No More Braces!

Oh happy day! Oh happy week! Theres no more metal shredding the insides of my mouth every.single.damn.day.

After nearly SIX YEARS of wearing braces I finally had enough, called it done and begged the orthodontist to take them off ( and threatened to do it myself with pliers if he didn't). I had to sign a waiver stating that I was going against his advice and ending treatment early- but c'mon, I had braces put on in May of 2003- before either of my children were born, or conceived. I was a college freshman there, a newlywed. In all my wedding photos I NEVER smiled with my teeth, EVER. My parents didn't have the money to pay the $2k or whatever it was supposed to cost for braces, so I just dealt with it. My teeth were crooked, overlapping, it was awful. It was embarrassing. So I learned to perfect the chubby cheeked forced lip smile. Sometimes if the camera caught it just right I looked pretty, but more often then not it made my chin jut out at an odd angle, my cheeks looked like a hamster and it looked very cheesy. Thankfully we had an awesome wedding photographer who understood my concerns and worked alot with me on how to turn my face , position, and smile so it looked good on camera.

My wonderful husband Christopher promised me one day I would be able to smile and not be ashamed, so the first big thing he bought me wasn't a car, or jewelery, or a house : it was a new smile.

Unfortunately starting orthodontic treatment as an adult (18) meant my bones and teeth were more solid and more stubborn to moving. I spent the first year and a half or so with a annoying gizmo called a "spider" in the roof of my mouth. It was like a frame that fit up in the roof of my mouth that required a tiny key to turn every day to s-l-o-w-l-y widen the frame and push the top of my mouth wide enough to fit all my teeth. For awhile once my mouth was stretched wide I had this hillbilly wide gap between my teeth.

I forbid anyone from taking a picture of me with a gap so wide I could fit a virginia slims cigarette in it.

Then x-rays revealed I still had adult teeth stuck up inside my upper jaw that never descended, and were pushing on the bone making these bumps under my upper lip that looked like there was a tooth about to pop any second. First I had to go get 'baby' canines yanked out. Then when they shaved off those bumps to expose the teeth they realized the teeth weren't there..they were deeper in. I think one of my worst memories was being totally awake, but numbed with local anesthetic ( since I was breastfeeding my daughter) and hearing the sound of that bone drill thingy grinding away at my jaw and smelling something burning...all to hear the dental surgeon go " Uh oh, this doesn't look right..." *shudders*

Then more dental surgery to expose those 'lost' teeth and glue a tiny chain to them so they could be slowly yanked back down to proper positions. This time nursing or not I insisted on being sedated, I didn't want to hear what they were doing.

Then the right side of my jaw decided to be stupid and began to tilt upward at a slight angle...so that meant 2 years of wearing 'triangle' rubber bands to hold my jaw shut and in alignment as often as possible ( I only wore them at night because I couldn't stand having my mouth banded shut). I skipped monthly checkups because all they did was wire another sire in, put new silver bands in ( I refused to wear colors, I was an adult! and my teeth would hurt for a week afterwards. I became an expert at the sly smirk in place of a toothy grin.

My teeth ached, they were sensitive to anything hot or cold, food was constantly stuck in the space between the spider and the roof of my mouth, and my teeth moved into proper position one week only to tweak slightly out of place again by the next checkup. My teeth were as obedient as toddlers being told to stay still.

2 babies and a lifetime later its Finally enough. The 'lost' eye teeth had been coaxed into position, with one slightly twisted but more or less OK. My 2 molars on one side didn't meet up exactly but it wasn't too noticeable. I'm 25 now, and I don't need to look like a frigging teenager anymore. My orthodontist wanted my teeth "perfect" and insisted that I just wear the rubber bands on my jaw for a few months more to get my jaw to bend back- but I said no. ( Hes a really good guy and well respected in this area and orthodontist to celebrities, so he knows perfect teeth). Tuesday was my emancipation, my day of freedom from wires and chains and brackets and rubber bands and miles of floss.

For the first time in my life, I could *really*smile. New hair, new glasses, and I could finally smile about it all. Despite all the shit going down in my life right now...

I'm smiling because I finally physically can.

Aphids

bah, I went outside to pick some mint and it was just coated in green and black aphids. wtf! There wasnt a single one 2 days ago!

so in a panic I went and checked on my precious lettuce box greens, and sure enough, they all had a smattering of fat winged aphids with little broods of baby ones. In less then 48 hours. Geez that was quick! I had been seriously considering making wire 'hoop houses' with netting over the windowboxes to keep the bugs out, I guess I should have acted faster.

