Kid's Garden

The kids decided they wanted their very own garden this year.  When we received a seed catalog in the mail this winter, they went to town picking out what they wanted to plant.  I decided I would let them each have a side.  They picked out mostly flowers, but Miller did pick out some beans.

It has been so nice out.  The kids have been begging me to plant their seeds, so I finally gave in. 

I got some cilantro, dill, lavender, and tomato seeds.  I still need to plant some basil. We signed up to do a CSA again so I am not going to stress out about our garden this year.  I know I will have plenty of organic, local fruits and veggies coming my way.

My parsley is still looking good.  I also have some chives and thyme that came back from last year.

The biggest surprise was some arugula that popped up.  The kids love tasting all the different herbs.  It is not uncommon for one of the kids to come in from playing outside with parsley breath. 

Snapshot Sunday- Macro Garden & More Birds

I had some fun with my macro lens yesterday.

The blueberry bushes are blooming.

Beans are sprouting.

Roses are blooming.

The clematis is in full bloom.

Even dandelions can be pretty, right? 

Can't forget the birds.

I can't believe how much they have grown in a week.

I read somewhere that the mom and dad robin make over 400 trips in one day to feed their babies.  I would believe it.  The babies were on their own most of the weekend, but it seemed like the parents were always coming back with more food.  It seems like they are eating constantly.

You should be able to tell from this photo that there are indeed 4 babies.

I am going to be sad when they leave the nest.  I am totally obsessed with watching these little guys.

Bird Watching

We have been doing some bird watching at my house.  We have a mountain laurel tree right outside our bathroom window.  It must be the perfect place for a nest because it seems like we have a bird nest there every year.  We usually get doves, but this year we have a robin. 

We have been watching for the eggs to hatch for a couple of weeks now and finally this week they hatched.

How cute are these little guys?  I think they are hungry. It has been so fascinating to watch the momma and daddy bird tending to the babies.  I think I check the window at least 15 times a day.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but there are 3-4 baby birds.  I have seen 3, but Harper swears there are 4 of them.  I think they are used to us glaring at them now because it doesn't seem to bother them any more.  Hopefully I will be able to get some shots of them as they get bigger.

Lessons With The Lorax Blog Tour

I was asked to participate in a blog tour to support the upcoming release of Universal Pictures’ Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.   I am so honored to be part of this wonderful series.  

I can't wait to go see the movie.  I think the kids are really going to love it. 

In honor of The Lorax, I wanted to share a project reusing an item that can be found in most people's homes.  Reusing items around the house and transforming them into something new is one of my favorite things to do.   It's rubbing off on the kids too.  They are notorious for finding uses for things that are destined for the recycle bin.  I love that!!

We have had such a mild winter this year.  With temperatures in the 50's and 60's, it feels like Spring is just around the corner.  I am already planning our garden for this year.  To satisfy some of my gardening cravings, I decided to go ahead and get started on some of my herbs.  Today I am going to show you how to turn toilet paper rolls into seed starter pots.

Let's get started.

The first thing you will need is toilet paper rolls, preferably ones that have not been bleached.  I did find some that looked like they had been bleached.  I used them to see if my project would work.  I won't use them in the garden though.



Then you want to cut the rolls in half.



Next, cut up newspaper or any other thin non glossy paper you can find.   The newspaper really worked the best, but I also had some brown paper that was used in a package I received.  It worked pretty well too.   Cut the paper into small strips.





Then layer the strips across the bottom of the toilet paper roll.  I also put a strip all the way around the toilet paper roll to secure the pieces across the bottom.





The kids loved helping.



Let them dry overnight.

Once they are dry, you can fill them up with compost or potting soil.




I placed a couple of cilantro seeds in each of mine, then covered them with the compost.

Then give them a little bit of water.

Once your new seedlings are big enough and it is warm enough outside, you can transplant the pots to your garden.  Remove the paper bottom before planting to allow the roots more room to grow. 

Be sure to check out the other blog tour participants.

Feb. 21   The Green Parent
Feb. 22   Eco Child's Play
Feb. 23   The Smart Mama
Feb. 24   My Plastic Free Life
Feb. 27   Retro Housewife Goes Green
Feb. 28   Groovy Green Livin
Feb. 29   Mindful Momma
Mar. 1    Grean and Clean Mom
Mar. 2    Moms Going Green Blog
Mar. 3    Kitchen Stewardship
Mar. 4    Nature Moms

THE LORAX will be in theatres on March 2nd.

Website: http://www.theloraxmovie.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theloraxmovie
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/theloraxmovie
Twitter: http://twitter.com/thelorax

Garden Progress

I picked my first squash on Sunday. I grilled it before I could take a picture of it though.

We have a squash plant, pumpkins, and watermelon. They are obviously planted way too close together. It is a bit out of control.

Mitch picked a couple of cherry tomatoes, but they were eaten before I could take a photo.
We have lots of green tomatoes.








We have one teeny, tiny watermelon growing.



We have lots of pumpkins. Harper brought a plant home from school, but we think that maybe the kids planted some pumpkin seeds in the garden back at Halloween. We have at least 3 more pumpkin plants that sprouted up out of nowhere. Mitch also dug a potato volunteer out of the compost bin and planted it.

We have herbs, lots of basil and dill.





My little garden sure does make me happy.

Around the Yard

I did do a little bit of sewing this week. I made a sundress for Harper, but it still isn't quite right. So no pictures of it yet. I also started quilting Harper's quilt, but that is going to be a LONG, tedious process. I am taking my time and trying not to rush through it. So instead of craftiness today you get to see photos of the yard.

The cicadas are finally here. We have been anticipating them and they finally started surfacing this weekend.

I will try really hard to have something crafty to show next week.

Garden Update

Here are some garden photos for your viewing pleasure. The day lilies are in full bloom.

The herb garden is doing much better this year. I decided not to thin out the plants so we will see if they keep thriving.

Basil

Cilantro

Parsley

There is also some random dill that has popped up and some chives returning from last year. The parsley from my very first year is still around too.

Only one of my blueberry bushes is producing berries. They are not plentiful, but the kids still get very excited.

Look at my poor broccoli. We can't figure out what is eating it.

I am not sure what these are, but it seems like I take a photo of them every year so I don't want to break tradition.