You harvest what you plant whether it's in your garden or in life

If you haven't planted garlic before, please don't be afraid of it. It is wonderful and easy to grow.

In the Fall (after your garden had been tilled)

#1 separate the pieces of the bulb
#2 plant the larger pieces (there's no decision making with hard neck garlic because all the cloves are large)
#3 dig a trench about 3 or 4 inches deep
#4 space the cloves 3 inches apart
#5 cover the cloves with soil
#6 water regularly all summer (I use a drip line and timer) and when the soft neck garlic starts to fall over around the middle or end of July, pull it out of the ground.
#7 dry in a place out of the reach of birds (they'll peck holes in them - um just trust me on this)
#8 store in a cool dry place, saving a few cloves to plant next year.

Just a note: unless you have amazing soil make sure to fertilize with a great organic bone meal. (Always test your soil before adding anything to it)

So how does this compare to my regular every day life. In the fall, we think about putting our gardens to bed for the winter. But there is something about knowing I've got garlic growing. Knowing is going to pop up in the spring. Usually when it shows up I know it's time to plant peas. It's a motivator to start gardening again. 

The Daily, weekly, yearly stuff can become mundane. Sometimes we just need a little something to get us going again. By planting something good in my garden in the fall, I'm more likely to plant other good things in the spring. 

A few months ago, I held a baby during church so a young mom could get a little more out of the lesson. Today that mom put her arm around me and gave me a hug when I cried during the closing hymn. It's those moments of kindness that keep us going. 

You harvest what you plant whether it's in your garden or in life. Let's be more kind, thoughtful, and willing to help others, myself included. 

Carpet Phlox

All of these images are straight out of the camera - no retouching or manipulation of any kind.

I'll let you pick which images you like the best and I am just going to put the time.  Will you tell me which photos you like best - and why?

#1 - 7:02 p.m.

#2 - 7:10 p.m. (yes, these are the same purple flowers)

#3 - 7:03 p.m. 

#4 - 7:10 p.m.

As you can see on this last photo I added an element in the foreground.  Although it's out of focus having it there and something for the flowers to rest on gives the photo more dimension.  Oh and this is all carpet phlox.  It blooms only in the spring here.

Photographing Tulips - Light Matters

Light matters when photographing tulips.  These are my tulips.  And I always get asked what they are because they have several layers.  They are a type of parrot tulip.  I wish I could remember exactly but that'll give you a head start when you hit the garden center this fall. I started with 6.  Most other tulips get smaller with age but not these. Oh and Tulips need a lot of water in the fall or you'll get smaller blooms or just leaves.

My camera is a D7000 and I used my 50mm f1.8 lens.  My settings remained the same except that a few times I tried 1.8 but went back to 2.8.  These first few were taken at f 2.8, 1/200 second, ISO 200 in Fine Jpeg mode. In the photo above I darkened the blue saturation using the jpeg raw slider and that's it.  The rest I did nothing to.  Straight out of the camera.

These first few photos were taken at 6:55 p.m.  so the direction of light was from the side.  The mountains blocked the sun soon after this.  I thought I'd let you compare the photos. 

You can click on the photos to see them larger, just remember to come back and finish reading this quick lesson. As you can see the light shining through the petals and leaves is gorgeous. 

Now this photo was take at 7:11pm.  Can you see the difference? The sun just barely went behind the mountain. Still some direction of light.  Not the same contrast.  It's still pretty but it's lacking something.  Never assume that the sweet light that is great for some portraits is great for all types of photography.  Enjoy experimenting with light.  You'll be surprised what you find. 

You know, sometimes it's good to give things a trial run.  When I tilled this originally with my mini honda tiller I followed the slope and walked up and down this plot.  Then when I made my rows for corn I went east and west.  So the other day I decided to try and till between the rows just to see.  OY! Side hill tilling is no fun and kinda painful. So last night I decided to change my rows and moved them north and south.  Eventually there will be bushes and trees, a flat rock spot with a garden bench here but until I can afford all that greenery I am making this my corn patch.  

And because my Honda mini tiller is so incredible we have gotten more done this year than all of last summer and it's only May. Can you see that curvy line dug out of the grass?  Yes, everything to the left is supposed to be flower bed.  I found some disappointing news - the voles used my Rose of Sharon bush for a nest.  I think it will survive as long as they didn't eat all the roots but I will never let the grass grow up around it again.  And I might have to get a couple cats.  outside cats. 

 Here is a photo of the grass greening up in the back and filling in the vole runs.  I love it!

And I tilled the small area on the east side of the garage.  What to plant? I have no  idea.  I just don't want to look at the weeds. So I'll be tilling a lot this year I guess but at least I CAN. Oh and those ugly things are green bunching onions.  I tried to plant them about 4 years ago.  Nothing grew that year but every year new seeds sprout. I didn't know you needed to start them inside in like January. I collect the heads for new seeds and save about $1.50 on green bunching onions that way.

