A meme just because

Things I've Done (In Bold)

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars--Yep, on a sailboat in the Bahamas (too damn hot inside the boat in August!
3. Played in a band - Only lasted one year in marching band. HATED IT! Oddly, my two older children have LOVED marching band.
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world--A couple of times. I think it's mandatory if you live in FL!
8. Climbed a mountain--Trip to Cyprus.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea - Unfortunately, we were right in the middle of it. Never been more scared in my life, even in the middle of Hurricane Wilma when my roof was landing in the pool
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning--15 years ago, and I still can't eat coconut shrimp. Oddly, it was allegedly the chicken that was bad.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables--Duh!
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight--Has anyone NEVER had a pillow fight?
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill--Not since I started teaching. Too much of a PITA to get a sub and leave sub plans
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memoria
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job - The day after Scott and I closed on our first house. Those attorneys were total bastards.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone - King of the Hill in 8th grade. I was dethroned. Backwards. Down the hill.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car--Thank you, Dad, for the GM discount!
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper - Valedictorian! Woo hoo!
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - Smelling wet feathers takes me right back!
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury--Almost once.
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby--Three times!
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit--Practiced law for 13 years, so yeah.
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

oops, don't think I've forgotten about you!

Things are growing, don't worry! I've harvested a few radishes, I have a few small zucchini that will be ready soon, and maybe a tiny salad soon. My peas aren't looking so healthy - they have a few small pods on them, but the plants themselves have stopped growing. The rosemary? Tango Uniform.

Yesterday we went to the Boca Green Market for the very first time. It's been running for 4 or 5 years, but I never managed to make it there. Scott and I checked it out, and ended up buying a few things. We came home with bunches of rosemary (since mine died) and sage (Thanksgiving is coming soon!) for $1.25 each. Considering how much we pay in Publix for teeny little packages of fresh herbs, this was such a deal! We also got two fist-sized shallots for a buck apiece. Green and red bell peppers were decently priced, so we snagged a few. I think we'll definitely go back there, at least until the garden is producing more. There's also a green market at one of the local high schools on Sunday mornings. Not sure if it's the same bunch of vendors, so we'll probably check it out soon.

Scott is impressed with the garden (maybe more so with the fact that I haven't killed anything yet). The other day he said, "There isn't enough stuff!" Well, honey, that means you need to construct some more garden boxes for me! I think if I had more garden, I'd plant spinach and broccoli at least. Not sure what else, but I'll think about it and figure something out.

I'll try to get out with the camera today and get some pictures. Cold front coming through. For us, that means temps in the 70s all week. I know, I know, you're feeling my pain!

Planting, Round 2

Still lots of rain, and the soil mix is retaining plenty of water. I'm hoping it's not retaining TOO much water. Most of my plants look like they're thriving. The exception is the rosemary plant I bought at Lowes and transplanted. Slowly, slowly, lots of the leaves are turning brown and dropping off the plant. Is it the shock of transplanting, too much moisture, or maybe it was just a crummy plant? The reason I bought it was because I forgot to order rosemary seeds and couldn't find seeds locally either. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on it and see if it recovers.

My spearmint hadn't germinated at all. Probably a rookie mistake like covering the seeds (smaller than poppyseeds) with soil so sunlight didn't get through. So this morning I sprinkled a few seeds right on top of the soil. Cross your fingers! Yesterday at work, one of my coworkers was waxing poetically about making mojitos. If half of this spearmint takes off, I bet I'll have enough mint to give him a packet of mint so he can have a happy happy hour!

I only planted one square of tomatillos (one plant, really). Yesterday I was reading another gardening blog which mentioned that you needed at least one other tomatillo plant close by (pollination, most likely). I had a brief moment of panic about my lone plant. I did have one empty square in the same box with my tomatillo that was originally slated for more lettuce mix. This morning I planted another tomatillo seed there instead. The original plant has a three-week head start, but at least it'll have a pollinating pal.

I transplanted the (dead) cactus into my compost bucket. It was time. That square now has lettuce seeds. The three week lag time after my original planting day should give me a steady crop of lettuce when the first round of lettuce is done or bolts, whichever comes first.

Rain + warm weather = Lots of growth!

We've had a good amount of rain every day for the past week, so the seeds are really taking off. I first saw sprouts three days ago. Since then, the plants that had sprouted are growing quickly. I also have new growth.
I've seen a lot of difference with the eight-ball zucchini plants

The green beans are also looking very healthy, with all nine plants in each square pushing up through the dirt.

The radishes have all sprouted. I only planted one square. I know I like radishes, but I'm not sure if everyone else has acquired a taste for them.

(Sorry for the crazy formatting on the pictures . . . still learning the ropes on blogging.)

Scott was wondering whether he drilled enough drainage holes in the bottom of the boxes. We followed the directions in Square Foot Gardening and drilled one hole per square. I guess we'll see if that's enough drainage.

I'm going to have to come up with another way of labeling my plants, too. We cut strips from an empty gallon milk jug and wrote on it with a permanent marker. I noticed today that some of the lettering has already worn off. Good thing I sketched my garden boxes and labeled what I put in each square! I have some wooden popsicle sticks in my storage room at school. I think those might wear better over time, so I'll bring a handful home tomorrow.

Unbelievable!

I checked my garden today after work. We had a couple days of solid rain, so the soil was staying nice and moist. Today . . . SPROUTS!!! My lettuce has sprouted, one basil is poking out of the soil, my radishes have all sprouted, and my zucchini plants are going great guns already. I sure didn't expect to see such results three days after I planted.

Photos to follow soon.

Brown Thumb Gardening? What?

Growing things has never been my strong point. (It seems the children are a happy exception!) DH swears that I once had a cactus that was so desperate that it screwed itself into the dirt as it died. Twenty years later, and I am still hearing about it. He talked the kids into buying me a cactus for my birthday a couple of years ago. So now the whole cactus myth is a family joke.

Why a garden now? I subscribed to a CSA (community supported agriculture) for a few years, getting a box of produce every other week. I loved the fresh produce, but discovered that there were only so many things I can do with three or four eggplants every other week for two months. I decided against resubscribing, but it's so disappointing to go to the supermarket and look at the generic produce - cardboard tomatoes, wilted lettuce, starchy corn. And to spend a big chunk of my food budget on that? I also was spoiled by visiting my parents for three weeks this summer. My mom is the original green thumb - the woman can grow anything! I grew up eating all the produce most kids turn their noses up at: asparagus, soybeans (back before it was tagged as edamame), okra. Anyway, three weeks of fresh, homegrown vegetables was enough to convince me that I should try gardening again. Something more than a solitary flowerpot with a scraggly tomato plant, or a store-bought basil plant that baked in the hot sun on my patio a few summers ago.

I spent many hours on the web, learning about growing zones (zone 10 here!), planting seasons (September to May, the opposite of almost everywhere in the country), and ordering seeds. I also read about Square Foot Gardening, scoured the area for vermiculite, convinced DH to build my SFG boxes. Today was the big day. The garden is planted.