I'm going to try and make some DIY spray using crushed tomato leaves first, and if that doesnt work a homemade garlic spray. In the past I usually just reached for the Safer organic bug spray, but I am trying very hard to practice what I preach LOL.

My Bucket List

I've been thinking about the things I personally want to accomplish in my lifetime and laughing at how the list has changed over the years. Before I forget to write them down yet again heres some things I can think of oof the top of my head I'd like to go do/see/accomplish and things I have done ( in no particular order)

1. get married (done)
2. go to prom with the guy I'd marry ( done)
3. have a kid with no drugs (done)
4. Breastfeed for over a year ( done)
5. breastfeed for more then 2 years
6. own chickens to riase my own eggs
7. milk a cow and/or goat
8. make my own cheese ( sorta done, did 30 minute mozzarela, I'd like to try something more challenging)
9. learn Portuguese ( specifically the type spoken by my family in the Azores)
10. Attend a Portuguese Festa
11. Go the THE Festa in Gustine, CA
12. Learn how to make my own linguica ( Portuguese sausage)
13. swim with a dolphin
14. take a cruise across the ocean
15. visit Europe
16. visit Ireland
17. Visit the middle east ( for the food!)
18. Visit New Zealand/ Austrailia
19. Visit India
20. go to Hawaii
21. Learn how to survive in the wilderness with just a knife and my witts
22. slaughter/gut/skin/butcher an anymal all my myself
23. learn how to make working snares/traps
24. have a large enough garden & orchard to be as self suficient as possible
25. can all the food I could use in a fall/winter
26. go backpacking somewher remote with my husband
27. have retro pinup photos done for my husband (while I'm still young enough to pull it off)
28. get a tatoo
29. add another piercing to each ear
30. attend the birth of a child other then my own
31. be a proficient herbalist
32. learn how to weave & dye cloth
33. ride a horse, NOT one of those lame ass trail ponies
34. get in way better shape where maual labor is tiring because its work, not because I'm a wimp
35. spend time in a navajo indian reservation learning about their culture
36. go on a cruise ( done)
37. learn how to dance ( ballroom, waltz, swing, etc)
38. dance the night away with my husband

Happy Spring!

I meant to wake up early and attempt to have some sort of mini-pagan Ostara ritual at sunrise....turns out we all slept in till around 2 pm for some very odd reason. Now I'm all foggy headed and still exausted, odd. I guess I am an even lazier Pagan then a lazy Catholic- so this year I suppose I'll still celebrate Easter sunday with the family and all because quite frankly its the holiday I grew up celebrating, my family will be royally pissed if I don't show up all dressy for diner and for the kids I'm sure the easter eggs and chocolate bunnies will excite them more then my 'wheel of the year' musings. This pagan conversion thing is proving to be harder then I had first imagined in a very Christian-Judeo society. I don't even feel comfortable calling myself wiccan or a witch, I just know Christianity hasnt settled well with my spirit for a very long time, and many pagan ideas do. Only time will tell what religion I will find suits me completly. This year with all thats going on it was quite a relief to not have to worry about lent and giving up something for the first time in my life, and not having to stress about meatless Fridays.

Yesterday I got my Pak Choi and 'Fordhook Giant' swiss chard seedlings into some large windowboxes my sister-in-law found in the garage while spring cleaning. The lettuce and pursland are growing nicely, almost enough to make another bowl of salad already! That sure was fast. The weather has been pleasant and warm this week, we even had an impromtu pool party/BBQ today since my son turns 2 tomorrow and I'll be at Master Gardener training and its supposed to rain on Sunday.

Next week I get my braces taken off-finally! I have had braces (a wedding first from my sweet husband who knew how much I hated my badly mishappen teeth) since May of 2003. 2 pregnancys and my own laziness to make every appointment had stretched out the treatment time this long. My kids have never seen me without braces, so I'm excited, just nervous about how much its going to hurt breaking these darn things off.

The Beauty of Homegrown

A few weeks ago when I visited a local freedom gardens buddy she generously gave me a dozen eggs fresh from her chickens as a gift. They were so beautiful I had to take some photos before enjoying them in my favorite breakfast of sunny side up eggs, niceand soft & runny with toast. :)









I never realized how lovely these eggs could be: tan, mocha, greenish, even a delicate shade of blue.

*SIGH* Ok, having my own chickens to have my own eggs is def on my bucket list now.

