Monday, April 30, 2012

Companion planting

In my last pregnancy update, I showed off my huge hill of  dirt that would turn into my pretty garden.  Well, with the help of the husband and way too much effort, we managed to erect the fence and plant the seeds.  Of course, the husband seemed fairly irritated on how I intended to plant, and keep the deep bed effective as it should be.  In case you don't know what a deep bed is/how it works, here's an excerpt from my current favorite  gardening book describing the deep bed method in greater detail.  For those who feel that's tl;dr, a deep bed is a garden bed in which the soil has been loosened 1-2 feet deep and the rule is generally not to allow any pressure to compact the soil (IE walking on it), so I've put in place some paths via 550 cord tied to the fences to mark them more effectively for now.


In relation to this, I had talked about companion planting a little in my last quick takes update.  Well, the following day, I spent 2 hours planning out what plant needs to go where to get the most effective growth and aide from the surrounding plants to hopefully produce a luscious garden.

Because tomatoes require the fence to support and grow, and the whole fact that nothing really likes growing near tomatoes anyway, they are at the far end starting off the garden.  Surrounding the tomatoes is my lovely cosmic purple carrots.  Carrots love to help tomatoes grow!  Its one of the few plants that tomatoes don't like to steal all the nutrients from, so they complement each other well.  After carrots, there's the onions.  I do hope I didn't plant these too late, but oh well if they don't succeed.  Onions help both tomatoes and brassicas while keeping the brassicas from killing the tomatoes, and are also greatly helped by carrots.  Another bonus is that onions are great at warding off carrot flies.  After the onions, I've got broccoli.  I do hope it isn't too close to the tomatoes and that both effectively grow, but we'll see how that turns out and learn from any mistakes.  Perhaps the onions are really as effective as I've read them to be, and everything will grow just fine.

Then, there's a 10 inch path.

After the path starts the corn.  Yeah, I decided to lamely grow corn.  I hope I didn't overcrowd these plants.  I guess it will be survival of the fittest then if I did.  Next to the corn sits the green bean bushes.  These two plants complement each other like peanut butter and jelly!  Both help each other grow super tall, and on the other side of the green beans is the spinach, which is helped by both because of the natural shade provided.

Lastly, as far away from the tomatoes as I could possibly put it, the lettuce seeds sit awaiting to grow.  Finishing off the garden, the garlic grows behind the lettuce.  I couldn't really find too much on what garlic benefits, except lettuce, so the spot fit well.


Lavender has been planted all around the fence in hopes that it wards off slugs.

So the order in a nutshell:

Tomatoes
Carrots
Onions
Broccoli
Corn
Bush Beans
Spinach
Lettuce
Garlic

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Week #14 update/series

This week, I decided on an official theme of my series!  My garden.  Hopefully, it grows as I do, and there's an added bonus of just having to walk out my back door instead of up a hill.  Next week, you'll get to see my pretty blue picket fence.


Friday, April 27, 2012

7 Quick Takes (3)

If you haven't previously (or if you just love reading blogs like I do), go check out Jennifer at Conversion Diary, and perhaps you can participate in this week's quick takes linkup as well.




Today, I decided there are things every want to be gardener needs to know prior to gardening, and that these things I'm finding out about lately aren't things I really thought about when I decided gardening was a great idea.


----->  1  <-----

The biggest problem I am facing right now that I never actually thought would be an issue is loosening the soil in my yard to prep for planting.  Sure, soil should be no problem, right?  Well, that's what I thought until I pulled out the rota tiller and pinched/pulled/irritated the horrible sciatic nerve.  Some things are better left to professionals when you're pregnant.   Hopefully I can get something figured out within the next few weeks.


----->  2  <-----

Fences.  When I thought, "Oh, I'm so going to plant things in my yard....", I didn't think about having to keep the kids and dog away from said plants.  100 euro later, I have a nice small picket fence that will be painted blue sometime this weekend.  I sincerely did not ever intend to spend money on a fence when I first decided to garden, but after realizing that my children/dog like to be destructive, the fence money came up as one of the most reasonable options out there.


----->  3  <-----

Companion plants.  What are companion plants, you say?  Well, there's certain plants that grow incredibly well near each other, and then there are those plants that you should never ever in a million years ever plant next to each other because they will fight to the death.  Unfortunately, usually, both die.   I found the most convenient list to be on wikipedia.  Usually, I don't generally trust most things wikipedia, but it seems this list is well built, sourced, and matches all the other things I've come across about companion plants.  I'm finding trouble figuring out how to order my plants so none of them kill each other.  it seems tomatoes and carrots will make for a good medium to split things like brassicas and onions.


