My Kryptonite

I think some sort of transformation happened to me when I became a mom. I now have these crazy superpowers that give me the otherworldly strength to remain calm and not panic when I see blood gushing from my four year old's finger while her big sister sobs that she just cut off her baby sisters digit with a shovel (was only a fingernail whew).



I can leap tall chairs in a single bound to scoop up a choking toddler and administer the baby Heimlich faster than a speeding bullet.

I have even been known to fly down a flight of stairs to rescue a fallen child, (though I did not emerge unscathed from that adventure, of course, the kid was fine).



I have determined that about 90% of my parental supervision is done with my supersonic hearing, Which enables me to get to the root of almost any conflict between siblings (it's usually hunger), to distinguish real cries of pain, terror and distress from the not so critical and, to sense when and where major mischief is happening.



I have even been known to use x-ray vision to detect when a certain preschooler had skipped the underwear when dressing. Seriously? That sounds so uncomfortable to me, but apparently one out of four preschoolers hates to wear underwear.



These super powers have served me well in my role as mother but they came at a price. It appears, that for me anyway, the birth of supermom meant saying good-bye to the tough tomboy who picked up snakes, caught frogs and would attempt any trick on bike, board or swing that her big brother deemed too dangerous after first attempting himself.



I may be able to stand in the face of danger to protect my kid, I can keep my cool in the most frighting of scary mommy moments but, A pet chicken sneaking up behind me and pecking at my shoe? A mouse scurrying across the lawn?



Finding a garter snake staring at me from a shelf in my shed after I'd already stuck my head inside looking for a trowel!? Forget it. I'm ashamed to admit it, but my 10 year old self would have been embarrassed of my reaction, and supermom is pretty disappointed too.



My garden this week, dedicated to all the supermoms, and anyone who screams and flails and calls her 8 year old son and 10 year old daughter to come rescue her at the mere sight of a garter snake.

1. The main garden.
2. Cucumbers growing outside the fence of the main garden. There is no way we will have enough.
3. Bush beans are looking good.
4. I decided to try planting some heirloom pumpkins. I hope I gave them enough time.
5. Hops flower buds? I'm not sure. I've never seen them bud before. :)
6. The cabbage butterfly has decimated the brassica plants once more. I'm spending the rest of the summer planting flowers that will attract ladybugs and wasps to help me combat these evil little caterpillars.
7. A little surprise from the compost.

My friend, who scared me last week, startled my daughter today, he had trapped himself in some netting in my shed.



My chicken loving, farmer wannabe, daughter was able to keep her cool and set the poor fella free. Creepy or not, we couldn't let him suffer.

I am a Gardener

Gardener: One who works in or tends a garden for pleasure or hire.



For the first time ever I've started to consider myself a gardener. I realized it the other day, when I had an half hour conversation with an acquaintance about amending soil and shade tolerant plants, and then came home and had a temper tantrum while watching the cabbage butterflies, my arch nemesis, flit around my yard.

It might seem strange I suppose, since I have this big, fancy, fenced in area, a shed and a few edibles at the end of each season, that I hadn't thought of myself as a gardener before now. I certainly spend enough time planning, caring for and reading about gardening, but it kind of snuck up on me. I never really intended to be a gardener it happened sort of by accident.

 I suspect my husband has known for a while now. He did build the garden boxes, fence and shed after all.

I think that because I never felt like I knew what I was doing and we never get enough to skip a trip to the farmers market or grocery store and because I never really took it too seriously, I didn't really count myself with all those out there who are so good at it. 

But, That conversation, the fact that I could have a conversation, with someone who considered themselves a gardener without sounding like a complete idiot, that is when I realized it. I started to notice how much I really love gardening and how much I have learned in the past few years. Maybe I do know a little, most learned through trial and error. Lots and lots of error.



There are so many who know so much more than I do, and my garden could never compare to most I've seen, but I'll make it official, not that anyone else cares or thought I wasn't but,

I am a gardener.



