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From Weeds to Wonder: The Beginning Of A New Garden

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  When I first saw my garden plot at the local community garden, it was completely taken over by weeds—like a little jungle of its own. But beneath all that chaos, I saw potential. There’s something exciting about starting with a blank canvas (even if it’s green, tangled, and slightly intimidating). After some serious weeding, digging, and sweat, I’ve finally cleared the space. It’s not perfect—but it’s mine, and it’s ready for something new. The plan is to turn this plot into a vibrant mix of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Think tomatoes, basil, marigolds, and maybe even some sunflowers if I get bold. I’ll be documenting the transformation here—from the messy “before” to what I hope will be a lush and lively “after.” There will be lots of photos, gardening wins (and likely some fails), and hopefully a little inspiration for anyone thinking of starting their own garden journey. Stay tuned—planting day is just around the corner!
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The Birds Have Landed

This is a post that I really wish I had pictures for. I have been searching for the past 2 weeks for the eagles that come through our area every year at about this time. Yesterday I finally spotted them! I figured they would be coming soon. The geese are migrating through here. ( The eagles follow the migrating geese and use them as a food source) Also the ice on the lake is slowly melting, and now there are spots where the birds can reach into the water to fish. It really is a sight to see. The eagles are massive. They stand about 3 feet tall and just walk around on the ice in loose groups. I saw about 6 together out on the ice yesterday at Lake Manawa . Its exciting to actually see them catch the fish. Another bird that I caught a glimpse of yesterday was a robin. I haven't seen any robins around here in months. With the return of the robins, I will have to watch out for baby birds on my porch soon! Even though the official start of spring is Saturday, with all the birds comi...
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The Snow is Melting

Finally our temperatures are getting above freezing. The snow is slowly begging to melt. ( The snow piles are only 4 foot now) About a week ago I was pretty sure I wouldnt get to start my garden until July. Maybe I will get to use my tiller soon! Besides my tiller some new garden additions are lattice fencing that will go on the outside of my "expansion", A nice pink garden bag and new tools. I'm contemplating starting seeds soon. First I will have to figure out a way to keep the cat away from them :(
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I Actually Won Something!

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Seeds of Change was having a contest on facebook. They displayed 3 pictures of flowers on their facebook page and contestants had to be the first to correctly guess the popular AND scientific names of each flower. And guess what? I won! They told me to pick 3 seed packets from their catalogue and they would ship them to me. I picked Dragon Carrot, Rosa Bianca Eggplant, and Cherokee Purple Tomato. As A bonus they sent me one packet each of the flowers that I guessed correctly. How Nice! The packets the seeds came in are really neat too. They are a light weight plastic that reseal. That means next time I forget my seeds outside and it rains, They wont all be ruined! YAY! Here are the pictures that where given for people to guess on: Mckanna's Columbine Aquilegia vulgaris Everlasting Starflower Scabiosa stellata Pacific Beauty Calendula Calendula Officinalis
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Officially Tired of Snow

As of today we will have recieved 40 inches of snow this winter. By Monday that is supposed to go up to 44 inches. Thats double our average amount of snowfall that we usaually get. We've still got 2 months of this! I've got snow piles taller than me in my front yard, some of which the poor dog has fallen into and gotten stuck. I think it's safe to say I'm ready to be done with the snow. Who knows when I'll be able to start my garden- I'm sure it will take forever for the ground to dry up once the snow has melted. Right now all I'm left t do if shuffle through seed catalogues and read Garden blogs. My favorite catalogues have turned out to be Johnney's, Seed Savers Exchange, and Baker Creek. Johnney's seems to have alot of the traditional what I'm expecting when I think about vegetables kind of stuff. SSE and Bakers Creek have some of the more exotic heirloom types. I think I'll get a bit from each catalogue. As for Garden blogs acouple o...
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Forbes Magazine + Monsanto = FAIL

Forbes Magazine recently chose Monsanto as its "Company Of The Year". At first I thought it was some kind of sick joke. I was wrong. How Forbes could have done this in good conscience I'll never understand. Besides pushing family farmers out of business by coercion and harassment , Monsanto has something comparable to a monopoly on seed. This not to mention the problems I have with their chemicals and GMO's . Shame on you Forbes!
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Wee Little Watermelon

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Here is my first watermelon! I'm not sure if it will ripen before the cold weather gets here but it's worth a shot. It looks kind of ucky, but the black stuff on it is just flowers peices with mud on them. It's been raining here quite bit. Speaking of rain, A storm 2 nights ago blew my pole beans down :( Just as they were really getting going. I managed to prop them back up and spent an hour picking beans. I also had alot of tomatoes, banana peppers and cucumbers out there as well. My Yellew Bell Peppers finally turned yellow! I picked a bunch of those too! By the time I got back in my counter was full. I didnt have time to can everything, so I froze it. I ended up with 5 quart bags of peppers, 1 bag eggplant, and 2 bags of green beans (and yes, I blanched them first) I also picked 2 red habeneros for mom. I hope shes hungry... I only have about a million more out there. This huge tomato snuck up on me. It looks to be two tomatoes stuck together but I think I'll co...
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