Happy Tuesday

Whole lotta nuthin' going on.....

Happy Tuesday from the yard.....

I'm pushing hard to try to stay caught up this week. I want to sew this weekend! I'm feeling somewhat intimidated at the moment, as two of my fellow Saturday Sampler amigos have completed this month's block (a mere day after receiving it)....

.

And for some real intimidation, a "quilt porn" fix.......take a gander at the Compulsive Quilter, Ms. Block of the Month Queen, Yvette's blog. Sew pretty!

And as promised....some pix of my gardening efforts. This will be the Great Garden Slope Experiment. Please keep your snickers to a minimum.....my delicate psyche will be forever harmed if you break into loud guffaws over my current definition of "gardening".

We have a slope which is at best, a pain in the butt to walk around on, and for which I have no real landscaping ideas (other than to plant iceplant at the top and let it filter down and cover the entire thing). Mr. B envisions covering the nasty fence with some shrubbery so that said fence is never seen again.....but that's the extent of his ideas. Karen has been wanting to garden and I certainly can't argue with the possible frugal benefits of harvesting my own vegetables for a month or so.

First, we'd have to remove the family junkyard that you see in the distance....The pick-up by garbage truck has been scheduled....

Next, there were some ivy geraniums that would not die.....(already removed in picture above) Those had to be wrestled from the granite-like soil and removed. After that, we planted six (6) vegetables. (stop laughing!)

We have cantalope, pumpkin, two hills of zucchini (because we love them and I hear they could easily take over the backyard and feed the neighborhood), watermelon, and cucumber.

I know you can't see them. Take my word for it. They're there.

For each one, Mr. B dug a nice deep hole, and I combined the granite-like soil with some Amend (a fragrant mixture of earth enriching agents and cow manure), and then I refilled the hole, sprinkled in fairy dust (time released fertilizer a la "miracle grow" type stuff). And then I planted the little cups of starter veggies that we paid a non-frugal price for, at Home Depot. Now, if they grow, we'll obviously net back way more than we spent. If not - oh well, we blew a ten-dollar bill.....cheap entertainment (and sore muscles, blisters and sunburned scalps!).

And my gardner informed me today that he could indeed do safe (i.e. would not destroy underground sprinkler) tilling of the area next year so that we can grow MORE. We will prep the soil this fall, and grow from seed next year!

If anything grows this year, that is.....

Oh, and the little border I tried to make pretty under the kitchen window a few weeks ago? (sound of "Taps" playing in the distance.....)

Everything died except....

The two tomatoes and one little flower....

(Keeping it real here - my successes and my murdered plants obvious failures.

So, hey, being the gluttons for punishment that we are, Karen and I decided to "Amend" the soil in that patch.....We dug out two wheelbarrows' worth, and put "Amend" in, replaced most of the original soil, and mixed it up.

And planted more flowers.....

And also, I got carried away and planted flowers in pots around the back yard borders that we've never landscaped. Most said they needed well-drained soil....and clay is not well-drained, so I put the pots in saucers full of gravel. I figure the pots will drain, and the gravel in the saucers will have water in them from the sprinklers, so if the roots want more water, it could be there in the saucer....if they don't want so much water, hopefully they will not grow down that far. If that made sense, congratulations!

If this is not going to work, don't tell me until I've enjoyed these for a few days. Then prepare me gently. (Having the flowers in pots also elevates them, making it harder for the dogz to decide to pee on them or trample them in the middle of chasing each other!)

And here's my illustration of the concept of "great expectations"....

We're thinking positively! Huge new tomatoe cages and Yay! I found cherry tomatos for Mr. B. (click to enlarge)

And lookie what is on my regular tomato plant! (excuse the wet-behind-the-ears Newbie Gardner WannaBee enthusiasm)

A tomato! Now, I have to figure out how to prevent the Hornworm Invasion! Any hints??? Please??