OMGoodness....

I don't even know where to start. How on earth did I stop blogging for so long?

Since I'm not even sure where to begin, I'll start with a garden update (since I'm sure y'all are dying to know how my garden is doing... right.)

The peas are monstrous. They are taller than me, taller than the fence Andrew built for them, blooming and producing like crazy. I froze my first batch of snow peas tonight - we just can't keep up with eating them all. Half of the peas I'm harvesting early as edible pod/sugar peas, the other half I'm letting mature into shelling peas. (That's the peas, on the left. The four plants on the right are roma tomatoes.)

Which of course brings me to tomatoes. I planted 6 roma tomatoes (for freezing and canning) in two varieties and four big beefsteak-type tomato plants. All have blossoms and most have a few babies on them. Then I got to thinking how much fun it was last year for the girls to pick the little grape tomatoes, so I went looking for a plant at the nursery. For whatever reason, one plant was $3.50 but a six pack of smaller plants was $1.95. I planted four of them, two are waiting to be given away. There are little yellow-pear tomato plants planted randomly around our front yard now. Because really, everyone needs fourteen tomato plants, don't they?

And, let's see... the carrots look pitiful. Hardly any came up, maybe a dozen? I replanted another hundred seeds today in homemade toilet-paper tape with heavy mulch. Hopefully they do something. The golden beets didn't come up great, but what did come up are doing quite well. I can see their golden tops pushing up out of the soil.

The garlic has been growing strong since the snow first melted. It should be ready in July or August if my calculations are right. I'm still having trouble understanding why anyone would wait almost an entire year for garden-fresh garlic. Is it really worth it? I guess we'll see soon enough.

I'm pretty much drowning in leaf crops. We have salad at least once a day, sometimes twice. I've been sending wraps in Andrew's lunch as often as possible. I've given a grocery sack packed full of lettuce and spinach to the neighbor. I called tonight to see if they wanted more - they said they still had plenty from last time. Seriously, it's been a week! Eat more salad people! I chopped some spinach and froze it to use later in soups, sauces and dips. I cooked up a bunch and turned it into spinach pasta. (Because going to the store to buy pasta isn't nearly as much fun as spending an entire afternoon making your own... there's something satisfying about pounds of pasta hanging from clothes hangers all around the kitchen as it dries.) I've got enough spinach to serve spinach salad every night for the rest of this week, and it's still growing. And there are about 15 heads of lettuce, plus more just sprouted... anyone local who wants some lettuce, c'mon over!

Four varieties of lettuce:
So that's most of the garden news. Fascinating, isn't it?

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I've made a few things recently too. (Is there ever a time when I haven't "made a few things"?)

A top for Chloe (clearance Wal-Mart fabric, altered a size 3 pattern to fit her and made a matching hairbow.)


A matching smock-style dress for Cora (vintage 1970's pattern, and of course, a matching bow.)


A couple of cards (I think I'm gonna start listing cards on Etsy to use up some scrapbooking bits I've got laying around. So if you're in the market for greeting cards...... ;o)




So yeah. That's about it for now. I'll try to start blogging like a normal person again. Except that we're leaving tomorrow to go camping for three or four days this weekend, so it won't be until after that. :o) I'll try and get back into reading y'all's blogs too - I miss ya!