Gardening Update

Well, it's been a little while since I've had a chance to update you on the progress of my greenhouse garden.  I've been so busy outside lately because the weather has been too nice to be inside, that I haven't been able to get on the computer and post an update.  But... a huge rain system has landed in our area, and we have had massive amounts of rain (for this part of Idaho anyway) over the last two days, and I have finally gotten around to sitting down here to blog about the progress of my garden.

But first, a few pictures around the yard ...

Yard sales have been my best friend lately! I've found some really great deals.  I found six soup cup planters in a box for $5.00 recently.  The soup cups are pink, purple, yellow and orange.  They are fairly large and add a great splash of color to my outside decor. 

I planted some kale and spinach in this barrel in early spring, and they are just loving it!  We've already had kale for dinner several times, and it is wonderful.  The leaves are not hard like the ones you buy in the store, but they are soft, and you can use the whole leaf.  I am really enjoying all the yummy green vitamins I have growing here!

Annie begged to be included in my post.  So... I reluctantly agreed.

She hasn't been a very good girl lately.  She and I have had some talks about things like rolling in soft dirt with tender plants growing in them, and chewing up pots whenever she takes a fancy to.  After we have the talk, it seems that she has assured me she will never, ever do such a thing again... well... one can only hope!

My beautiful pansies that I planted back in mid April, when we were still getting frost every night, and I was having to water them every morning to keep them alive and un-frost bite them. 

They are just loving this warm weather we are having!

Ahh... my majestic purple columbine! You have stolen my heart! This beautiful plant is a perennial, which means it will come back every year!  The blooms produced by this beauty are simply magnificent, stunning, and stately all wrapped up in one beautiful flower. 

And here is my greenhouse...more on the greenhouse below...

Some yard art I've created with odd and end finds from yard sales and thrift stores.

 We've got a touch of Idaho and Texas here with old license plates from both states...

I found this old rusty high chair that was left here from previous renters.  It has been recycled into a plant stand!  I found this old wooden shoe at a local garden store.  The old red pot has been recycled into a pot as well with some alyssum planted in it.

This is an old tackle box that I found at a yard sale for the whopping sum of 25 cents!  It has been repurposed into a planter as well.  My geraniums are loving their new home!

I've moved my ivy plants from indoors to outdoors with northern exposure to keep them cool and away from the heat of the sun.  They have really perked up, and just love being outside with the lovely weather we've been having.

 A rusted iron arrangement out in our front yard.  I found these at a yard sale as well for a song and a dance.  The planters had soil in them too, so all I had to do was add the flowers.  They are enjoying their full sun location, and blooming up a storm.

This is my compost pile that has grown.  At first I had just a clump of compost in a small pile, but then I decided to make it larger, and created the area with some old bricks that had been thrown in a scrap pile behind the shed.  It is nothing fancy, but I am hoping that in about six months or so, I'll be rolling in some black gold! I've been saving all my vegetable scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds to throw in the pile, and we've added fresh horse manure, as well as grass clippings.  I started with a layer of cardboard on the bottom, added the horse manure, vegetable scraps and then have added grass clippings on top.  Every so often, I turn it all over with a shovel, and add some water.  I'll keep you posted on the development of my compost pile!

Wild roses grow everywhere here and bloom like crazy in June.  Someone planted one in our front flower bed, and it is huge.  It mass produced some amazing blooms just this week.  I love the delicate rosy pink flowers that these wild roses produce.  Gorgeous I tell you!

I've got some purple cabbage growing also in the front of my house with northern exposure, and they are really coming right along!  You can see how the cabbage leaves are beginning to form a tight head, and it won't be long, and I should have a few heads of cabbage to enjoy!

 This is the inside of the greenhouse.  I've got five rows of veggies and herbs planted.  Everything is doing wonderful...  even the weeds.  Because this garden area was previously overgrown with crabgrass, it is an ongoing battle with the crab grass in here.  I've hoed and pulled crabgrass roots, hoping to stop the growth of this very invasive weed, but it no doubt will be an ongoing battle all summer. 

This  is the okra we planted from seed.  It is doing great.  It loves the warmth of the greenhouse, and you can almost watch it grow day by day!

My peas are blooming, and beginning to form pea pods.  I can't wait for my first taste of these sweet peas!

My peppers are doing great as well.  I've got some good sized green peppers growing, and it won't be long before I'll be harvesting them. 

The squash bloomed today! Yeah!  I've got some huge blooms on the squash, and so now, I'll have to be on the lookout for those awful squash beetles.  I sure don't want them destroying the potential squash crop I've got coming.  I am hoping that my zucchini and squash plants will produce enough zucchini and squash to last us through the winter, but it is doubtful... as the greenhouse isn't really large enough for that, but... we'll see!

And that is my garden update for now!  I will post an update sometime next week. 

This week we are getting some much needed rain, and my Dad is here visiting, and so things are quiet around here today.  We are relaxing inside, and enjoying the rain, yet hoping that the sun will shine again soon!  My Dad arrived late Monday night and shortly after he arrived, we had a major storm move into our area, and it has rained ever since he got here, so we are blaming him for the rainy weather ;)  He lives in Texas and it is hot and burning up there, and he said he wanted to come enjoy some cooler weather... well... he must have inside access to the Great Weatherman because the weather has been very cool and rainy ever since he got here.  I'm hoping he can have a talk with the Great Weatherman again, and let Him know we now need some sunshine! LOL!

Have a blessed day and don't forget to stop and enjoy the beauty around you!