And if you want your garden photos to look better just take my Photo First Aid class.

Local Happenings

We drove up the Canyon with my in-laws and my husband jumped out and took a photo of this.  They haven't seen the spillway like this since 1983 when all of the floods happened. I was either in Panama (the country) or Alabama at the time but I am too lazy to try and figure it out right now. It's been much warmer since this photo and I'd like to see it again.  

At least one this is for sure, they have learned from 1983 and they built up the sides of the river banks in town. And they sand bagged.  It's seeping out into the fields now and they are having to sand bag homes farther away from the river now but at least its happening slowly.  It's amazing to watch and I am grateful we live up on the hill and that the snow near us melted slowly so that we didn't get mudslides. It's been a crazy spring.

Sprout Count

Like I shared before, we have onions, kohlrabi, garlic, cabbage, and lettuce out in the garden.  But I thought I might give you a count of what I am growing inside - my sprouts. 

I guess I haven't really kept track of what I've been up to and there is still more to sprout after this. I went through my seeds this morning and wow! 

So here goes (sprouts growing as of May 2, 2011):

Genovese Basil: 6 

but waiting on 18 more (just planted last week)

Bell Peppers: 12

Jalapenos: 18

Early Girl Tomato: 17

Roma Tomato: 13

DX-52-12 tomato: 12 

New This Year

Chives: 1 gallon pot

Dill: 12

I plan on putting the basil next to the house in a flower bed.  I've been very inspired but the edible garden I saw in last month's issue of Better Homes and Gardens and genovese basil is a gorgeous plant.  I can almost taste the bruschetta thanks to Udi's gluten free bread.  

I just recently removed the heating pad from beneath the jalapenos and bell peppers.  They take about 2 to 3 weeks to sprout.

And here is one of the new items I am giving a try this year. Dill. Oh and chives - did you know chive flowers are gorgeous and edible?  I'm not sure I'm game on eating flowers.

 My amazing friend Tera recommended that I grow dill.  You certainly don't need 12 - unless you grow 100+ cucumber plants.  But I've never grown dill before and I wanted to make sure a few sprouted.  I hear that not only are fresh dill sprigs great for dill pickles, it's great on halibut which I could practically eat all summer because it cooks on the grill and keeps my house cooler. 

And guess what???

Dill attracts tomato horn worms - they like dill better than tomatoes - and they are easier to catch because horn worms are wide and dill plants are much more slender than tomato plants.  I am going to try and add the paper towel rolls around the tomato plant base stems. - they are better than styrofoam cups and are biodegradable.

 So I'm going to be giving away a few tomato and dill plants this season.  There is a widow down the road that I bring a few to.  I love visiting with her and it's become tradition.  This will be the 3rd year. I'm sure my mother in law will take some.  She has the magic touch when it comes to growing tomatoes and she can keep them alive longer than anyone I know. 

What's next - in a few weeks - pumpkins, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers.  You should only keep them inside for 2 weeks or so or else the plants just don't want to grow.

IF YOU THINK YOU DON'T HAVE ROOM, YOU'RE WRONG.  ALL OF THESE PLANTS HAVE BEEN GROWING IN WINDOW MY DINING ROOM AND LIVING ROOM WINDOW SILLS.  

before spring returns

well, all but one Saturday this season has been spent on the tubing hill. It's been an absolute blast going both up and down the hill thanks to that OLD 2 seater snowmobile. Today, after tubing, Tyler put it up for sale.



And as you can see, we lost another tube. Those Uncle Bob's Authentic Snow Gear Aqua Leisure tubes are awesome, although I hear that the ones this year are not as fast. So we are keeping it and looking for some more AirStop - works like a charm. The extra large tubes are the best because it's like riding on a cloud - no jarring of the neck, etc. Just a wonderful ride down the hill enjoying our beautiful valley.

And in addition to another tube dying, the last tubing Saturday, and putting the snowmobile up for sale, I went to the garden store today. I bought seeds for my vegetable garden. A couple of different pumpkin varieties, zuchs, crook necks, corn for drying and grinding, cucumbers, carrots, peas, and snow peas. They even have a seed list with detailed info about what will cross pollinate, which are hybrids, when to plant and what to look for in the soil, etc. I am super excited about gardening this year. I have to go back for onions, tomatoes, basil, and potatoes. And I need to get a truck load of compost to till into the soil. Other than that, I think we are well on our way to a great garden. I have all the tomato cages I need along with the essential garden tools and my drip irrigation system. I might need some more gloves this year (we'll see). Although someone suggested I try black tarp to help my tomatoes. I love gardening. It's great therapy - provides lots of vitamin D (the happy sun vitamin) and this year I will have a yard full of grass instead of mud and I won't have to worry about putting in a sprinkler system. I am excited to just work on my garden. The sad thing is, there is still about a foot of snow where my tulips will bloom because they are all in shady areas. Spring will be here soon enough...