Mamazen

Thursday Thirteen... ok it's friday, but...

I was out in the garden today and decided it was a perfect topic for TT... so without further ado...
Thirteen things growing in my garden

SQUASH! I sprouted a variety of squash seeds and then put them out in the 'pumpkin patch' where we left a couple of pumpkins composting from last year. Once everything was leafing out, I thinned things out and they are taking off! I'm hoping that we get a decent amount of winter squash, but if it's all zucchini, well then I guess we will have a LOT of zucchini bread this winter!

FENNEL! I have no idea where this came from, a volunteer from my neighbors yard, I think. One of them will be transplanted to Adina's house and the other two will continue to live in the squash/pumpkin patch and eventually become something delish!

STRAWBERRIES! or shabbies as Ruby says. We planted 5-6 strawberries last year and now they are taking off. If it ever warms up, we should have enough for breakfast on a regular basis! yum!

Oregon Sugar Peas. YUM. These were planted from seeds that were sprouted in my kitchen sprouter... and they are taking off like crazy. I am hoping for a fab haul that can be frozen, and eaten of course! I am also planning to re-seed a second time mid june for a late summer harvest. We'll see if I remember to do that.

CHIVES! Garlic chives smell and look delightful, and are a fab addition to a salad dressing or omelette.

LETTUCE and SPINACH! Nothing says welcome to spring/summer like a freshly picked salad. Last week we picked up lettuce at the farmer's market, but looks like we need to eat it fast because our garden is about to really take off. I planted a variety of lettuce and hopefully enough spinach to freeze some for later.

TOMATOES. This year I planted 5 plants, two roma, one heirloom, one beefsteak, and one yellow pear. My plan is to put up as many cans of stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce as I can, as we go through a LOT of them in the winter with lasagna and spaghetti.

ONIONS, SHALLOTS and GARLIC. We eat so many of these all year long. I'm hopeful this little patch will yield enough to last several months, if kept in our cool basement pantry area. This pix doesn't look too pretty, but the harvest will be fantastic.

NASTURTIUMS! These are delicious, attract bees and are beautiful. I always plant them around my veggie beds, and this year is no disappointment.

LUPINE! last year, I threw wildflower seeds in between the vegetables, thinking it would keep things lively, and in the end all it did was hide things like the beans, that I forgot to harvest at all. Most of the wildflowers from last year never came back, but this lupine did, and it got moved to a nearby bed. it's happy, and gorgeous and a reminder that every year, each garden is an experiment that you learn from.

I've also got chard, broccoli, soy beans, pole beans, kale, carrots, beets, parsnips, and cilantro, but none of those pictures made the grade. This year, is the first time in a long time my garden makes me proud. Last year it was cobbled together at the last minute, and I forgot about harvesting many things as our summer got crazy. The year before I planted very few things as the landscaping had just been done and then I went and had a baby, and the two years before I was too depressed by infertility to attempt growing anything at all. But this year, my efforts seem to be rewarding me before I even harvest. Just looking at all the fresh growing GREEN makes me happy. This is also the first year I've kept a journal or a notebook about the garden, and I made a map and plan before I bought seeds and starts. I thought about starting a garden blog, like Adina, but i can barely keep up this one and haven't posted on my knitting blog in 200 years, so I'd better just keep it all in one place!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things that SUCK about this week.
1. Husband starting to feel sick on saturday night.
2. Husband continuing to feel sick all day sunday. Took a 3 hour nap. Jealous.
3. Getting a call from child care provider mid afternoon that baby has fever of 103.
4. Realizing as I hang up the phone that I feel pretty crappy too.
5. Coming home to crying baby, moaning husband and your own rising temperature.
6. Night after night after night of baby waking ever 30 mins to nurse, or to cry in pain from the fever.
7. Night after night after night of baby sleeping on top of you. While you suffer through 103.5 fever.
8. Husband is too sick to help. all. week. Man cold. (truthfully, I've only seen him this sick one other time in 12 years)
9. Baby is so sick she refuses to even LOOK at anyone else in the house all week. The only thing she has eyes for are my boobs.
10. My. boobs. are. so. sore. Nursing every 30 mins round the clock is exhausting.
11. Having one of these sick days be also a no nap day. now THAT was brilliant.
12. Waking up from a long nap with baby to find that she has symptoms of a brewing ear infection.
13. Taking a long bath to kill your chills, only to have them return 20 mins later.

