Mommy and Sweet Pea

This week has been extremely wet here in western Oregon. By Thursday morning, the rain was really getting to me. I was worried my new starts were going to drown and that the seeds I'd planted last weekend were going to rot. Luckily, there was sun that afternoon and when I went into the backyard I discovered many of my seeds had sprouted, and everything other than the two lemon cucumbers was still looking fairly healthy. We now have nearly everything in, except for the corn. From left to right, our beds contain: 1. thyme, rosemary, lettuce, broccoli, cilantro, oregano, and cabbage. 2. carrots and potatoes (planted late - just a couple of days ago) 3. 8 tomatoes and 2 peppers 4. strawberries 5. half of the bed is strawberries (which we might move to join the other bed to give us more room for other things), cucumber, one lone eggplant, and a couple of echinacea 6. empty for now, but it will be soon filled with corn - we are doing seeds in containers and will move them one they...

Sweet Pea is using many words now, at nearly 15 months old. She understands much more, but these are the ones she uses consistently, in order of daily occurrence: doggie Dada Mama hi that (izzat) thank you (tee dee) diaper (bahpoo) up outside (uhsiee) shoes (ish) *the parenthesis are for her pronunciations/interpretations of the words and she signs for: milk more food water music Learning language is so much fun! We do have frustrating times where I know she wants something or is trying to tell me how she feels about something but is struggling to get her point across, but those seem to be rarer right now. Although I guess that could get more common again soon as her desires become more complex? She is a very physical child and will go stand at the door and try to open it when she wants to go outside, bring her water bottle to the sink when she wants it filled, and has even brought me a diaper when she needed to be changed. So, most of the time she can make herself...

My wonderful husband got me the greatest birthday present: a new bicycle! He works at a bicycle shop, so this is not the first bike he has given me. It might be the coolest, though. It is an old black Univega frame with parts that he hand-picked for me. I have ridden it several times so far, towing Sweet Pea in her trailer on a few of the rides, and it is fantastic. It rides smooth and quiet, shifts with the littlest "click," and fits me well. I feel very lucky to live in a town that is relatively easy to bike around. We even rode our bikes to Home Depot the other night and strapped our purchases to the trailer. What is your city or town like for biking? Have you tried running errands by bike or do you just bike for fun?

I ordered seeds this week from the Territorial Seed Company , a local Northwest seed and plant supplier that supplies only non-genetically engineered seeds (where genetically engineered means "outside of natural reproductive methods"). I ordered corn, green beans, squash, spinach, carrots, and broccoli. Then, today I went to a plant sale that my garden planner was hosting and bought a bunch of starts: tomatoes, peppers, basil, and lettuce. So within a matter weeks to months, we could be harvesting food from our garden! Last year, we did almost all of our vegetables as starts, meaning we planted the seeds in small containers indoors before moving them outside to the garden. This gives the delicate sprouts a chance to grow a little bit before being exposed to the more variant outdoor weather. Doing your own starts is much cheaper than buying them, although a bit more work. It also allows you to plant your best plants into your garden, and to trade starts without wasting seeds ...