----->  4  <-----

Microclimates.  Bavaria is seriously full of different climates, and it seems all of them are different.  While most of the climates still have a "last potential frost date" of May 15th, its best to figure out what the locals do before you plan on doing anything at all.  I'm finding this part fairly confusing, but hopefully, no more frost comes around.


----->  5  <-----

Happy mediums in the soil.  It seems every single plant has a different soil ph balance.  The trick, is to find out what balance will generally work for all the plants you intend to plant without unintentionally causing stunted growth or other problems because of lack of something.  Sadly, I didn't know this until I realized how unbalanced my soil actually was.  Fun fact!  A bunch of guano (bat poo) brought it to a good ph level, and we'll see in the future if I'll ever need to add different fertilizers for different nutrients.


----->  6  <-----

Not everything grows well for everyone.  Lets face it, not every plant likes to grow for everyone.  I personally can't get strawberries and peppers to sprout for anything, and flowers just plain old hate me.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with these, but they just won't grow.  Everything else is going good, so perhaps next year or, you know, ten years from now, I can actually grow them effectively.


----->  7  <-----

Lastly, pests.  Actually, I haven't come across this issue it, but I do fully expect a ton of slugs to show up soon enough.   When I come across dealing with these, I'll let you know what I learn.  Totally not looking forward to some of the pests I've been told are popular around here.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Earth Day - Seedlings!


This weekend, my goal was to have my garden ready and tilled up for planting sometime during the week, which all depends on when I can get the paint for my cute little picket fence.  Well, with Earth Day here, I figured this week would start a great "planting" tradition that should carry on, unless I move somewhere where frost doesn't last nearly as long into the year.  Of course, today, no planting will commence, as the rain keeps holding me back from finishing up the tilling.  Perhaps a shovel will work better in the rain.   In hindsight, instead, I'll share what I've learned about each of my little seedlings since I began planting back in march.  



Parsley:

I am very happy to say that my parsley has done wonderfully!  This is probably the only plant that hasn't been pulled up at least once by my oh so loving son.

Tips and tricks that helped me:
-keep the soil moist, especially during the germination period.  The first seeds I planted didn't like me very much, so after googling, I found that parsley seeds need A TON of water for germination to occur.  They really don't need nearly as much after the plant breaks the soil, but until I saw that, I ended up having to water 2x a day, and finally, after a week, they sprouted.


Basil:

This one just hates me.  No really though, I killed the first seedlings.  They lived a really long time, but then they started to turn brown some, and I discovered they needed more water.  Then my son discovered that seedlings taste delicious.  Second seedlings sprouted about a week ago.

Tips:
-Don't let your almost 2 year old touch the seedlings.   S/he might find them appetizing.
-Water generously.  Once per day should do it, though if you notice your seedlings leaves seem like they're getting brown spots, first check for root rot.  If that isn't the problem, they probably just need more water.



Oregano:

I couldn't find oregano seeds for anything around here, so I was lame and just bought a plant.  No tips to share on this one.



Thyme:

This plant sprouted beautifully in about 8 days.  Then my son, who loved the taste of basil seedlings, decided he needed to try thyme as well.  This one wasn't as appetizing to him, because instead of eating the whole thing, he fed it to the dog.  Other than that, a once a day water worked, and the plant is growing once again. Though, do make sure you don't over water.  Thyme hates too much water, or so I've read.

Tips:
-2 year olds like eating seedlings.



Lavender:

It took 4 weeks to get a sproutling, that sprouted a few days ago.  I haven't run across any problems, other than wondering why it wasn't sprouting.  Turns out it generally takes 4-6 weeks.  Notice how tiny the little new sproutling is in the picture.

Tips:
-Be patient.



Garlic:

Sadly, for some reason, my garlic is dying.  I am convinced its because of lack of sun here.  Germany isn't exactly known for its sun.   I'm trying to bring it back to life, so hopefully, when transplanting occurs next week, the plantlings will stop looking so sick.  Google also says that the yellowing floppiness of the garlic means too much water.  Looks like I'll be trying a little harder with these ones.



Onions:

I planted 3 different seedling batches of onions.  All three were pulled out by my little Orion.  I guess he likes onions.  I have no picture to share, so instead, have a picture of him playing with something other than my plants for once.   I intend to plant a million outside once the fence is up.



Lettuce:

These seeds I planted exactly 5 days ago.  They sprouted yesterday.  So far, so good.



Green Beans:

No complaints here, except for that little munchkin.  Two green bean sprouts eaten.  I cannot wait until the plants are outside and out of his reach!  Yay for fenceline!



