendship going on.

I didn't enjoy having my second molar out - ouch! Still in a lot of pain and it's been over a week since the torid event. Now what to do????? I have only 3 months in which to make up my mind. Implant or no implant - that is the question!

Pierre's been helping alot in the garden. We're going to expand the vege boxes later this year in preparation for next year. We've installed some new sprinklers that take great care of watering my veges, and also we're in the process of moving around some other sprinkler heads to maximize the watering of my fruit trees and other perennials around the edge of the lawn. I'm very lucky to have my own 'handy manny'!

We've been very busy with Homeschooling as normal. We are so blessed to have such a wonder ful group of friends! I'll blog another day about those special friendships, but needless to say, we enjoy meeting with our friends and playdates. The Nature Club went to Houghton's Pond this month. J taught the kids about tracking animals, identifying tracks, and how to walk appropriately around wildlife ... which Cody has been perfecting in the grocery store! With the weather being so accomodating this month, we've been able to get outside and get lots of work done and a lot of play in. Again, notice I said outside, the inside is desperately in need of some cleaning ... which I must do before tomorrow as we are having some friends over for Memorial Day for a BBQ and playdate.

This month has also been intensive in the garden - more vege than perennial, but in either case, the weeds don't care and seem to come up everywhere!!!

























that's it for me and this blog ... hope it was a good kick off. The countdown is on before Cody and me head off for 2 weeks in Canada. Cody's wanting this computer for the Lego instructions for the Power Miners ... take care and will blog soon ... back to the sprinkler trenching ...

Kiwi

Can you believe it! I started my own blog!

I'm feeling quite chuffed with myself ... I actually did it! Started my own blog that is! I'm not sure where it's going or why I'm doing it, but I'll figure it out as I go!

I'm thinking that if you're interested in what I'm up to, then you'll 'check in' and see what we're all up to.

You'll be able to follow our homeshooling adventures, travel escapades, and generally our lifes adventures ... hence the name Kiwi's Odyssey ... since that's what I drive :)

So welcome aboard for the ride. I don't know where it's going, but it should be interesting and fun!