First harvest of 2009: God(dess) Bless my bountiful little containers!

A bowl of sweet fresh lettuce from my window box and my 'mesclun pot' ( that I need to sow the mesclun in, I keep forgetting). Sweet and green and fresh, I was proud as a peacock walking around with my bowl of greens, and everyone was curious and tasted some and said it was good. Most were all amazed that I grew it, I guess they never really paid attention to what I was watering on all those pots and boxes LOL. I had just eaten a very nice dinner so I walked over and gifted the bowl of greens to my vegan best friend/sister-in-law, who is the one person I knew would truly savor it the most. She was happy.

an "after" show post-salad clipping

Heres the rest of my hodgepodge " container garden" so far taking advantage of some benches on the pooldeck no one ever sits on:

I even built my first SWC prototpe with some "Mels Mix" inspired potting soil:

I started a round zuccini and some spacemaster cucumbers in largerpeat pots today to transfer to SWCs in a few weeks.

I'm just going to do about my daily life and not let the stress get to me to the best of my abilities. I refuse to just sit here and be the victim and be bored and miserable, even if its just greens and cherry tomatos a container garden is a garden dammit.

I will not let the bastards grind me down!

Canned Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

I saw this recipe in a canning book once and but couldnt remember what the proportions of lemon juice, strawberries & Sugar were. While at the farmer's market sunday they had half flats of gorgeous organic strawberries, berry season is just about to start! Of course I got some and planned to make this yummy fruit drink. I googled for the recipe and found this one on recipezaar that looks pretty close to what I remembered:

Ingredients
12 cups strawberries
4 cups fresh lemon juice or lime juice
5 cups sugar

Directions
1.Rinse and drain the strawberries quickly.

2Hull and measure.

3Squeeze the lemon juice and measure.

4You will probably need about 16 lemons, or 24 limes, but buy a few extra as they can vary quite a bit in juiciness.

5Put the jars on to boil in a large kettle, with the water coming up at least an inch over the tops of them.

6Let boil 10 minutes before removing to be filled.

7Meanwhile, purée the strawberries.

8Heat them with the lemon or lime juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved, but do not boil.

9Pour into hot sterilized jars to within 1 cm (1/2") of the tops.

10Seal with lids sterlized according to the manufacturers directions.

11(Generally, boil for 5 minutes.) Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

12To serve, mix with cold water to taste, about one part syrup to two parts water.

13Serve over ice.

Yield: 10 pint jars or 20 half pints




The lemon tree here is packed with lemons and new flowers, so I've been wanting to zest and juice a bunch so the tree can put all its energy into the next crop worth of fruit. Took me 2 hours of work to zest the lemon with a microplane grater, then juice the lemons by hand, and strain. I finalyl had to call my husband in to help cut/blend the strawberries and rinse off my canning jars to save me some time.

It looks really beautiful in the jars, I can't wait to open some up this summer for a refreshing taste of early spring.

Frustrated

Its been one heck of a couple of weeks. I had to stop myself from posting here because in the mental state I was in I'd be doing nothing but rambling and whining, and goodness knows I read enough whiny blogs without adding to them myself.

Good news is I survived my garden talk on Sat. I ended up talking for 90 minutes before the librarian had me wrap up and barely made it thru half my powerpoint presentation of 46 slides, I had so much info and people had so many questions- but it was ok, alot of people had their questions answered so I'll consider my talk a success.

Of course theres bad news as well.

I finally got a medical diagnosis for some health issues I've been having, and basically was shocked to find out I have PCOS (polycyctic ovarian syndrome) so I might not be able to have more kids. Explains so much yet so heartbreaking. And the medications they gave me for it make me feel weak and nauseated constantly. But worse yet is finding out we're going to have to find a new place to live again within the next few months.

The long and the short of it is I have been thwarted in my garden plans- again. Unknown to us and without my husband's ( or 4 of his other siblings knowledge) the oldest brother who tentativly has a legal agreement with their father authorizing 3/7 siblings if in agreement could put the house on the market- did. Well 5 of the 7 didnt know until after the realtor had been hired. So on top of the stupidity its breaking their own legal agreement they dragged thru court for the last year to accomplish. *bangs head against the desk* So now this house is for sale for a rediculously low price, its insult to injury. There had been talk of splitting the proceeds of the sale amonst all 7 siblings, but the price is so low by the time the legal crap and realtor have been paid there isnt going to be anything left. Its not surprising to me, I never thought we'd see a dime from here, but my husband is bitterly dissapointed that he trusted his brothers and moved us here, away from our very nice apartment, my family, my friends, when I really didnt want to live here, all to be betrayed. Live and learn.

