Inspiration

INSIDE SCOOP!

This is my inspiration for the painting I am working on.

Michigan Gardening - Week 5

Taking container gardening to another level.

This is my garden after 5 weeks. In this time I have learned that it's best for some types of seeds to be planted in containers to start, verses directly in the ground. (Green Beans, Carrots, Green Onion, tomato, pepper, and cilantro are some of those.) The black containers in the picture below are about 6-8 inches deep. I decided to use them to help me better regulate weeds and prevent the ground mole/vole from doing any damage to my young plants. But they needed some holes to allow for proper water drainage.

Thank goodness for my husband's power tools!
I placed about 6 of these holes throughout the bottom of the container. All containers after this I drilled hole with just the drill bit, but placed about 20. These holes seemed just a bit too big for my liking.

Then I dug a hole about 4-5 inches deep and placed the containers in the ground. Not necessary, but they look nicer this way.


There are green beans in the small container, tomato plants in front of them not in containers... Then squash and two containers of onions. The two large containers farthest away are buried in the ground about half way.

I believe this system is going to work well for now. I am not sure once the plants start getting bigger... I guess we'll wait and see.



(Staggered) Growing Green Beans & Carrots

My (round 2) green bean plants on Friday Morning...

And this is what they looked like (Sunday) tonight.

Planted about 10 days ago

Carrots planted about 20 days ago.

Yesterday I had a few flower buds on one of the tomato plants I bought. Of the two I purchase, it is the first and only one to have flowers so far. The plants is about a foot and a half tall.

Also, I now have only one cilantro plant (the other 2 died). It has sprouted one very small 'cilantro leaf'. I am hoping it survives. I love cilantro and use it often... but it might be cheaper just to buy it with the luck I am having trying to grow it.

Carrots have taken of like crazy! (After about 21 days they finally made an appearence in my first container, after about 10 day in the second container.) I am sure I will have to transplant them in the next few weeks.

I am now working on getting some asparagus seeds started. The seeds are soaking for at least 24 house before I start them.

I spent a lot of time in the garden this weekend. I actually meant to start my painting, but did not get to it. May sometime this week I can get it started, after my final exam for school is done, of course.

Plants

My coleus plants (two of about 12), the rest are in the ground. Also, those are tomato plants and a green bean plant in the small container.

My 'planting station'. Where all the magic happens...

My hostas just a few weeks ago ... I dug it up when there were only a few green 'starts' to it and transplanted it here. It is a hardy plant with a good root system. It has a few 'babies' scattered in my flower bed, which I will be moving elsewhere soon.

These are my Viola plants today. They have more than doubled in size from when I bought them about 3 weeks ago. The red and white flowers are snapdragons... kinds sad little things. I will not be buying any more of those. In the very front are some of my dusty millers.

My Babies

Eva

The Love Bug

(She is wet from swimming.)

Rayla

The Diva
(She stole the dogs bed)

Pinkie

The Cranky Pants

(He still like to snuggle on occasion)

Memorial Day Weekend Photos

Some photos I took from Memorial Day Beach Trip.
Elberta, Michigan.

Eva LOVES the beach.

Vertical & Container Gardening

Here are some wonderful ideas for vertical and/or container gardening.

Travel

I was thinking of someplace warm today and was reminded of a recent vacation. So, here is a fill-in-the-blank summary of my favorite type of vacationing... Cruises.

I __________ for the very first time while I was on my cruise.

Visited the Caribbean (2002, 2009, 2011)
Swam with stingrays (Grand Cayman)
Watched a 'Hairy Chest Contest!" (on Carnival Glory)
Visited Mayan Ruins (Costa Maya, Mexico)
Ate Sushi (on Carnival Inspiration)
Hiked through a rainforest (Puerto Rico)
Saw a Christmas tree on a beach (Cozumel, Mexico)
Snorkeled (Bahamas)

Saw flying fish (in the open ocean)
Never saw so many diamond in one place! (St. Thomas)
Celebrated New Years Eve with fireworks on the beach (Miami, FL)
Won $500 in a slot tournament (actually my hubby did this)! (on the Inspiration)
Had one too many mexican maragita's (2 in total, but they floored me!)

Had towel animals placed on my bed.
Ate non-stop... like never before!
Played Mini-Golf on top of a ship... and won!
Tried escargot (GARY!)
Saw a shipwreck
Played on some drums with bahamian locals!
Gained 10lbs in one week!
Toured a historical fort (Puerto Rico)
Chased iguanas (Georgetown, Grand Cayman)
Made a day of Margaritaville (Grand Turk)
Sailed into the Atlantic Ocean

I ________ before, but it was still fun to do it again on the cruise.

Took a tram ride to see some amazing sights (St. Thomas)
Relaxed and forgot all my worries
Ate as much lobster as I could stand
Partied in a hot tub
Saw a barracuda while snorkling
Drank some amazingly yummy beverages
Saw a pirate ship... tho not a real one thank goodness!
Laid on some amazing beaches
Voluntarily turned my cellphone off
Swam in the ocean
Collected Seashells by the Sea Shore
Fell in love
Had an amazing vacation with amazing people!!

Why I created this Blog

Welcome! Glad you could stop by.

I'll be using this blog in the future for most everything I wish to share with my family and friends, but do not wish to necessarily put on facebook. I also want to use this blog as a way to document my new and developing gardening skills, share some of my art & travel interests, and let you in on whatever else I might be up for sharing.

Please leave any comments on any post... and please excuse any misspellings... I am not always going to check for that kind of thing! :)

Lots of Love~
Emilie