The Mint Needle

Yup....school has started. (And I haven't figured out if I'm drained from the excitement or nervousness.) I wanted to share this little story my daughter's Kindergarten teacher passed out to the parents. Grab a tissue and hug those munchkins as soon as they get off the school bus!            Thoughts at the Bottom of a Beanstalk - Author Unknown   Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut and a brand-new book bag.   Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this same beanstalk almost every day last year, this was Jack's first day and he was a little nervous. So was his mother.   Early in the morning, she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day and how nice his giant would be. She reassured him that she would be ...

"That beautiful season the Summer filled was the air with a dreamy & magical light and the landscape Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood." ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I gotta let this out.... I've been sad....very sad..... that summer break is pretty much over for my kids. Every year I can't believe how fast the summer goes, and as we try to cram fun, new experiences for our children, before we know it....it's passed:( Yes, every parent has that day that you think, 'it's great, they need to go back'....hearing arguing amongst each other & ... ooooh the mess . But at the end of the day I wouldn't change a thing. We enjoyed sleeping in, eating breakfast at 10am instead of 8, playing outside, riding bikes, staying up late every night and most of all~ being together all day long! As shopping for book bags, sneakers, & a fall wardrobe goes underway, I share with my read...

In the years that we've gardened, we never had a turn out quite like this one. Today's post is all about our tomatoes and the lesson we learned in planting them. Here's the story: The first year after we got married, my husband & dad built a beautiful, huge garden that came complete with an arched entrance, raised beds & a tall white fence to keep out animals. I planted roses around the front and blackberries along the sides. But, summer after summer our crops struggled. We had a harvest, just a very small one for the size of the garden (24' by 24'). Our tomatoes suffered every year with wilted leaves and a very sour taste. I just couldn't understand. All I really wanted were tomatoes. I didn't know what we were doing wrong. The soil was tested & it wasn't bad at all. But without hesitation, we continued to add lime, sand, manure & plant tone to see if it would help. The outcome still wasn't good. T...