Corn:

Easy!  These just need a moist but not wet soil.  Mine sprouted after 6 days and have been seemingly growing ever since.



Broccoli:

These were also planted 5 days ago.  Sprouts look happy and alive as of this morning.  Popped up yesterday.



Bell Peppers:

Now, here's my growing problem.  I can't get bell peppers to sprout for the life of me.  I am currently hoping that soaking them in warm water for three days will help, and they'll be put into some heated soil on a warm radiator in hopes that sprouting occurs.  I definitely won't be putting them outside until I know the weather will stay above 60.

Tips:
-If you're going to grow these, its best done in a warm climate.  I bought seeds meant for the sierra nevada area in California (which has similar weather to here), and I'm still having trouble sprouting.



Radishes:

These grow AMAZINGLY.  My son, the one who keeps plucking up plants, plucked these up three times, and here's the third growth, that are almost ready for harvest.  It takes 25-30 days for radishes to mature, which worked well.  The first time he ate them, they were three days shy, and still looked good.  The second time, they were at 18 days past germination.   So, regardless, I think the radishes are his favorite.  No tips, except, just let them grow, as they seem to know how to do it.  I water them once a day as well.




How about you?  Any gardening tips you'd like to share?  

Baby #3 Update: Week 13

I decided to make my own little maternity series, inspired by the single coolest one I could find online over at Pacing the Panic room.  Of course, my photoshop skills include absolutely nothing, but I like how this mostly turned out.  Very very simple, yet still fun.  This shall be weekly and hopefully turn out well.

Friday, April 20, 2012

7 Quick Takes (2) (Pinterest Days 42-48)

I enjoyed participating in the quick takes linkup over at Conversion Diary with Jennifer.  Be sure to make your way over there and perhaps participate in this linkup as well.



This week, I just want to share seven recipes from Pinterest that I've tried and haven't changed the recipe.  Food is always good, and hey, this adds another seven days to my pinterest challenge.  In unrelated news, my new camera arrived today!  Hopefully I can finally go back to taking my own pictures and sharing them again.   Perhaps lighting can get better around here too, though Germany isn't exactly popular for its sunshine.


----->  1  <-----

I thought chocolate cream pie would be the perfect start off.  Who doesn't love pie?  Or making pie?  Perhaps this simple recipe will stick on you like it did me.  So simple yet so delicious!  Also, I lied.  I added a layer of chocolate chips between the cream and chocolate in the actual pie.


----->  2  <-----

This slow cooker roast recipe turned out AMAZING.  I changed nothing, and didn't even  have to make a side dish, as the veggies worked great for that.


----->  3  <-----

This creamy tomato pasta has become a family favorite for all parties in my house.  Simple, yet delicious, though I haven't found a good green veggie I like to throw into it yet.  Any suggestions?  Also, I must say that the blog in which I found this recipe has an amusing title!  Go check it out.


----->  4  <-----

Another slow cooker recipe!  This one is slow cooker shredded beef tacos.  I used it as a shredded beef hamburger, burritos, and even just by itself.  Also, I loved how many meals I actually created out of one roast of sorts.  That definitely made one week of grocery shopping cheaper and required a whole lot less cooking.



----->  5  <-----

Raspberry chipotle BBQ chicken!  This recipe the husband didn't seem to like too much, and I found it a touch too spicy, but regardless, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.  Next time, though, I'll not add as much chipotle pepper.  By the way, this blog has a ton of other great looking recipes.  I just haven't gotten around to trying the others yet.



----->  6  <-----

Pizza monkey bread.  Ok, I changed this recipe too, but only by a little.  instead of making it monkey bread style, I left it in individual bites.  Big hit, though it took a good minute or sixty to prep all the bites for cooking.  Next time, if I feel really motivated, I might make the bites meat lovers or supreme style.  As for the blog, I'm not sure how anyone can be healthy and sane, but it seems being so makes for a great blog.  I should ask her what the secret is.



----->  7  <-----

Lastly, I figured we might as well leave off with a dessert since we started with one.  Enjoy these cookie dough truffles!  This particular recipe I found a long time ago and made them with my mother in law.  We landed into a fluffy bed of chocolate cookie dough heaven after the first bite.  Fast forward three years.  I could not find the same recipe, that is, until pinterest came along and brought me to where I needed to be.




Note:  the photo credit links will take you directly to the recipe on the blog.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Beef Tips (Days 40-41)

Lately, my husband's favorite meal has been these beef tips and rice.  I was ALL for them ever since I made the recipe back in February.  Well, last week, the family requested them for dinner.  "Yay!", I thought.   My little alien on the other hand decided that this recipe was the worst smelling thing on the planet and that I should not even go in the kitchen while it cooks.  Of course, I made it anyway, though I had to avoid the kitchen once the delicious aroma started filling the house.  Regardless, the family devoured them while I dreamt about eating dinner instead of going near it.  Oh, the joys of pregnancy!