This is 3 weeks after moving here with the understanding that we were welcome to stay here for 1-2 years while the market picked up so they could sell this place at a decent price. I painted rooms. I fixed things, I was planning a garden, all because we were encouraged to stay here rent free and get back on our feet while we waited to see how Chris' job situation panned out.

I was beyond spitting angry and frustrated and wanting to kick some ass, but of course the brother in question has turned his cell off and only gave a vague email of " I've done my job now its up to you".

Um, ok. But theres a 3 month contract with a realtor, so to make things even more stressful theres this idiot of a realtor who shows up unannounced with liek 10 people to parade thru the house, including mine and the kids rooms. I hate the invasion of privacy, but we're powerless ot do anythign about ti since this realtor will only answer to the oldest brother who hired him and talked down to me like I was some sort of homeless squatter on the property when I politly refused to let a group of people to 'our' end of the house while my kids were asleep and had no notice of them, I just happened to see a group of people milling about outside on the pooldeck and put 2 + 2 together. Every other day or so we get these surprise visits from peopel coming to see the house and this place is just a mess with no one ever really picking up and of course 2 kids living here. Maybe I am just old fashoned but I feel really ashamed having strangers see the house like this- but no one else here seems to care. So I try to keep the place swept, mopped, and somewhat decluttered.

So we've decided to declare bankrupcy so we can get out of here, unload the house thats finally begining the process of foreclosure, and start over without credit card collectors breathing down our necks. Makes me feel dirty inside doing it, but we're rapidly running out of options. Wether or not this house sells in this shitty market isa coin toss, but we can't stand being here having our trust and our privacy discared like we have no rights, so even if we're in a tiny place somewhere at least its OUR place. It has to be cheap since if Chris gets laid off we have to survive off of less then 1800 a month. ugh.

SO ANYWAY, back to the gardening part...

Scrap the plans of an inground garden. I have enough containers to make 4 or 5 SWCs, alot of random pots, buckets, and windowboxes, and I have enough coconut coir, peat moss, vermiculite and compost in the back to probably fill all of them. I just need ot pick up a few more containers and I should be set. Now I am trying to brainstorm a priority list of what I really wanted fresh, and came up with a shorter list:

1. Green Beans ( tie 5 6 ft bamboo poles and place in a SWC with some pole bean vines)
2. Summer Squash ( 1 'Ronde de Nice' round zuccini is a compact plant thats very productive)
3. Cucumbers (Spacemaster cucumber should do the trick)
4. Carmelo tomatoes ( 2 per SWC with some basil)
5. Amish Gold tomatoes
6. Cherokee Purple Tomatoes
7. Yolo Wonder Peppers ( I'm trying to see if I can squeeze 6 plants in a SWC, probably just 4)

I have some random flower pots lying about I could probably put a few chili pepper and eggplants in, and just have to hand water them more. I may try to grow some melons in a SWC with a trelis, but not sure yet. Winter squash probaby wont happen this year, but at least I still have a dozen quart jars of canned squash from last year.

I have swiss chard and lettuce growing in windowboxes already, I'll probably need 1 more windowbox to have a better successtion planting of lettuce going.

Its likely we will probably be here for 3-4 months, at least till the bankrupcy crap is done and filed, and thats long enough for 1 crop of veggies if I transplat them out in the next week or so.

I already have a friend who is building some new raised beds who needed plants, so I told her I'd give her all my 'homeless' baby plants, so all my other tomato variety plants will go to a good garden. That makes me happy.

But I admit I still want to cry at having my little dream of a garden that can support my family being crushed again. I want to cry because my 4 year old daughter keeps begging me to move back to our apartment where she was really, really happy. I just want to be someplace thats safe for my children where we can mind our own business and live happy peaceful lives. Somehow I must have gotten some screwed up karma to have so much keep happening to us.

Its bittersweet, to see the resurgence of victory gardens ( also known as Recession Gardens) growing in popularity, and working so hard to help other people get started gardening, training as a master gardener and having to tour different school and community gardens and for all I know in a couple of months I may end up in a 1 bedroom apartment somewhere without space for even 1 container plant. Its a very bitter pill to swallow, but I keep telling myself that I'm still doing something worthwhile by helping other people, and it feels good to be doing something thats not just for myself.

Victory Gardens are sprouting up all over- ABC Nightline

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6970190

its raining....again. Gives time to plan some more.

