Thursday, April 26, 2012

Garden - Week 8

Man, I haven't blogged in a long time, again. I've been documenting our garden still, minus one week, and I am excited to say it is doing so well.

The lettuce and spinach were pretty much done, so I had to yank those, but that's okay. I knew it was bound to happen and it just makes me look forward to when I can plant some more again in the fall. Our last carrot bit the dust. I'm not really sure why, but I will try again.

*** I didn't edit any of these photos. I just wasn't in the mood. haha.

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 We have added some rosemary and parsley to our little garden family. I've already used some of the parsley too. And it is really growing well. It is so satisfying going out into your backyard and picking fresh herbs!

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The basil seems to be doing a lot better. I've been adding some mushroom compost to it and making sure to pick off the tops, and not water it as much.

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Our strawberry plant has been pretty successful. Including the two we harvested today, Cohen has enjoyed 9 of them. He tends to hog them. And that's alright with me because he for some reason wouldn't eat them before, even though he would when he was younger. Kids.

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We have about 17 tomatoes on our plant, all varying sizes. It's really exciting to go out there and see more starting to come through. Lately though, I have been having to pick little eggs off and tomato worms as well. And I saw a little bug this morning that looked like a ladybug with no spots. I remember reading something about them a while back, and I think it's the mexican bean beetle. I took a pic and then I couldn't find it. Which isn't good. I'll try again tonight when it's time to water them.

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The other day I noticed our beans are producing beans! The one below is the biggest one I saw and there are a ton of smaller ones. But, I've noticed something on some of the leaves, so I need to do some research and figure out how to treat as organically as possible.

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Our peppers seem to be doing pretty well too. With our green peppers we have about 3 and there are about 4 yellow peppers. I'm itching to use all of these already! (i'll get a pic once I figure out why it's not loading.


Thursday, April 5, 2012

Coloring Easter Eggs

I am always looking to do things in a more natural way, so it wasn't any different when it came time to color Easter Eggs. One reason I want to color them naturally is so I don't waste anything (and because I love to eat hard boiled eggs). And another is because it's just better for ourselves, each other, and the environment to do things more naturally.

So, for dying Easter Eggs this year I found through Pinterest that you can dye eggs with Kool-Aid. The process seemed very simple and I thought the bright colors would be fun for the kids. I wish I would have made more eggs, because it all went by way too fast. And I think it would have been better and more fun for the kids had they had their own carton of eggs.

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Yes, Avery ended up spilling the cherry kool aid on the table and all over herself. You would have thought she was bleeding she was so upset.

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Cohen was beyond excited to color Easter Eggs. I loved it. A part of me wants to do it again, just him and I. But seeing how Easter is only a few days away, it's not gonna happen.

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The flavors from left to right...
top: orange, lemonade (with a little orange), lemon lime, mixed berry, pink lemonade (with a little strawberry), and peach mango
bottom: cherry, grape (I added some mixed berry, but not nearly enough), mixed berry, lemon lime, strawberry, black cherry

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The coloring with kool-aid was fun. But it stains your hands and clothes. I love the vibrant colors, but I may try something different next year.