Now, how did I find the recipe?  Pinterest of course!  I found this recipe and this recipe, but neither of them seemed satisfying enough.  So, instead of picking one, I just combined them, changed some things, and came up with my own Beef Tips of Awesome recipe.  The recipe is incredibly simple, but like all crock pot style meals, it requires hours of cooking.  By the way, the tips taste best served over mashed potatoes, and not the instant kind.




Awesomesauce Beef Tips:


Ingredients:

-1/3 c flour
-1 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-1 to 2 pounds (ish) chuck roast cut into "tips" (or really your favorite beef of sorts.)
-1/2 c chopped green onions
-1 can of mushrooms (or about 4-8 oz.)  I like using the 8oz can. 
-1 can cream of mushroom soup.  (I love to add the kind that's with roasted garlic)
-1 boring normal can of beef broth.  (I think its about 10oz per can if you're using homemade.)
-1 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
-1 tbs tomato paste or sauce or ketchup.  Whatever tomato-y thing you have on hand should do.



Directions:

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 250 if you don't have a crock pot.  I cook mine in a bean pot in the oven.  Crock pot directions will be the same, except you'll cook it on low.  

Step 2:

Put the flour, salt, and pepper into a bag.  Add the tips and shake.  Pour it all into a bean or crock pot, or if you're really awesome and own a dutch oven, you can use that too.  Then, add all the other ingredients.  Stir a little.


Step 3:

Cook as directed below.

Cooking temps and times:*

For a low setting, cook at 200 for 8-12 hours.  For a medium setting, cook at 250 for 6-8 hours.  For a high setting, cook at 300 for 4-5 hours.

*  Temperature listed for oven and is the oven adjacent to what the temperature of the crock put would generally be.  Works about the same with almost any crock pot recipe if you're using a dutch oven or a bean pot.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

10 Things I Wish I Could do Right Now.

Its Tuesday, which means Many Little Blessings is hosting her Top Ten Tuesday linkup.  Go check out her blog and perhaps link up as well!

Top Ten Tuesday at Many Little Blessings

Today is not exactly the best pregnant day, but it isn't the worst.  I keep looking at my not so clean house and list of to dos that need done soon.  ..And it is overwhelming to say the least.  So, instead of making a shortened list of things I need to do, instead, I'll make a list of things I wish I could do.  Dreaming is always relaxing, right?


10.  I wish I could call a house cleaning service and hire a maid.  Ok, my house isn't -that- bad, but its pretty messy for my standards.  I've just ran out of energy to get things cleaned to how they should be.  Of course, the first trimester always manages to kick my butt like no other, so hopefully with it ending in less than a week, I can finally have some of my energy returned.  Or so I hope.  Oh how a house keeper would be wonderful!


9.  I wish I could go on a really long hike.  The sun is out, the weather is warmish, and quite frankly, I need more exercise.  What would be better than hiking up some mountain?  Preferably Zugspitze!  That'd be a beautiful hike.


8.  Sleep.  I wish I could just go back to sleep for a few days.  Oh that'd be wonderful!  Maybe I wouldn't feel so drained and exhausted.  Especially considering my children had me up at six this morning.  Too early.


7.  Sewing.  With a good machine.  I have a sewing machine, and I love to sew, but this machine never works for me.  It always manages to string the thread in all sorts of impossible ways.  And I'm not even sure what could possibly be wrong with it.


6.  I wish I didn't have to cook.  Ok, I love cooking, I really do!  But not when everything just smells unpleasant and makes me not feel too great.  Looks like I'll be enjoying a ton of chocolate milk today.


5.  Reading.  I wish that I had time to read.  I started reading The Game of Thrones because HBO is too slow in telling me what happens next.  The problem?   I'm a mom.  Finishing a 1000 page book or five isn't exactly on my "I have time for this" list, at least, I haven't found out how to make time for it yet.   How do you make time for such things?


4.  I wish I could get my yard dug up so I can plant all the things I intended on planting.  They should be in the ground by now!  But first, I have to paint my fence and till up the yard.  And to do that, I need paint and a tiller.  Or a shovel/hoe.  So long as the dirt loosens.


3.  Taking a bubble bath would be wonderful!  Oh how I do love baths.  Especially baths that include a good book and lots of bubbles!