I know I know, California is having one of the worst droughts in years and its hurting farming and all, to the point that Ah-nold has declared a state of emergency- but I really wish it would be sunny for more then 2 days so the ground can dry out enough to work in it.

Plus its cold again, and as I've already ranted about, I detest being wet and cold.

I had to go out to our 'tortoise pen' at 9pm ( a 8 x 20 fenced in grassy area where some adopted desert tortoises have lived for years) to get my rabbit, who has had a free run of it since the tortoises are still hibernating. It really started to pour so I went to make sure she was ok. She was wet from the rain and since shes a miniature breed ( only 3 pounds) I was worried she'd get too cold. Of course she didnt have the common sense to hide in any of the warm dry nesting boxes on the ground, no - she climbs the staggered block wall side to the top ( about 6 feet off the ground) and hides in a cinder block ( she is very little). The cold wet concrete brick didnt seem like a very good hiding area tonight. I tried to bribe her into a cardboard box full of alfalfa hay, but she wouldnt get in it, an I couldnt reach her well enough to grab, so my brother in law held a flashlight while I finally caught her when she tried to jump down off the wall. I ended up soaking wet and with another allergy attack when all was said and done.

Now shes in her old cage with a 3 inch layer of hay, some carrots and a bowl of dry grains in the garage to stay warm and dry.



After agonizing over how to build this garden without all these startup costs, I may very well go with Sinfonian's suggestion of double digging the beds and amending the native soil.

I checked out the book "How to grow more Vegetables" by John Jeavons and I'm very temped to just double dig ( or triple dig if needed) and amend the soil with some good compost/manure. Its more work in a way, my arms will be a bit achy I'm sure. But this ground doesnt have large roots or rock in the way of digging and instead of hauling in 12 cubic yards of soil to fill in beds I can use about 1/3 of that to just amend the top 12 inches of the existing soil. No wood to haul, no mesh, no power tools, just a shovel, a well paid/bribed babysitter and one hell of a good workout over a few days. I may be able to pull it all off.

If the weather clears up tomorrow I hope to drive by some soil depots and check compost prices.

Oh! And I finaly learned how to use powerpoint, so I'm working on my slideshow for next Saturay's talk.

Allergies & finances suck, seriously

After weed whacking the slope I had the worse hay fever/asthma attack, I could barely breathe.
This morning I did get up at 5 am and was outside before the sun was up, but my nose just would not stop dripping that watery snot that you desperaty try to stop with your sleeve as you're working, but it didnt stop, I finally stuck kneenex up my nostrils to try and stem the flow while I worked, but everytime I bent my head at all forward ( which I was doing alot since I was raking and picking up the cut grass) it still would soak thru and start dripping again, driving me insane. It was also getting harder to breathe. I finally gave up after about 30 minutes and came inside to make myself some breakfast and get some coffee, since caffine usually helps with my allergies, it didnt. I finally ended up with claritin in my system form the night before, a zyrtec I took before I walked outside and finally a benedryll severe sinus pill I took in absolue desperation because I couldnt breathe and my nose wouldnt stop. I ended up passing out in a very deep anti-histamine induced coma till 1 pm this afternoon.

so much for my plans of starting off the day early for a hard days work. ugh.

I seriously can't be a total farm girl. I'm allergic to anything with fur. I recently found out I'm severly allergic to horses, and most birds make my eyes burn so I assume chickens would too- altho I desperatly want some for eggs. Combine that with general allergies to cut grass, pollen, smog, cigarette smoke, dust, and pineapple juice and dammit, I wish I hadnt inheirited those genes or something. I keep reading about how kids kept in ultrasterile environments as kids have all these allergies- I guess I can attest to that. My mother swept, vaccumed, mopped and dusted every day. I was rarely allowed outside, and was mad to bathe twice a day ( start and end the day clean!) till my teens. Anyway my point is it makes my love of gardening difficult at best sometimes. I hate having to take 2 or 3 allergy meds to function in this house (which has 2 cats that belong to my brother in law) and years of dust.

Today I just wanted to plop down in my half weed whacked plot of hope and cry, seriously. Its like 3 feet out of level, I only see my husband for a couple of hours some evenings and on weekends, theres so much work to be done to even consider this piece of crap a garden and I can't do it all alone. I need my husband's truck to haul wood or soil, or compost, but its his work car, plus I can't cram 2 carseats in it. I barely know how to use a drillgun, but I am trying. I have a friend who offered to let me use her husband's bobcat tractor thingy (You rock Theresa!) but hello, again I need a way to haul it here and I cant be operating the thing and watch 2 little ones at the same time. I need my husband here to help, but I know we need every penny he can earn before they can him, whenever the hell they get around to it. I'm just frustrated and driving myself batty over it.

