I will survive!

I have linked to Homestead Revival's Barn Hop!

This season is challenging my gardening skill.  First, my seedlings pooped out.  Next, the wind has been so constant, trying to beat my plants to death.  Finally, we are in a drought.  So I have had to baby my plants.  I have watered by hand to conserve.  We use bath water, the baby's pool water and even the cooled water from my canner.  It is lots of work but I refuse to waste water when we are in danger of a shortage.  So the garden is heavily mulched and we are picky about what water it gets.  I never thought I would be thankful for clay soil.  This year, it seems to be helping hold what little water it is getting.  Here are some pictures of the progress.  I am happy with it.

I had two potato plants that withered away.  Just for fun, I decided to check to see if they left any taters behind.  They did!  This is my first little dig of new potatoes.  It gives me hope for a big harvest of the rest!

Cilantro!  Isn't it a pretty shade of green?  I am trying this new clustering of seeds.  If you cut what you need as you go then hopefully it will grow back more leaves and not go to seed so quickly.

I think I can, I think I can.  Come on tomatoes!

Trying out my winter squash in bags of soil.  We got tired of digging up Bermuda grass.

I am hoping for a bumper-crop of beans!

Sweet little pepper plant is tiny but producing.  This is a Santa Fe Grande.

Zucchini looks like it's about to overwhelm me.  Bring it!

The corn is up to my knees.

This is the front bed.  We just added a wood-pulp mulch.  It is amazing!  Even in this drought it is holding moisture. (Thanks John!) 

Sweet potatoes giving it the old college try.  We will see.  This is my new plant this year.  I am hoping for sweet taters for Thanksgiving.

Update pics...

What's the dill man?  Hee hee.  My baby dill that is.

These are a purple-pod green bean.  I was happy to find these.  They grow purple and are easy to spot when it's time to pick them.  The cool thing is that they turn green when you cook them!  They are standing like little soldiers against the garden fence.  They will trellis and hopefully produce a ton! 

Banana peppers are so faithful.  This little guy is already producing.

Two kinds of cukes this year.  We planted a slicing one and a mini pickling one.  I will be a happy girl if they produce!

I love these.  Can't remember what they are called but I love 'em.

A potato flower!  I am hoping our straw system will allow for mucho potatoes this season.

These seem to be the only flower I can grow from seed.  It's a good thing that they are so pretty and helpful in the garden.

The corn is growing like crazy!  So are weeds around it.  I guess I'd better get on that.

A few weeks ago I teased you with this picture and promised to show you the plant again.

 This is the plant today.

The plant is our Smoke Tree.  Doesn't it look like it is in a cloud of pink smoke?  It is one of my favorites out of the trees that we planted last year.  God is amazing.  The things He has created and allowed to grow!  There is no purpose for us in this tree.  It's just beautiful.  That's purpose enough for a creative Creator.

And of course, squash.  Lots of squash.
  

We are watering these just to see what happens.  I'm afraid they will just grow more trouble!  But definately more fun too.

Plots, plots everywhere but nothing finished yet!

Here is our small plot in the front yard.  It is now home to several kinds of squash, a Pueblo Indian popcorn that my Papa gave me, some melons and 2 different kinds of okra.

Taters!  2 different kinds of taters.  These have a cozy home in our alley.

This?  This is my Everest.  It is a huge plot in our backyard.  It is covered in Bermuda grass.  We are slowly digging it out but it is growing back.  I think it's angry.  This will be the home of my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, lettuce and carrots.  We must conquer!

I just love my chicken house.  I had to share pictures of the finished product.  Thank you to my sweet and talented husband!

They must be happy with life.  They lay 4 delicious eggs a day!

This little chubby hand loves to help put the eggs in the carton.  Sometimes, eggs end up thrown to the dog.  I try to be stern but it's pretty funny.

My Linus.  We have to wash the well-loved blanket several times a week.  Have blankie, will travel.

"Could my brother BE any funnier?"
(Chandler Bing style)

"Yep, he can!"

SPRING!!!!

My seedlings are struggling this year.  Not sure why but it is depressing.  I am trying everything I know to revive them.  If I have to end up buying plants, I will be sad.  God's will be done.  It's just hard to find the good heirloom plants here locally.

I was finally able to plant tulips this year!  They are my favorite.  I would like to have them all over the yard.

This is our smoke tree.  I will post a pic here in a month or so and you will see why it's called a smoke tree.  It's very unusual.

Asher is in coach-pitch baseball and Zaddok is playing T-ball.  They both ended up on the Astros.  It's confusing.

But they are stinkin cute. 

This has nothing to do with Spring but EVERYTHING to do with Nutella.

Our love for Nutella is a sickness that Matt and I have passed on to our children.  Levi seems to be okay with it.

Bring on the boredom!

I am sorry.  But I must bore you again this year.  I cannot begin my planting without taking pictures of dirt and sharing them with you.  So hang in there.  The green will be coming soon!

It's dirt.  That is all at this point.  Just dirt.

Okay so maybe it's a special organic seeding dirt made moist by a rooting hormone/vitamin solution and labeled with plastic knives marked with a Sharpie.  Nothing crazy.

This is what I am planting in the pots.  Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.  These must be started indoors.

These are my remaining seeds that can be direct sown once the soil is consistently warm. 

  I had trouble watering my seedlings last year.  The spray bottle took too long and pouring water from a cup would spill over the edge and displace the dirt.  So I bought these plastic ketchup and mustard bottles for about 99 cents.  They allow enough water out to be practical but not too much to make a mess.  So nice!

I am so proud.  I kept two geraniums alive all winter long in my sun room.  They are starting to green up and flower again!  Two plants I do not have to buy for the porch this spring!

This is an experiment.  I want to grow sweet potatoes.  This is the way you get slips.  Or so I'm told.  I'll let you know how it goes.  No roots yet.

Our chickens are producing well.  4 chickens=4 eggs a day!

I'm not sure what happened here.  I think someone just blew his mind.

Awww.  I love the way things grow around here.