Greenhouse progress!

Michael and I are really having fun with our greenhouse and experimenting with different ways to grow things. We put a lot of things in containers including radishes, beets and carrots. Here's are carrots coming up great! I discovered I loved beets and we finished up one container and have started a second one.

Our hydroponic tube plants have just grown huge and wonderful. Here's a broccoli head that I am going to cut tomorrow. I think we will have several good things coming over the next three to four weeks from the tube grown food.

I'm really excited about our grapes and how well they are all growing. We have six grape vines now growing. Look at all of the baby grapes! Each little nodule is actually a future clump of grapes.

36th Wedding Annversary

For our 36th wedding anniversary, Michael took me out to dinner. No, he didn't burn it! He took me to Shogun's a Japanese Steak House.


It was all wonderful and we had an enjoyable time! It's neat to watch them cook it all so quickly. We also went out to a movie, one thing we don't do too often so it was a special day.

I am so blessed to have Michael in my life. I thought we were in love 36 years ago but it has grown so immensely! I would rather spend time with him than anyone else in the world!

Atlanta Temple Open House

Last Friday we went to the Atlanta Temple open house. It will be dedicated in a couple of weeks. For years we were assigned to go to the Atlanta Temple. We got stuck in Atlanta traffic and were an hour later getting there. I don't miss that traffic!

It has taken about two years to remodel the temple. But it was stunningly beautiful inside.

They have also created some beautiful gardens around the temple.

We really had a great time going down and back together (minus the gridlock)!

My personal seed bank

I have always tried to have a generous supply of garden seeds around for planting. I have seen survival food bank seeds around for sale but a lot of them have limited varieties and have seeds that don't necessarily grow in the hot south.

Clemson University's agricultural center is selling heirloom garden seeds that they trace by almost like genealogy, some back 200 years. They have all been used for decades in South Carolina.

I bought several packets (they were all $1-2) and divided them up into two #10 cans. Since they were wrapped in paper envelopes, I put them in ziploc bags and pushed out as much air as I could.

I made a list of what seeds were in what can and copied the heirloom history pages and put them on top.

You don't put oxygen absorbers in these or you will hurt your seeds. The seeds are dormant and still need some air but they are best kept in a cool, dark place until you are ready to use them. Luckily we have the ward's #10 can sealer in the basement so I quickly sealed them. I printed a label for each can and they are now in our basement.

Poor Lilac bush

When we first moved into our house, I wanted a lilac tree that would get about 15 feet and have beautiful limgs of wonderful smelling lilac blooms. I guess I pictured something like this:

However, we had a low bush that did bloom and smell good, but just grew low to the ground and sent out runners and was basicallhy a mess.

So. . . Michael decided that enough was enough. He worked hard to get it dug up and out. Now we are planting a fig tree in there instead!

Sweet New Baby Girl!

I am way behind with my blog. The big thing is that we have a new baby in the family. Little Victoria was born March 16 in Salt Lake City. Adam and Caprise are the new parents. Poor Caprise had quite the job of getting little Victoria here safe and sound. She ended up spending 60 days in the hospital and Victoria came about six weeks early but she is here and healthy and doing well. I think she already has mom and dad wrapped around her little fingers. Thank goodness for Skype. We've been able to ooh and aah watching her with mom and dad. I just can't way to be able to go out to see her in person and hold and snuggle with her!

Potato towers and the Garden comes to Life

Last fall I planted some garlic and have seen 2-3 coming up!

Our Bartlet Pear trees are probably at their peak in bloom.









I love this stuff - it's mushroom compost that we get from a local garden center that is wonderful to use in our beds.


We are trying out a new way to grow potatoes in these towers. You have to get the right varieties of potatoes that grow throughout the season (I have red Pontiac and Binjte) but basically as the potatoes grow, you mulch them throughout the season and add more sides to the towers. They can still be growing and setting potatoes while you take the bottom planks out to get some potatoes for dinner.

We also did a raised bed in potatoes that I plan on piling up the mulch as they grow. Fresh potatoes are the best to eat! So much different than what you buy in the stores!

Tube plants 12 days apart

On February 26 we redid our hydroponic tubes and put in some very small plants in with a trickle of nutrients.

Here are those plants two weeks later.

They have more than tripled in size. . . in 12 days.

Floating lettuce and container update

Here is the picture I took when I put the lettuce in the floating bed on February 26.

Here is the same floating bed of lettuce on March 10 - 12 days later!


Here are the containers of carrots, radishes and beets on February 26th.

Here are those same containers (in backwards order) 12 days later!

I think we are on to something with our greenhouse crops!

See anything different?

Do you notice anything different about these two pictures? This is what I see when I open the door to the deck or am out in the garden. I love our view from our home. The first one was taken in 2004 before we built our newer raised beds.

I took this picture this morning.

See it yet? I was working yesterday and heard our neighbors across the pond start up some bulldozer equipment. All of a sudden, I thought I felt a light earthquake. I went outside and saw that the tree just on the other side of our fence had been taken down. Actually they took out two other trees, one on the other side of the pond and one by their barn. It sure opens up our view. But, I will miss the tree. It was home to a lot of songbirds in the spring and we enjoying watching the cardinals and mockingbirds come and go! We have a couple of pin oaks that are about 8 feet tall but it will take them a lot of years to take the place of the other tree!