How to Start a Garden From Seeds

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Last year this day I was taking my RD Exam... walking into the biggest test of my life when the lady behind the desk said, "where's your lunky green?" It was a big day for me, I hadn't realized it was St. Patrick's Day... I think the lady wanted to give me a heart attack about this bad luck...

Anyways, other green things...

So we've purchased some plants for our little vegetable garden, but we weren't able to find corn, spinach, or colored bell peppers to plant.

So we figured we'd give it a go starting from seeds. I've read what I could and asked every one of my old man patients about gardening.  We bought a handy little seeding green house for $4 (even though I know we could just plant in egg cartons) and got all our little seeds planted.

Kyle and I worked hard getting all the seeds covered and here's what we've got so far:

Bloomsdale, Long Standing Spinach: Says it will germinate (sprout)  in 8-10 days and be ready to harvest in 45 days. Love spinach, it's soooo good for you... so we'll see what we get.

Sweet Pepper Carnival Hybrid Mix: Includes California Wonder, Golden California Wonder, Orange Sun & Purple Beauty. I never saw a purple bell pepper before, but maybe we will soon. Germination in 10-21 days, harvest in 70 days.

Early Sunglow Hybrid Sweet Corn: Kyle loves corn. We're really excited to see if corn will grow down here. The little map on the back of the seed pack says it will... Germination in 7-10 days, 63 days to harvest!

We'll have our plant-plants in the garden soon, can't wait to see how this all turns out. We'll be planting those soon with our irrigation system, I'll keep you in the loop :)

What are you planting this year?

Making our own Cedar Raised Beds

So I've always wanted a garden. Not really one with beautiful flowers, although that'd be nice, but one that grows food!  I love the idea that I could grow my own food right in my own back yard.

After last year's attempt to grow berries in the flower beds at the rent out... This year after buying the house, we decided to go ahead and try our thumbs at real gardening this year. I found these plans (her link is down right now for some reason) by Ana White to make cedar beds out of cedar fence planks to cut the cost. We took her advice and mixed it with this guy's advice (because of his use of posts for corners and great idea to keep the moles out of the garden)...

First we cut the ends off the 6 foot fence planks to make them square. (Don't you like our straight edge?)

My cute handyman!

Per box we used 6 fence planks. Our boxes are about 6 foot by 3 foot by 1 foot. We simply cut the fence planks in half for the ends, and used the full length for the sides. The planks are 6 inches wide so we stacked 2 high to make 1 foot high beds. Check it out. We made the support posts a little longer so we could dig holes and bury the posts.

Then Kyle added the chicken wire to keep the moles out. Lindale is known for all the moles :) Note: the wire was added to the bottom while the frame was upside down. AKA wire goes on the bottom.

We layed a sheet at the bottom over the wire to keep out the weeds. Mostly because we didn't want to go back to the store for the black landscape stuff.

Then the organic compost filler!

TA DAAA!

We're real excited to get the plants in! Then get the irrigation system setup!

But I'm also trying to keep up with the money we spend for our garden this year to see if we save any money by gardening.  We also love the adventure, the fun, and the fact that we get to grow our own food so if we spend a little more, we're okay with that.

Money Spent:
12 Cedar Fence Planks ($2.50 each)
1 Cedar Post
Galvanized Screws
Chicken Wire
30 Square Feet Organic Compost
6 Square Feet of Mulch
(We already had the tools and 2 2x4s for the extra supports).
TOTAL $112.

So we'll see if we come out on top. We're planning an irrigation system and getting the plants in soon. Stay tuned :)

What are your spring projects this year?

March is...

... National Nutrition Month!

And I'm celebrating by eating a Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate candy bar while revising a thesis about obesity...

[and I tried to take a picture, but I can't locate my connector cord...

and it'd only be more procrastinating]

:)

What do ya do? I told myself I was allowed to eat anything while I was working on my thesis... it's taken longer than I thought...

#packingonthepounds #NationalNutritionMonth

Oh the irony... at least I'm drinking skim milk.

Don't worry, I'll be back sharing the healthy tips and treats of National Nutrition Month soon. Revision of the thesis is due tomorrow... then only one more revision, the defense, and then possibly some final changes, then I'm DONE ;)

Warnings and Motor Curses

So I just need you all to be aware of the recent curse that seems to be following me around these past few days. It's been quite comical actually...

I think I'll call it the "if you have a motor and I touch you, you will break" curse.

Yep.

So about a week and a half ago I was driving my work vehicle when the tire pressure light started to blink. It was pouring down rain and apparently my tire was deflating quickly. Took it to the shop... replaced two tires.

Then a few days ago Kyle and I bought some cowboy boots. Our first pairs ever really, since we live in Texas and all.  And I said to Kyle, "You know since we're spending money on boots the car is going to break down tomorrow?"

Apparently I'm psychic.

Next morning I get in my favorite little 1997 Saturn and turn the key. It sounds like the car wants to start but then it just doesn't. I try a few more times, no success. At this point I'm running late and Kyle suggests I take the Camry.

Yep, bet you didn't know we got a new-to-us car. Bought it at the end of the year for a number of reasons... one being the decreasing reliability of the Saturn. But I still drive the Saturn back and forth to work because it gets GREAT gas mileage and I don't want to put 90 miles a day on our new-to-us car.

So I hopped in the Camry and headed off to work.

Then I was on my way home from work and turned on the air conditioning...Light starts blinking, then shut off. The manual says this means I need to get my A/C repaired. :( We all remember that I bought a new air conditioner for the Saturn less than a year ago, right?

Sunday we decided to get to work on the lawn and we cranked up the lawn mower. Then it died. then we cracked it up again, then it died.  The curse continues.

For now, we've got people looking into these problems and it may not be too detrimental, or we're hoping...

But the real kicker:
One lady I work with was giving me a hard time about my luck with vehicles. She joked yesterday, since I was riding with her in her work car, that she was worried that the car would break down since I was riding in it.

Guess who got a flat tire?  Bet you can't guess...

...oops.

I'm wondering if I need to come with a warning sign. Just so people know what they're up against. ...or maybe return those cowboy boots ;)

Off to read what my professor had to say about my thesis first draft...