2007 Garden

I do believe this is my first gardening post of the year. I did it -- I ordered some seeds. I've officially started my planning phase. Woo hoo...

I order the following "stuff" from JUNGS. They are celebrating their centennial this year -- so there are some bargains to be found.

Sweet William Double Mix
Herb Chives
Midwest Wildflower Mix
Echinacea Doubledecker
Celebration Glads
Pea Goliath Snow
Onion Plants Candy Hyb
Lettuce Jung's Caesar Salad Blend
Sweet Corn Radiance Bicolor
Bean Top Crop Bush
Garlic Elephant

We have done absolutely no landscaping... well except for those spindly little mums I plopped into the ground a few years ago. I plopped 5 -- I think 2 have lived. So -- those don't count. But this spring. It looks like I can add some glads, and some echinacea to the mix. I bought the wildflower mix and the sweet Williams for the tops of our cave. It is rather hard to mow... often you see caves covered with tall grass (or weeds)... so we'd like to have our covered with wild flowers. Last season we splurged on the WAL-MART mix that comes in a box. I think there are about 2 seeds in there with a lot of filler thrown in for good measure. Well - that's about what we got -- 2 plants maybe... so I'm going to go ahead and be a little bit more spendy this year. Woo hoo... I hope it pays off. Ü I like wild flowers.

Now -- for the actual garden. We are going to have some SWEET CORN!!! Yippy Skippy! I'm so excited. Normally we buy some at the farmer's market. But I'd like some fresh off the stalk! Yep... I'd like to try.

Last year we planted a row of peas -- that was about 1 meal worth. Whoa... so -- that's a bust. This year -- snow peas. Hoping we get a few more results from all that work. We'll eat the pod and all this year. Less waste.

CANDY ONIONS -- my sister who lives in Colorado has a gardener friend/expert who gave her some onions the size of softballs and they didn't make her eyes water. She was telling me all about them as she was slicing up my miniature excuse for an onion that was extremely volatile. My word... if you wear contacts it's not quite so bad. But if you have no sphere of plastic covering the eyeball -- then boy do those puppies make your eyes water. So I called Karen and said, "Hey Karen -- what sort of onions did your gardener friend/expert give you?" You know what she did? She called him -- she asked him -- and e-mailed me the response. Candy Onions. I found them at Jungs. I almost gave up -- but I found them under the hybrid section. So -- apparently they aren't made just as God made them... but I don't care... I don't like watery eyes when I'm using a sharp utensil. That's just plain dangerous. (Plus mine were puny).

Beans -- we had success with beans last year -- this year I need to buy more SEVIN -- because the bugs also had success with the beans last year. We harvested about 2 crops of beans (do you say that with beans?) Then I gave up and let the bugs have them. I pray that they all were gluttonous fools and they ate themselves to death and won't return for another round. PLUS -- I'm going to buy SEVIN in BULK this year. No ensy densy little shaker for me... I'm going for the 10# BAG of SEVIN. Ü Kill those bugs!!! Those beans are MINE!!! Plus -- I'm looking around for a canner... I may try to can some beans. This year I froze them... might try a little canning... we'll see.

And GARLIC -- yep -- I just blogged about garlic this morning. BOUGHT some... I pray the dog doesn't find them this year. Maybe I'll put up an electric fence around my garlic. Elephant Garlic at that -- hopefully their roar will scare the dog away... I don't think that's why they got their name -- I think it is because they are huge. But -- it's worth a try.

I like how seed catalogs show how huge or small something is. The elephant garlic was shown lying next to an ink pen. Have you ever seen a green bean next to a nickle? I saw that in another catalog. Too funny... really puts things in perspective for you. No falsehood there -- smart thinking.

Honest Abe - these are just the size of a penny... HONEST. (tee hee... really poor attempt at humor there...)

OK -- so -- it must be past my bed time. I'm getting a little giddy. Who needs drugs when a little lack of sleep will send you right on over the edge?

Tomorrow -- a new day -- it's the kiddos' Home School Co-op Activity Day VALENTINES DAYS WING DING!!! Woo hoo... chocolate abounds... that is -- if I don't eat it all before we leave in the morning. Eeeekkkk...

Happy Dreaming... spring is just around the corner. Get your gloves washed. Start practicing those knee bends. Dig out the rubber clogs... yeah -- my husband said I was a dork for buying those. Ha haa.... HEY -- they work! Just spray 'em off when you're done. But you can't really run the tiller in them -- they are too cute for that. No traction...