Doing all containers sounds mighty tempting, I can build a SWC by myself, fill it and plant it, I can figure that out well enough and fit the materials in a few trips to wal-mart with my car. And yet I can't get past the fact that I can't grow nearly as much in the SWCs without building like 75 of the damn things, and big plants like melons and winter squash might be a bit tricky.

To me the raised beds are a better investment. I can keep planting in them till they fall apart, I have them designed to use floating row cover or plastic to help protect from critters, insects and the hottest part of summer and coldest of our winters. I have trellises in there too- its almost 400 sq feet of planting space. I want my tomatos in SWCs for sure, those babies I'm willing to spoil, but I guess I love that 'big garden' feeling. In this huge house crammed with stressed unhappy people I want a space to call my own, work my ass off in and reap the rewards.

but the cost, UGHHHHH. I HATE spending money, especially right now. I've been pushing off bills to pay for this crap. I'm just seriously afraid if I half ass it and go the cheapest route possible I'll end up with so many headaches I'll regret not doing it as best as I could the first time.

Overwhelmed

2 x 18 gallon sterilite bins @ $4.99 each= $9.98
2 x 54 in Heavy Duty Tomato Cage @ $3.99 each = $7.98
1 7 in round pond plant basket @ $1.65 each = $1.65
1 bag miracle grow potting soil (because its easiest) @ $10.85 = $10.85

total cost for 1 18 gal SWC = $ 30.46 or $22.48 without the tomato cages

This isnt counting the pvc pipe, fertilizer or clips to attatch the tomato cages with.

now the hair raising part. Multiply this by 10 ( I already have bins for 5) and the cost is $304.60 for my "money saving tomato garden". hmpf.

if I want to do an entirely SWC garden I need another 15 containers for peppers, eggplant, beans, herbs, tomatillos, cucumbers, and salad greens. thats another $337.20

total cost of an all SWC garden: $641.80

can justify this with: " Do I spend more then $54 a month buying fresh produce?" and the answer is usually yes.

If I buy my potting soil in bulk from the soil depot the cost goes down to less then $3 per SWC in dirt, lowering the total cost to $226 for the tomato containers only and $445 for a completly SWC garden.




Cost of the 'raised bed' garden:

lumber & drip irrigation from lowes ( including a 10% off total coupon): $293. 82
4 ft x 100 ft roll of galv 1/2 in mesh: $169
100 ft roll of floating row cover: $40
cost of 256 c f or 12 c.y. planting mix: $1,872 if I buy bagged peat/coir/vermiculite/compost and mix it myself, holy shit what a markup on buying the stuff in bags!

or, buy vaggie garden soil form the soil depot @ $22 a cubic yard and the cost is $264

I'll assume the cheaper cost.

total cost of a new raised bed garden: $766.82




so far I have already spent ( that I can recall off the top of my head, yikes):

$45 in light fixtures
$40 for the 5 shelf unit
$18 in light bulbs
$50 for 10 18 gal containers
$150 in seeds & starts
$50 in seed starting trays w/ covers, seed starting mix
$150 in vermiculite, potting soil, compost, peat moss
$80 in amendments bone meal, blood meal, lime, 14-14-14, sure start, B1 transplanting solution, osmocote, liquid 4-4-4 for seedling trays


ugh, I'm so pissed at myself that I have already spent so much for this damn garden and I dont even have a place to plant anything yet. UGH! This has been my 'stress shopping', bad, bad Cindy!

I'm in the newspaper!

Sorta, theres a little blurp about the talk I'm going to do at the Upland Public Library:

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_11796882

http://uplandpl.lib.ca.us/asp/Site/Library/Programs/details/index.asp?ID=137

eeeeek!

I'm frantically compiling notes, working on a powerpoint presentation and was lying awake at 4 am when I had this amazing idea to put samples of different potting mediums in quart mason jars for people to shake/view/compare growing mediums as I explain them. Brillant! I figure I could do that as well for perlite and vermiculite. Also good for comparing "good" potting soil vs the "cheap" potting soil that doesnt drain well and kills your plants.

I just hope that I can speak clearly and reasonable enough to make sense to people. When I get excited I tend to start babbling in hobby jargon and lose people.