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I'm a Canadian now residing in Sunny Arizona since 2002. Although I've been a city girl all of my life, I've always loved the country and the laid back life it offers. My love of the Outdoors, Animals,and Gardening comes from my mom Cecile, who loved her home in the country, but sadly passed away in 2005. I promised her I would grow a garden in her name, And I finally did, five years later. One of my best memories of her is how much she loved her garden. The glow on her face when she would show me something new, always creating a life with things she loved. She loved all animals. She taught me simplicity, to enjoy the small things, and see beauty in everything. Today I find myself doing the same things she did in her garden and in life. This blog was created to keep track of my projects and adventures. They may not all be successes, but my goal is to remain unintimidated by whatever engages my curiosity. I want to share this adventure with those who can appreciate the small things, the trial and errors, the simplicity in it all, but mostly,what my mom knew how to do best,just have FUN! *This blog is dedicated to her*

Apr 30, 2010

My Little Red Potatoes


I feel incredibly lucky to not have any issues with my potatoes. Much of the information I have found describe the problems with pests and disease when growing them. I've been keeping an eye on them daily to make sure they are fine. This is one of the easiest crops to grow. I haven't seen any weeds around them,unlike my other vegetables which leads me to believe that they make it very difficult for them to come through.
Its been 2 months since I planted them and I am curious as to how they are doing. Yesterday I decided to gently dig around one and discovered the neatest treasure! This is where I have a big smile on my face :)
I was too excited to let them be, and since I already have plenty more I decided to dig them out and have them for dinner.
Yummy!

Apr 26, 2010

It was a very constructive weekend. But to my displeasure I had to remove a brittle peach and apple tree. Seems like the transplant didn't work and went downwards after that. It's hard to diagnose what could have gone wrong.
But now there's room to plant new trees, and that I did. I planted a semi-dwarf peach tree and to my surprise the banana tree was showing a sign of life so I decided to place it where the apple tree was. It still looks empty in the yard. I'm looking forward to planting more mature trees in the near future.
The vegetable garden is doing well, although some of the squash seem to be growing at a much slower rate. The tomatoes seem to have done their time,the potatoes are doing really good, so are the onions. I transplanted the corn that were in the seed starter trays and I'm sure they will be fine too.
I had to get more herbs. There's never enough Oregano and Basil I'm always plucking at them to use in my kitchen!
For the first time I used Fish Fertilizer on all my plants so I'm hoping the extra nutrients will provide good results. I made the mistake of smelling it once I opened the bottle and that was a very nasty surprise.
And oh yes i saw a little watermelon plant that I couldn't resist because it was there all alone on a shelf at the store. I brought it home and placed it near my cantaloupe. I'm hoping some good melons will come from it.

Apr 15, 2010

April is Here :)

Spring is in the air, although seasonal changes in Phoenix aren't dramatic, there's still a sense of renewal when April comes around. Increasing daylight, the fruit trees are in bloom ~ the lingering smell of citrus blossoms is heavenly.The birds in full vocal mode, Seeds from the bird feeder have fallen and grown into towering golden-rayed flowers :) what joy to see folks stop by and tell me what a lovely forest of sunflowers I have in my front yard :)
Ahhh spring...
Time to go through the house and do some cleaning. And cleaning I've been doing a lot of. I have neglected to update my blog (thanks for the kind reminder Bud :)...)
So here I am,going through my cupboards,closets, the shed, wondering how I could have accumulated so much since I moved in this home just 8 months ago.
Hmmm, maybe it's from all those yard sales I can't resist stopping at every weekend.
I spend more money on the streets than in malls.... sigh

Much of this accumulated stuff are from ideas I get when redecorating, and my creative juices flow more often than I'd like to. I will keep adding and changing but can never settle with a certain look for too long. I guess it makes for exciting things to see in my home, which is refreshing, and also reminds me the other day while walking my dogs I spotted a chair that had been tossed in the trash.
I HAD to have it. Although the purple velvet is really not something I would normally be attracted to this chair had something about it that I really liked. All it needed was a little touch-up with a matching pillow and VoilĂ ! It turned out to be the cutest little accent chair.

So with all I have gathered among the clutter, I decided to make my own yard sale this weekend. And hopefully with a good sale I will be able to purchase things that are REALLY necessary!
I plan to buy some more materials to put the final touches for the sitting area in my garden, and hopefully get some more fruit trees.
Sadly it looks like 2 of my fruit trees did not make it.I am still not certain as to why. However the Plum, Pear and Appple are exploding with new buds :) puts a smile on my face each morning when I check up on them.