The Mint Needle

Hello dear friends! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it's a beautiful Sunday morning. I hope you are enjoying the soon to be summer season. I know we are! The girls are getting bigger & everything is becoming more "go, go, go" . "Play dates" have become "hangouts" and just like that, my hubby and I realize how fast time is passing. On the gardening front.... We've planted simplistically this year. That's the fancy word for "I didn't go crazy with veggies". To be exact, I only got a couple tomatoes, a couple peppers, zucchini, beans and salad. It may sound like a lot but the pics should speak for themselves. The best feeling ~ most were started from seeds! As for crafting...... Oh how I wish there were more hours in the day. I finally quilted this little triangle top and I can't stop smiling over the way it came out. Let me also mention, how nervous I was sticking it in the washing machine....

Every year I do a little post, in pictures, about our flowers. Like a kid, I'll run outside with my camera when a new plant blooms or the light hits something in a such a way, I never want to forget it. So far, these are some images that have shined worthy of making garden memories. These are the infamous buzzards that I caught an image of flying one night. Every dusk, like an alarm, you can see them by the dozens flying back to their nests. It's an amazing sight. I'm pretty sure this is a variety of mint. If i'm wrong, please correct me! Here's a great example of a plant going wild. Originally, this lovely green was planted in the front border. Little did I know that it would spread like wild fire. Before I knew it, I was pulling the plants out literally launching them into the grass like weeds. Would you believe that some of those pulls rooted along our driveway. Years later, a hill now carries a very sweet aroma:) I love the way these colors c...

    Poppies, bachelor's button, calendula, & sweet william are done with their first blooms which means time to catch those seeds! Every year I grab a collection from our garden in hopes that the following year will be just as beautiful, if not better. I thought of a great and pretty way to stash those seeds. (So pretty you could use them as a party favors.) All you need is some crafting paper, your sewing machine, scissors, a ruler, double sided tape, & a few seeds.       I started off by folding my 12 inch scrapbook paper to leave a 1 inch lip on one side. Using a grid, or a ruler, cut the paper into 4 inch sections.     Sew your paper on either side. Stitch length should be set to two for optimal seed storage. If you choose a smaller, tighter stitch, you will most likely tear your paper. Too large of a setting will allow tiny seeds to escape.     ...

 I woke up this morning to the smell of hyacinth in the house. My favorite flower. Spring is here, even though it doesn't look it outside. I have to say... this week really means Spring for us. Here's why. Today marks the week that we should begin any indoor seeds, according to my grandmother, one of the greatest gardeners I know. In Ohio, frost can hit as late as May. The end of March looks pretty promising for those young seedlings. They should be the perfect size for outdoor transplanting when the time comes. So for all of you who would like to follow in the footsteps of an amazing gardener, your free to do so:) Her advice is priceless as I've seen with my own two eyes, she can grow some of the most difficult plants.  If your bringing gardening indoors, remember to keep your soil moist with a spray bottle and not a watering can until the seedlings are strong enough. Remember to rotate if your keeping them near a window so that they grow straight and crea...

    Spring is on its way. Almost a month to date! Can you feel it? Regardless of the inches of snow that had fallen overnight, I still can. You can tell by the new blog header I'm slowly turning towards the idea of leaving winter boots behind and moving towards the idea of gardening. We are lucky enough to have a couple beautiful plants blooming in our home right now. A Christmas cactus, African violets, begonia, cyclamen, & leaves match perfectly to the thread which makes me remember where inspiration truly comes from. I've been going through my basket o'seeds to see what I have forgotten all about and what I'd like to give a try to this year. I have to admit, I'm a little....50/50. I really don't feel like having tons of planting trays decorating our windows and counter tops. But it is such a beautiful thing to see hundreds of seeds burst to life right inside your home. The garden plan is already drawn out for 2013 & I've paid extr...

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...