It's Week 12 of kinderGARDENS, time for an update!
"The Green Roof" - not so much, 100+ degree temps have pretty much cooked everything in the rooftop planter except a bean plant.
Apparently it's not too hot for "Mockers" our evil mockingbird to make a nest there!
The kids' Peanut Box is doing very well! Not that surprising since that is a cash crop here in our sandy soil and hot temps, it's just fun since we have never thought to try them before. If anyone is interested, they are a very tidy looking garden plant and appear to not be bothered by any insects!
Yellow flowers are the peanut blossoms apparently. They will eventually develop "pegs" which will flop down to soil level where the peanuts will grow from.
The kids' garden, mom wasn't allowed to plant here, but they did a great job. They decided on Butterfly Weed along with some other miscellaneous stuff they stole from my flats. I see petunias, sunflowers, Bells of Ireland (dead), and some blanketflower I think.
See the Smiley Face?
We have been so busy enjoying cooler weather that we have been working and playing non stop in the yard and I haven't had time to cook proper meals, so I made a cruddy W@lM@rt pizza into something lovely with the addition of our tomatoes and basil!
Turned out pretty well! It's nothing like Daddy's homemade thin crust pizzas, but ooops, I never bothered to pay attention to him when he makes the dough - I thought that was me being smart that way I never had to cook on pizza night - that worked out fine until he deployed!
Kids are having fun with THESE GUYS! Awesome "DogDay Cicadas"... they are everywhere right now. I know some people hate the noise, but I love how loud they get in the evening. It drowns out the thundering FA-18's as they roar over the house!
Mr. Dog Day Cicada
If you or your kids have these guys and want to know more, I found an article with some good pictures here! I admit they are pretty fun to play with!
I have so much going on in the yard, but no time to write as of now.... suffice it to say temps have been 78-80 degrees for 3 days, NO humidity, and cool nights in the lower 60's... my windows are open enjoying an evening breeze. Hard to believe we spent the last few weeks in a virtual steam oven. Temps are to return to that on Monday, but for now we are busy enjoying. Tonight is forecast for 58 degrees so I am thinking about setting up the tent and camping with the kids in the garden. We'll play "flashlight" and listen to cicadas! Oh, I can't wait until they are old enough for "real" scary stories!
Lovely peanuts you have there! Just curious, why is your mockingbird evil? We don't have them up here in western MN.
ReplyDeleteMy busy day resulted in soft boiled eggs, rye toast (with brand-new strawberry jam!), and a cottage cheese/veggie salad for dinner. Needless to say, compared to our slapped-together meal, your "cruddy" helped-a-lot-with-fresh-garden-veggies looked pretty good!
ReplyDeleteThat first bug picture kinda scared me. How big are they?
What a shame the kids roof top garden doesn't look as if it's gonna turn out to be much. Such good plans and intentions. :o( Bummer.
Oh EW I have seen Cicadas before but I don't think I want to get that close to one! And I usually do okay with bugs.... call me chicken.
ReplyDeleteOur garden is coming along but just not the way we figured it would. While you've been having the blast furnace going, we've had... rain. And not enough sunny days in between the rainy ones. This is NOT normal for Eastern WA but the plants seem to be doing okay. I'd love to try growing peanuts! Fun!
I love cicadas. They are SO loud. It's not time for them here yet- but soon... A few years ago, we were on our way back from the coast and while driving through the mountains in PA, the cicadas were so thick the side of the road was moving- now THAT was a bit much!
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes look lovely, We finally had our first 3 cherry tomatoes tonight on salads. They were barely ripe but OH, so tasty!!!
Judy
Very cool that you're going to get out with your kids like that. It's something they'll always remember. We had a humidity free day today, too, and it was a shocker to the system. We played outside most of the day.
ReplyDeleteThe cicadas, humidity and Mocking birds-My favorite! I grew up in Alabama (Air Force dad) and I miss these things! We used to collect the shells they would leave after they would molt and hang them all over our shirts!
ReplyDeleteSo awesome you can grow peanuts, I'd love to see how they progress.
Your site is extremely interesting to me, I'm gonna have to spend some time reading...
Hi Jo! "Evil" Mockers is evil because he divebombs our heads! It's really quite endearing though, I enjoy all the personality the mockingbirds have, the female doesn't do it, but the male will defend the nest like nobody's business! It's really the worst in the early spring when he is getting used to us being outside in "his yard" a lot. I have to carry an umbrella or broom to wave around my head to keep him off of me. He has been here for 3 years, I know he is the same one because he "mocks" my dogs by barking! He perches on a split rail fence and starts flapping and getting noisy as I approach the garden gate, it's pretty cute all that bravado!
ReplyDeleteMamaPea, I would take that dinner any day over a frozen pizza!
Dawn, it seems as though a lot of us are having very difficult weather this year!
Judy, those cidadas sound crazy! I remember living in MN in the summertime mayflies would get that thick on the bridge over the Mississippi being attracted to the lights and my town would use snowplows to get all the mayflies off the bridge!
Ribbit, enjoy! The key is that humidity being absent! You know it will be awful again soon and plenty of time for blogging again!
Cathryn, that's funny about the shells! The peanuts were an afterthought for the kids since hubby built one more planter box for them before he left, and we happened to have some free saved peanuts from a seed swap, went into this completely ignorant, but it is really fun learning by watching them, with no idea what to expect! I purposely didn't read much about them preferring instead to have the kids "watch" and report back to me - that's how I was able to photograph the tiny yellow blossoms hidden at the bottom, the kids found them! Thanks for the blog compliment, I find it's very therepeutic for me especially since hubby is deployed, it lets me converse with other adults and gives me a break from talking to little kids 24/7! Love your profile pic, the view looks amazing!
Cool nest shot Erin, and the bugs are outrageous!! Keep cool...can't wait to see the peanut harvest.
ReplyDeletewe are trying peanuts for the first time, too! i have no idea if they will grow here, but hubby wanted to try. after reading your post, i know more about them than i did before. :)
ReplyDeletewe usually see cicadas around, but not this year. maybe it isn't hot enough yet. they like to park on my son's swingset. if we happen to be out swinging while they are in action, it is LOUD!
fun post! :)
Erin-
ReplyDeleteYour boys are blessed to have you! I'm so glad you're enjoying the nice weather. :)
Same weather here, but fewer cicadas. Great to be able to dress up a frozen pizza with veggies and herbs from the garden!
ReplyDeleteMockingbirds can be vicious. My condolences that you will have even more when those eggs hatch out. The good news is that they are insect-eaters. Maybe they can decrease the mosquito/biting fly population!
I love cicadas too! My husband, not so much. I'm glad that something is growing in the boys green roof project, even though it might not make it to the top.
ReplyDeleteHope you and the boys had a great 4th! :)
ReplyDeleteHow cool! I've never seen homegrown peanut plants before. I wonder if they will grow here in New England. Keep us posted. I'm curious to see what the young pods will look like.
ReplyDeleteSometimes dressing up a frozen dish makes all the difference.
OK...growing peanuts is so cool! I wonder if we can do it in the NW, I will check on this.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your roof getting 'cooked'...everything here is drowning, 3 of 4 day in July so far have rained!
That but is so very interesting...nothing like that here.
The pizza made me smile...great job! Kim