Who doesn't love a white picket fence

Everyone knows once you plant your seeds all you can do is water and wait. Chris and I would come every night to give the garden a good soak and add any items we've picked up from yard sales, thrift stores or in this case behind the shed at my Mom and Dad's house. I don't know what brought me back there but as soon as I saw it I remember it was as used at my brothers wedding and now was collecting cobwebs, I knew the perfect place for it!

 

Adding some personality

Once we put a few rows of seeds into the ground we noticed things took off quickly.

After volunteering for the day at London Farm garden sale we got tips from the veteran gardeners. I also scored a few items that I was very excited would add a little personality to our space (of course only adding to the pink flamingo that went in on day 1). The two square frames were about a dollar each. The wooden one made a great barrier for the strawberries. I originally had flowers as you can see from the photo below however Chris put up a fuss that this was prime real estate and should be used for something edible...strawberries were the perfect compromise of pretty flowers, edible and a must in any garden.

The second frame was the base for my peas. I knew I wanted something fun for them to grow up. We already have the tent with netting for the beans but I love snap peas so why not since we have the room.

I had my mom help me build the teepee trellis. We put the middle bamboo stick in first then one by one added the thinner twigs. I needed the second set of hands, definitely wouldn't have been able to do it myself.

Once we used up all of the sticks we wrapped the top with wire. I also wrapped the wire half way down for the vines to have more area to latch onto .

After removing the flowers and putting the strawberry plants into the planter we added a long stick that we found across the street at the beach. We were on our bikes so it was very funny watching Chris drag it while I was riding alongside him drinking a my wine in a to-go cup ha.

The stick ended up being more functional then we thought, it was nice to rest your arm on it while you were putting seeds in the rows. In other rows found I did a lot of lunging while trying to reach the other end of the row.  

In the photo below we had just planted the lettuce. The ones we started at home didn't take in the hard clay so we also added some new fertilizer
 
I love how every time we go we make changes or add something or see our little plants grow. I can't wait to make a salad ha.

 

 

Just a pile of dirt.

When I was growing up we had a massive garden at Mom and Dad's house. When Chris brought me to our new plot at the Community garden at London Farm I was pleasantly surprised by the size..We had big plans for this pile of dirt!

 

As the seedlings are starting to grow at home we had to get the soil ready. Now in hindsight we probably should have mapped out where we wanted things to a go a little better however we were just too excited and wanted to get things in the ground.

Starting your vegetable seeds indoors

I will be the first to admit I don’t have a green thumb. I try very hard but things don’t always work as planned. Chris and I have decided to take on a plot at a community garden which we’ll love and care for together. (This way if things go wrong I have someone else to blame!)

He came home the other day with seeds, starter pods, a tray to make our indoor greenhouse and a chart with the timeline for each of our vegetable’s planting schedule.

Again we are just going on things we have heard from friends and read online.

 Here are the first few steps we took in preparing our seedlings indoors.

• Label each row of pods. I found it easier to make stickers and put on the tray. If you place a popsicle sticks in the first one of each row you might lose track when you’re planting into the garden. I also made sure to indicate which type of kale or lettuce as it’ll be good to know which I prefer when it comes to making a yummy salads…I’m staying positive!!

• Place 3-4 seeds in each pod (apparently you put a few seeds in each in hopes one will take)

• Gently pour warm water over the tray

• Put the lid on
• Place in a heated room under  towel. We chose our spare bedroom on a table at the window right above a heat vent.
• Now we wait.

(I’m not going to lie, even though I know it’ll take up to 10 days to see anything I have checked on it every day ha)

I'm very excited and have a clear vision of what my future garden will look like...fingers crossed!!

Friday pick-me-up!

I don't know about you but sometimes I find myself at home with nothing to do and wishing I was out with friends having fun. Then on other days, like today, it's a beautiful semi-sunny Friday afternoon and although I have a plans with friends, all I can think about is curling up on the couch with a glass of wine and watching multiple episodes of House of Cards!

Why do we do this? We should save the lounging around for gloomy Sunday afternoons and get yourself excited for a night out with friends.  So the next time you're contemplating whether to stay in or go out, here is a little something from the fabulous Miss Elizabeth Taylor.