yeah, it's been a shitty week. however, I've had tons of friends who have reached out, offered help and even a couple who have brought us amazing meals. (of course they RAN from the house of the flu with their faces covered.
Hopefully this will pass soon (altho when my mom had this flu, she was out for 10 days. TEN DAYS!) and we'll be right as rain next week!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen reasons I love my husband.

1. Because he IS.

2. Because he gave me her.

3. Because he works hard to make the money that allows us the lifestyle we have.

4. Because he does dishes, and folds laundry

5. Because he's spending all his free time (well not ALL) renovating our basement so I can work from home.

6. Because he makes her laugh in a way no one else can.

7. Because he thinks I'm beautiful.

8. Because he cares about small animals, and trees, and people.

9. Because of the way he looks at me... and her.

10. Because he properly uses the word "fuck" on a regular basis.

11. Because he is passionate about what he believes in.

12. Because he wants to have another baby with me!

13. Because he just IS. Yeah I said that already, but it's a big one.

Thursday Thirteen

This week turned out to be harder than last week, which makes me feel like patting myself on the back, but I know I can be greener, so I won't be too proud.
Mamazen's UNGREEN THIRTEEN

1. I eat meat. I was a vegetarian for a long time, but once I added meat back into my diet I felt healthier and had many less allergy problems. Health won. I choose only local/organic so as to decrease our impact on the environment, but I still know it's huge.

2. I (like Lee) LOVE a long hot shower. Some days it's the only time i have to 'myself', as Ruby tends to just run around the upstairs while I shower, reading books and playing.

3. I drive more often than I should. I do drive a hybrid, and I try as often as possible to combine trips, but still I could do better. My husband bikes to work, but I can't do that...as there aren't showers at my office, and besides, i'm a horrible cyclist!

4. I (like Lee) LOVE shoes. I prefer leather over man made, as they last longer and don't end up in a landfill in a year, but still, I should probably own less. ( i say as I look at new boots...)

5. I don't compost. We are hoping that this will be remedied this spring, but with the basement remodel, who knows if we'll get it done.

6. I love to travel. We fly many times a year, to visit family, friends, and to vacation. It's the least green thing you can do. We do offset out carbon emissions tho, so I'm trying.

7. Our house is old and drafty, and could be better insulated. we keep the heat relatively low (68 tops, but usually 66 during the day, and 60 at night) but it's cool within minutes of the heat shutting off. We cozy up under blankets while watching movies, and reading, and wear layers, but we should get new windows, and better insulation.

8. I use my dryer way too much. In the warmer months I hung 80% of our laundry to dry out side, but in the wet months it takes SO LONG to dry stuff inside. I should be more patient!

9. Processed foods. We don't eat a ton of them, but there are a few that we should part with. I am a sugar lover... sigh, sugar, my friend, my enemy!

10. We get way too much junk mail. this needs to be remedied. period.

11. Our downspouts aren't disconnected. They were, but then our basement flooded... which sucked. We should find a better way to deal with our rain water... like barrels. :)

12. My kids conception was expensive and probably hell on the environment, and her siblings will be too. Ruby was an IVF baby, lots of drugs and expense. I'd say i feel guilty about this, but nope. I don't. it's the only way I'd get to have a baby, so be it.

13. I knit with wool yarn, that isn't always organic. :shrug: I'm reaching here, folks.

So there you go. What can I say? I'm only human. :) but I'm trying!