The photos

1. The view of my garden from my front porch where I love to sit and drink my tea.
2. Potato blossoms. Last year we did a small experiment with potatoes and it went well, this is the first time I've seen the flowers though.
3. Potatoes in the back cucumbers with radishes mixed in on the side, an attempt at some brassica plants, though that cabbage butterfly never lets me have any, and I think there are a few beets in there somewhere. The back corner growing over the fence is the hops that we planted last year
4. The hops are doing really well this year and we're excited about the idea of brewing from our homegrown harvest.
5. We decided to remove the bark mulch from the isles this year and plant an annual rye grass. It's supposed to nourish the soil and clippings can be use as mulch or compost.

Ramblings with Unrelated Photos

Well, I suppose we do trial runs for a reason. All that progress with my fabric was a bit of bust or at least not quite as perfect as I'd thought. I'm testing out my pattern. You know the one I promised over a year and a half ago?

Yeah, that one. it's finally ready to go, but somehow, when I put it down so long ago I didn't finish estimating the amount of fabric required and for some reason put a ridiculously low number for the trim and tie fabric. I knew it seemed fishy when I was buying the fabric but, wanted to stick with what I'd written for my trial run. I didn't realize it until I went to start cutting over the holiday weekend and by then it was too late to head back to the fabric store for more.

Luckily I've been taking Heather's 30 Day Vegan course, and my energy level and focus have skyrocketed. It' amazing, I'm more patient with the kids, my husband and I have started doing morning yoga again and I'm getting so much more done every day. I don't know if it's just the better food, the half hour of exercise and meditation or taking time out of every day to focus on myself, but I'm feeling great.

I'm sure I'll have my pattern ready in no time, but right now, I've got to make some delicious vegan lunch, take some pictures of the prettiest little ballerinas I know and get back to that fabric store before the baseball game tonight.

A Hard Days Work

So these kids of mine, the same ones who refuse to help with dinner prep or clean up, who throw a fit on cleaning day when asked to do their chores, who have to be reminded a gazillion times to bring their clean and folded or hung laundry to their rooms, these same kids, love yard work. Who knew? (Actually I feel the same way and, I have a feeling that I may have unintentionally instilled in them a severe distaste for all indoor chores at an early age)

We had quite a productive day yesterday. The yard was spring cleaned. all rubbish, toys, bits of wood and anything else was cleaned up and put away. And, the lawn mowed by one very talented, tractor driving, 12 year old. Seriously she was backing up like a pro and mowing flawlessly.

The chicken coop was de-pooped, scrubbed, whitewashed and filled with fresh bedding. My sweet little chicken hugger worked hard and was so happy and exhausted at the end of the day.

We added 3 new little ladies to our flock this spring and they are loving the roomy run after spending their first few weeks inside. Now that the coop is cleaned and the big chickens are starting to accept tolerate them, they will have the choice of sleeping in the coop with the big girls, or in the nesting box they've called home for the past week and a half.

We even squeezed in a bit of gardening. My two youngest are determined to plant gardens that rival mom's. I'll be working on rototilling a bit more yard for them and helping amend the sandy soil with some compost, but the rest of the work, they have requested, is on them.

Everyone collapsed into bed exhausted, sun kissed and proud of all the work they accomplished.

A Fall Tour

Mushrooms discovered along a deer trail leading from our yard. It appears the deer have been munching on some of these and pretty much all the wild apples that had fallen from the trees around them. The deer thankfully, however, did not disturb our garden even once this summer.

It's a good thing fall has such beautiful color, because I'm not really ready for summer to be over or for the cold wet months ahead. Although I am excited about our winter sports this year, with the youngest being old enough to join in.

The kids "secret" hide out tucked just behind the garden. I love that they have hide away, a place all their own. They take their friends and cousins back there, climb the trees and dream up BIG plans for a small castle in the branches.


