Seed update

These mixed colored marigolds have brought so much enjoyment this spring, during the summer, and most likely into the fall.


They were originally from 2 year old seeds left in the garage from the house we recently moved into a year ago.

The kids and I, had such a fun time planting them from seed into egg crates and then watching them grow (see this post). We've had many fun conversations about flowers and what is needed to help them grow. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing them just outside the kitchen window every day.

When the flowers shrivel up, you can pull the seeds and save for another planting. Which I plan on doing. A whole lot more next year!

Blessings in the Mail...

Just the night before, I went to Walmart for some shopping and to peruse the garden section. I came away bemoaning the fact that I had wanted more color around the house with blooming flowers, but that buying flowers was such an expensive venture.

So then "lo and behold", in the mail today, I found a box full of bulbs! They were sent over from Oregon from my husband's parents who had gotten the tip from my sister-in-law that Home Depot was giving them away! I felt so blessed that they shared those with us and that the Lord had met this desire of my heart.

Here is what was in the box with some of the helpful suggestions for growing them:

30 corms of Pink Gladioli, 27 Matchpoint Red Gladioli, 28 Trader Horn Red Gladioli
(*plant at bi-weekly intervals for continuous color)

8 tubers of Lavender Perfection Dahlias
(*Pinch of the first flower buds on the main stems for greater flower production and a fuller-looking plant)

35 bulbs of purple Liatris
(*they are hardy and reliable and require little or no care - loving this one!)

3 pink Begonias, 4 white Begonias
(*Low medium flowering plant)

7 Assorted colors of Lilies
(*plant where there is some shade during the hottest part of the day so that flowers will hold their color)

Can't wait to start digging in some good old dirt!

Good Stuff!

Hello everyone!

Found this article over at Mary Ann's House: Frugal Fridays - "Eating Well on a Very Small Budget".

I could not have said this any better, myself. She is doing so many of the things that we do in our home. Though, it has taken me a few years to figure it all out. It is so great how she is trying to be a good steward with what the Lord has given her. I really love how she is also keeping everything balanced by eating healthy in a limited budget. Also, being resourceful without going overboard. There is some great stuff in there - be sure to check it out.

For more Frugal Friday posts, please visit Biblical Womanhood

Prescription Plan

Here at our house, there is a row of about 5 rose bushes. One of them has a problem of red rust infection. If you look closely at the original shoots, you can see some of the discoloration.

We want to redo this bed of roses by tearing out all the useless black paper. Then lie down thick layers of dampened newspaper, with bark as a covering. Doing this would make the area look so much nicer as it borders the lawn and the neighbors driveway.

Here is the prescription plan:

1. Cut back and thin out bushes to promote growth.

2. Keep enough leftover coffee grounds to place around the roots of the rose bushes.

3. Drench the entire rose bush with Fungicide every 7-10 days during first budding.

4. Spread a Rose Sytemic for the keeping bugs off and promoting growth every 6-8 weeks during growing season.

5. Use calendar to keep track of applications.

6. Take care to not let the lawn sprinkler spray water on top of the rose bushes every time it's watered. Try to be more purposeful in watering just the root area.

7. When blooms are finished, cut them off to promote additional blooms.

There you have it. A prescription plan for healthier rose bushes.

Bring on Spring!

Around our place, we are ready for Spring! There has been such nice weather that we couldn't help but be outside working on projects.

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to:

The first flower to break ground.

Daffodils by the front porch steps.

Hanged up a humming bird feeder out back, over the deck.

Raked up pine needles and thatch from the yard.

Strawberry plants - Before:

Strawberry plants - After cleaning them out.

With purchase at Zamzows we could use their spreader for free.
Here we are spreading fertilizer on the front and back lawns.

Hopefully this will help make a greener lawn and choke out the weeds.

Two old compost bins - Before:

We found a basketball, broken pitchfork, and broken toys.
The dirt was old & moldy.
Empty compost bin - After:

Cleared out most of this pile and took to dump:

Worked on pruning the Lilac Tree. Since we missed the time to cut it back last year, after the flowers had bloomed, we then were able to cut it back only by a third.

We are looking forward to doing a proper pruning this next time.

The seed

The kids and I recently read "The Carrot Seed" book by Ruth Kraus. It is a wonderful little story about a boy who plants a seed, despite skeptiscism from others, and then waits patiently for the seed to grow. This book has simple and progressive stages of how a seed comes to be a plant. With a little patience, clearing out weeds, giving it water, some sun, a little love, then a seed will grow into a grand carrot.

Gardening has so many wonderful metaphors that parallel our relationship with Christ. Will save that for another post.

Anyways, we read this book and then did our own project on planting seeds:

Here we used egg crates, potting soil, and some old marigold seeds from 2001 that were left by the previous owners of this house. Most seeds should sprout if they have been kept in a dry environment. Hopefully these will grow.

The kids really loved poking their own drain holes in the bottom of the crates with toothpicks and then ever so diligently filling the areas with dirt.

We sprayed them with water and put them in the window sill.

I heard from my Mom, in Oregon, that Marigolds are helpful in warding off bugs and pests in the garden. Hopefully, we will get to do a small garden this year and these flowers will bloom.

All year long..

This last Christmas, I received an excellent gift from my brother-in-law, Adam. Every year, we secretly exchange sibling names and share a "wish list". I wanted a book that would be good for "working a yard". If you ever have the chance, try picking up the Complete Home Gardening - Growing Secrets and Techniques for Gardeners by Miranda Smith.

There are beautiful illustrations with clear step by step planting and growing instructions. Includes tables and charts of information that I would have never imagined needing to know. It even illustrates how to construct a fence to keep the deer out! Not a problem for us. ;)

I am thoroughly enjoying reading this book. Not sure what will be accomplished this year. But it is so nice to have a ready guide. I have always enjoyed plants and have fond memories of helping my grandma with her garden. She did amazing things with a small amount of space.

Last May, we moved from Montana to the house we live in now. With this home, we have been blessed with a front & back yard. A true first in our married lives. There was so much to do. Lots of weeding, trimming bushes, pruning trees, spraying, mowing, etc. All "good problems" to have, but the work took so much time and toiling under the hot sun. We are glad to have a bit of head start this year.

Looking forward to seeing what "Spring" flowers we may have around the property just waiting to show themselves. There are also thoughts of planting flowers from seedlings, and maybe some vegetable gardening in a small patch of the side yard.

Now, How do I check the PH level of my soil?

Spring Time?

This last weekend, there were so many people commenting on it being Spring time. I thought, are you serious? Well sure the weather was in the high 50's you know t-shirt weather, birds chirping, beginnings of flowers breaking through the hard ground, I thought, "Maybe?"

It seems so odd because last year during this time we were in Montana. Where you don't even mention Spring until the last week of May and 1st week of June. I'm not kidding. And then there are tales of snow falling on 4th of July. Montana has a growing season of 3 to 3 1/2 months. So when we moved to Idaho in May, spring was done. The hot weather was here.

So guess what? Today, we woke up to snow on the ground. That will teach all those people with high hopes to speak of Spring Time so freely!