right now

right now

Aug 20, 2010

kinderGARDENS Week 19 : Update from Planet Kid


Kim at the Inadvertent Farmer asked us this week what we've learned! A few things to be sure...

1. A "green roof" cannot be based in a container here. It's TOO DARN HOT! This would have worked great with a short structure where the plants could have been based in the ground, but their playset is a high structure, so we attached a container running the length of it - nope! Although there are plants that are alive and a couple of mini-pumpkins growing on it, it is far from "a green roof"!

2. Peanuts in a container - not a great idea since they need room for their "branches" to drop and root in the soil. We spaced them way too close. They look fantastic though, and are completely unbothered by insects or any disease. Very healthy plants, I just don't think we will get as many peanuts as we would have had they been in a raised bed and spaced properly.

3. Kids in the garden are awesome! They have definitely been more involved this year, and are wanting to make their own decisions about their garden space, and are learning so much by doing. Loch even yelled at me one day while I was spraying something and it got breezy "hey, cut it out, you'll kill my bees!"

As for this week, not much outside stuff going on, it has rained for the last 5 days, so we have been busy doing inside things.

Today, more Blackberry Lemonade!

Working hard for their sugar fix...

Waiting for the simple syrup to cool so we can add ice... so patiently!

Happy at last!

Froze some for another day!


Me? I am completely overwhelmed this evening. The sun is shining, but the grass is long and still wet, which means the mosquitoes are horrendous out there. The grass needs to be cut, garden needs to be ripped out, insects to deal with on the plants, fall planning to be done, the stewed tomatoes for the freezer actually need to be stewed - staring at them hasn't worked! Knitting project needs to be finished, what is it about weaving in the ends that will make me just put it aside right when I'm at the finishing stage?

Beans need to be picked, and...

the kids were assigned extra homework for music lessons... to watch The Sound of Music! The VonTrapp Family! You don't have to ask me twice... I think I will rent the movie tonight and try this whole work/chore thing again tomorrow!

As always, check out The Inadvertent Farmer to see updates from other contest participants!

14 comments:

  1. Mmmm, the Blackberry Lemonade sound so good!

    Don't give another thought to going out to fight the skeeters tonight . . . not worth it. As my dear hubby is fond of saying (which drives me nuts), "It will all be there tomorrow." (Grrrr.)

    Weave in the ends of yarn on your project while watching "The Sound of Music" tonight. It will be done in no time. (NOBODY likes to weave in ends!)

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  2. Blackberry lemonade sounds really good! How lucky to have all that stuff growing in the garden. Have a great time watching The Sound of Music, love that movie.

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  3. I have completely lost track of how many knitting projects sit in a bag, finished except for weaving in the ends! I probably have just as many "Just For Me" projects where I just went ahead and wore them with the ends all dangling out! Hey - they were still warm socks!

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  4. I'm there with ya--beans to pick and can, lawn to mow, fall planting to do, I have no knitting to speak of unless of course you count those three projects i started two years ago...Sound of Music!! We are there! We love musicals, especially the ones that drive the boys crazy. My boys have been tormented with the songs for years! As song as your boys don't have sisters to tease them they will enjoy it too!

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  5. uh, YUM! i'm coming for a drink!

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  6. MamaPea, when I first started knitting I couldn't imagine anyone not finishing something and was amazed that there was a name for this "hibernating" avoidance... NOW I UNDERSTAND! LOL... even ocd types are not immune to this phenomenon!

    The Author, sadly, iTunes did not have the movie so we will have to find another method. I no longer do Netflix since we have the AppleTV and regular video stores seem to have disappeared!

    Alison, I needed the laugh I got from the mental image of your ends dangling out, but I get it!

    Cathryn, there is too much to do this time of year!

    Kirsten, how fun would that be? All us blogosphere gardeners getting together for cocktail hour in the garden (or maybe several LOL)

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  7. Cocktails sounds good about right now. hubby and I just finished planting some of the fall crop and we are beat. Had to finish taming the garden before we could plant anything. Everything is wild!

    Would love your blackberry lemonade recipe. It looks so tasty and those boys are just adorable.

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  8. First let me say...I HATE weaving in the ends!

    Our blackberries are still just red, when they turn I know for sure I will be making some of your blackberry lemonade...yum!

    Sorry about the bugs...our mosquitoes are especially bad this year with all our our early summer rain...hate them too!

    Great post, Kim

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  9. For me, end weaving can be a really Zen thing. . . when it's the right time. And the light has to be good. Fortunately for us, outside is still very congenial. I got four rounds of a sleeve done today!
    I wish you could get out of the heat by coming here for a bit -- it's downright chilly.

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  10. The ripping out old plants to make way for the fall garden is also on my list. I've done some of this, but more is ahead of me!

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  11. Oh that is punishment to have to watch The Sound of Music...NOT! I love that movie and when I went to Austria that was TOPS on my list!

    I love that you let your kids in the garden. I think that is just awesome!

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  12. I wonder this every time I see a picture of your kitchen, what color are your walls? I love them! Are your counters stainless steel? How are they holding up? Do they get hot with direct sunlight?

    I feel your pain on the knitting (well, crochetting for me) I have 4 half finished baby blankets and no desire to finish them because it's too darn hot to deal with all that yarn!

    Blackberry lemonade sounds yummy right about now!

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  13. Stefaneener, I upped the ante and now I am trying color-knitting a hat for hubby and so far I have 11 ends hanging out of it LOL!

    ApplePieGal, I know huh?! Love Sound of Music!

    Nartaya, hello! No, the counters aren't stainless, they are black. The stainless you see is a $60 counter/island from S@m's Club I got 5 years ago that makes up the peninsula area of my kitchen. I have tried like hell to get that thing out of there so I could actually have room for a kitchen table since I have no dining room but it is just too valuable! I prep EVERYTHING on there and the shelf underneath holds all my appliances! It does not get hot all all though, and my walls are a steel gray/blue color. Most of the house is gray with just a few accent walls of the stormy blue.

    Dani, yes they are getting big, but not big enough to be of any help yet LOL! When does that come? Once they have moved out probably :)

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