One last little surprise in the garden. What a sweet bitty pumpkin. The kids have all claimed it as their own, but I don't think I'll be letting any of them carve up this little guy. Welcome fall.

One of Those Days

pretty weed in my yard

 Today was supposed to be a nice productive day. A nature hike down a new trail we discovered, which would be some much needed exercise for mommy, and some quick errands to grab new school supplies. The start of a new, more routine, story time and with it, a new book or two. Figuring out a schedule that will get each kid to their sporting events and practices on time. A discussion with the kids about expectations, theirs and mine, for the next few months (in my mind an exciting conversation about what they're interested in learning about). And, with whatever time might be left over, some work in the garden filling in the holes left by the ending of our cucumbers, zucchini and squash.

Pumpkin love :) this ones a peanut pumpkin

 Instead, I scratched the van and my brother-in-law's truck pulling out of the drive. The hike was a mosquito infested nightmare that ended shortly after it began. The van is acting weird, I hope it's not the transmission again. The kids are moody and grumpy and don't even want to sit still, let alone discuss interesting topics to study for the next few months. And I'm moody and grumpy because nothing is going the way I want it to today.

fairy tale pumpkin, my favorite

 I'm thinking it's time to just scrap the day, crawl back in bed and start over. Maybe call it a beach day and embrace the last few bits of summer? And there's always the garden, it wont pick a fight with me or it's siblings and I'm pretty sure any damage I do to it I can fix without the help of a mechanic.

Garden Update

I am still without a real computer, but thought I could handle a quick garden update using the trusty, yet difficult to type on, tablet. So here is a little peek into our garden.

Things are looking good for the most part. We have harvested a few beans and learned we need to plant a lot more next year. Some peppers, zucchini and squash, and today our first cucumber. I've learned about homemade soap sprays and pest controlling garlic sprays and just how usefull they can be. We had some trouble with the cabbage butterfly and lost a few heads and some broccoli, but have replanted for fall and plan to transplant some mint, in pots, from my brothers garden which has been overrun by the butterfly repelling plant. But my favorite thing right now is watching those itty bitty melons growing a little bigger every day.

Garden work

A new house means a new garden!

The house we moved into is a fairly new house so there is absolutely no landscaping and, while I do miss all of our plants and flowers, it's exciting to think of what we can create on this blank canvas. The current garden work however is not of the flowery, decorate the front of the house kind, but of the nourish my family kind.

We've attempted vegetable gardens in the past. We started with a few pepper plants filling in here and there when the landscaping, of the previous house, was new and looked so empty. A couple pumpkin plants along the walk to the house the year we couldn't decide on, or afford much of, anything to plant there and the price of the you-pick pumpkins seemed to be skyrocketing each fall.

Every spring we would get a little more serious about our planting as the kids got bigger and seemed to take a real interest in watching food grow, but most of what we planted was devoured by bunnies and some mischievous ground hogs.

Eventually we put up a small chicken wire fence with metal stakes and built a couple boxes for raised beds. We invested a bit of time and money into making a decent garden that, we hoped, would keep out the pesky, but small, pests we had. . . It didn't work. We were able to harvest at least a little of what we had planted, but between the rodents and the blight we didn't get much.

This year, with the lessons learned from the past, and some research, we are trying once again. This time our fence is a bit more serious and the beds a bit bigger.

We've learned about fertilizers and prepping the soil before planting and we are giving it a go once again, in a new neighborhood, with new pests.

Um, We're gonna need a bigger fence.

Peanuts!

Crafty stuff soon, for real, but first check this out

The kids each got their own section of the garden this summer, my dad told me how much he loved having his little pie shaped piece of the garden when he was a kid and it just sounded like fun. They each picked what would be planted in their section and helped weed and water it. When I asked my son what he wanted in his he said, "What about peanuts?" So we looked it up, bought some raw ones and planted them. We thought we'd lost them to a hungry family of ground hogs, but look! 3 whole peanuts. I don't know if anything is inside them, but he was thrilled with his 3 little peanuts.