2.  In second place comes laundry.  Why would I want to do laundry?  Well, I don't.  I wish I could convince laundry to wash, fold, and put away itself.  Harry Potter style would be awesome and probably be most effective.


1.  And the top thing I wish I could do?  I wish I could eat and eat and eat and not get sick or gain a ton of weight.  I miss food, particularly being able to properly enjoy it.


How about you?  What do you wish you could just do instead of all those pesky things that need to be done?

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Time Management Challenge

THE TIME MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE


TL;DR:


Challenge!  I'm not allowed on the internet until the children are sleeping or it is quiet time in the house unless it is to find a recipe or directions to a fun activity we ARE going to do right then and there (or within the next ten minutes).  I need to get back to my good ole life of reading, cleaning, playing with the kids, and cooking in the kitchen.  Anyone else care to join?  Details below.




What's wrong?

Today I read an article that's going viral.  It seems almost everyone I know is posting this article, and for good reason.  Too many parents are spending too much time looking at things they could do with their kids instead of doing things with their kids.  The same goes for me.  Lately, I've been gathering materials and stacking them up for projects I could be doing.  What projects?  Well I have a ton of cotton strips I intended to hem up and use for waxing with this sugar wax recipe.  I have a quiet book to finish by the 24th of april, which I'm quite certain is NOT going to happen.  I have about twenty blog posts I've started but have yet to find the "time" or words to finish.  Seven different books are comfortably sitting on my kindle just begging to be read.  Ok, there's probably about 30 books, but most are series.  My kitchen needs a wipe down.  My plants need planted and my current seedlings need to start to be hardened off.  I have peppermint patties to make once I find peppermint extract.  Point is, there's a billion different things that need to be done, and what am I doing instead?  Playing on Facebook.  And not even a game.  Just refreshing the page until something happens, and usually something happens within about ten minutes.  TRANSLATION:  I'm just wasting time when I could be doing something much more productive.

^My horribly addicting computer^

How can I possibly change this?

Well, here's my goal.  Just get back into routine and turn off the *&^%ing computer already.  Every moment of every day does not need to be spent thinking about doing things and talking to friends on the internet, right?  Right.  My house needs me.  My kids need me.  And most of all, I need me.  Time to stop being so frustrated and hormonal because I lack time.  In reality, I don't lack time; I just don't manage it correctly.

THE CHALLENGE:

So, in leu of all this bad time management, I bring you The Time Management Challenge.  I think I'll do this in three parts.

Part one:  This part will be one week long.  In this week, we are not allowed on facebook, pinterest, twitter, and all the other inbetween social media things unless all the children are sleeping or someone is dying and you need urgent assistance and the only place to possibly find that is on social media.  (Try the phone book first though.  Chances are the ambulance number can be found there.  Or on Google.)

Things you're allowed online for during the children's awake time:
-Finding a recipe you're going to cook within the next ten to twenty minutes OR during finding recipes to add to the grocery list.  (I will allow myself one extra hour this week for grocery shopping recipe purposes ONLY.)
-Internet radio.  Assuming you're doing it for background/fun noises during a different activity that is much more productive.
-Finding directions to an activity you WILL BE DOING within the next ten minutes.

Any other ideas/things can be brought up in the comments and can be discussed by everyone participating.

Part two:  This phase will last one month.

All parts of phase one will still be in effect.  EXCEPT naptime will not be a time for social media play.  Instead, use naptime as a time to relax and enjoy yourself or perhaps clean or even exercise.  Do something you'd like to get done instead of play online.

Part three:

Ok, I don't know what I should do for part three.  This one is open to suggestions.


At the end of part one, I'll post up a linkup for everyone to link up their blog post about the challenge and how it went/is going for them.  Don't have a blog?  Then just comment on the blog post with your progress.  I do hope many of you participate and find that life is much more exciting outside of this world wide web.  I bet your grandparents enjoyed life before the internet came along.


TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SUCCESS:

-Plan your day.  If you find yourself looking online for things to do to occupy your day, chances are you forgot most of them already.  Make a list of all the fun activities you can do or want to do and plan your day around doing them instead of around looking for things to do.

-Shut down your computer.  Chances are you're less likely to get on if you have to wait five minutes for the computer to turn on in the first place.

-Keep a list of things you want to look at/do online.  A wonderful blogger over at The Best Me Yet came up with this idea.  Just put a piece of paper beside your computer or somewhere you'll find it of all the things you want to look at when internet time comes around.  You probably won't get nearly as side tracked as you would if you just got on and thought you knew what to look for.


Do you have some good tips?  Suggest them in the comments and we can add them to this list!



CHALLENGE PART ONE STARTS FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012.  GET READY, GET SET, START TOMORROW!