Chalkboard Paint Pots

I saw this project in the book, You Grow Girl, and have been wanting to do it for a while. I was painting a door in chalk board paint for the den/schoolroom and thought now was the time to do it. It is super easy. You make a cardstock stencil and tape it to the pot. Then carefully paint the chalkboard paint on the pots to make a label. I did have to "fix"a few spots on the edges where the paint leaked under the stencil but not much. I think they look really fun together as a set. Now the only problem is that I am not sure I am spelling geranium correctly?

Propagation

 I am trying to propagate more this year and I am determined to do better than last year. I am trying to learn about softwood and hardwood propagating.The soft ones you can do now and it is where you take cuttings from new growth. I am doing lots of hydrangeas (below)(only got 2 to live last year), some figs (above) ( all died last year), and some crape myrtles ( far below). I have always done these successfully with herbs like mint and lemon balm, etc but the larger plants not so well.

Joffre Jr.

 Joffre Jr. got to try out the lawn mower the other day under the careful supervision of Dad and here he is helping Dad get the compost for the garden out of the truck. Can I just tell you how awesome it is going to be to have this work force at the house. Pretty exciting! Joffre also begged to show off his lego model. He loves his legos.

Garden Love

 I don't want to be inside this week. I am in love with my garden. So many of the plants are so small still but the hope I have for them makes me feel like they are babies I gave birth to. I know I sound ridiculous. 

 Peas starting to creep up the bean teepee I made.

 Turnips and beets getting close to harvest time.

 I love the different shades of green in this bed. it's tomatoes, bush beans and peppers.

 This bed isn't even finished getting it's compost but the collards and onions are doing  great.

 I think we are actually going to get some yummy peaches this year.

 My hydrangea is in technicolor this year with whitish, purple and blue blooms. Super fun.

 This has not been so fun. I have been trying to weed this very old bed of irises. I finished about half before I gave up last night to renew my strength. It is all grass to weed with ridiculously long roots. Nightmare. But it will look good for a couple weeks.

 We have had a lot of rain this spring and I think my blue berries and raspberries have grown inches! So happy about this.I really want them to establish this year.

 Finished a few more trellises. I might paint them to get them to last longer. One is with another vintage baby gate, one an actual trellis we found at the old bookstore, and one is with sticks.

My rock plot. I planted a lantana, but still deciding what else to plant in it.

Slip N' Slide

 George

 Joffre with a side position.

 Ward needed a little help from Dad first.

 

and Renata

I used to love to slip n' slide. We used to set it up so it would slide right down into the lake behind our house. It was also pretty awesome that our yard slope quite nicely down into the lake. It was fun watching my kids exhaust themselves sliding over and over again. Ward was really cute because he would run on the slide and accidentally slip and..slide.

Shorn Lambs

My boys have all been shorn. It was the first time we have used clippers on the boys and they did not like it . (Ward screamed the entire time.) Joffre Jr. keeps wearing a hat because he doesn't think he looks cool. Man, already! Joffre also got buzzed and even got rid of his beard but he is not happy either. They all look pretty cute though.

A Tiny Harvest

I have been staring longingly at my little vegetable and fruit plants. They are growing so well and I can't wait for the tomatoes and peaches. So I was excited to actually get to harvest something now. It was one potato plant. The kids thought it was awesome to see me lift up the plant and see the potatoes hanging off of it. ( It came out especially easily because of all the rain we have been having.) I finished up my bean tepee and it seems to be a highlight for everybody.I have baby snap peas growing that I think I can safely say (without being too goofy) are super cute.  I also got working on my raspberry arbor.

Dresses

 I have learned that the way to manage sewing time with kids is to make 3 of everything you sew. So I made 3 of these cute dresses from this Oliver + S free pattern (Popover sundress in the free patterns sidebar).  One is for Renata, one is for a baby yet to be born, and one is for my cutie pie niece's baptism. I even added a little rickrack to the little top portion because every baby girl needs just a little rickrack in her life.

Onions Galore

I have so many scallions right now I am considering pickling them. This recipe with orange or lemon zests looks good.

Davy Crockett

...with a fluorescent gun and seersucker shorts! Awesome, baby.

Garden Colors

 Red roses ( yes, I need to spray them.)

 Orange impatients

 Pink begonias

 Yellow marigolds and orange geranium

And lots of green

 And lots of green. I have tomatoes -12 of them I think, 4 green peppers, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bush beans, snap beans, wax beans, cucumbers, butternut squash, summer squash, watermelon, swiss chard, onions, potatoes, collards, strawberries, garlic, and lots of herbs.

 My cucumbers all in a row.

I found this lovely parsley plant growing out of my compost. I was so glad because the one I planted from seed look spindly. If by wild chance you have not looked into the Square Foot Gardening method I highly recommend checking it out. Especially if you are only interested in a very small scale garden.You can get the book from your local library.

Garden Fruit

 It is our 11th anniversary today and Joffre surprised me with an apple tree. I was thrilled and thought it was fun to inform him we have to buy another to get any fruit. It was a fitting present but we can't keep up this tradition for too many years.Our nectarine tree from last year will need another two years to produce edible fruit. Here is some other fruit growing in my garden.

 Blueberries

Raspberries

Peaches