Totally Tomatoes

Lost two trays of tomato seedlings last month and I'm surprised to have 38 beefsteak tomatoes. Wished I had a bit more variety for this year, but what's done is done and there's always next year. Next stop for these little beauties---the garden!

Sorry for the low quality picture and always remember to keep growing.

#agreenhaven #tomatoes #growfood #organicgardener

Quote of the Week

Into every garden a little a little rain must fall.

                         -Ella Fitzgerald 

#agreenhaven #gardenquotes #rain

#fleurrustique #EllaFitzgerald #EvaElijas

First of the Season: Watermelon Seedling

Look what I found---The first watermelon sprout of the season.

Also the first time I've planted watermelon seeds this early. I usually like to wait until May to plant watermelon seeds, however, I decided to give April a chance, and if it didn't workout, I always knew May would workout.

Even though I'm a zone 7 gardener, my area is still prone to a few days of frost in April after a week of hot days, and this April was one of those times.

When I planted the seeds, temperatures were warm and three days later we got rain and extremely cold weather. The frost actually damaged my hydrangeas, a little, and my thoughts immediately went to the watermelon seeds tucked snuggly in the earth--waiting for its grand appearance.

Would the frost kill the seeds or will the frost come and go quickly and the seeds will be spared?

Looks like one seed has made it through the cooler temperatures, now will the others pop through?

#agreenhaven #growfood

#watermelon

Quote of the Week

There can be no life without soil and no soil without life;they have evolved together.

-Charles E. Kellogg

#agreenhaven #gardenquotes #Charles E. Kellogg

#Kaboompics

Spring Break Sowings: Corn and Sunflowers

Finally planted sunflower and corn seeds in the ground, yesterday. Compared to last year, I'm late getting them in the ground, however, I'm not late getting them planted, though.

This year the corn has been planted in blocks of five instead of a single row. Last year's harvest was nice, and grew pretty well. In fact, the corn was a real head turner and conversational piece with the neighbors---it was grown in the front yard.

My 7 year old nephew's excitement to dig holes and pull weeds made planting a lot easier on me, but honestly it was fun seeing him having a ball!

As he dug holes while my daughter supervised him, I made a small trench behind the corn to be filled in with mammoth sunflower seeds. I always thickly fill in the sunflower seeds for a greater chance of germination. Next step is to lightly cover the seeds with soil, water and wait for their gorgeous emergence!

Quote of the Week

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.

                  -W.E. Johns 

#agreenhaven

#gardenquotes 

Goals! Goals! Goals!

Yesterday I finally did it! I finally made space for a cut flower area in the garden. Now---hopefully, I'll be able to check another goal off of my, "Best Decade Ever" checklist, soon.

Oh, never heard of, The Best Decade Ever---I know this could be its own blog post, but I feel like sharing it; so.....late 2019, Mel Robbins (motivational speaker and author),offered a free online course to help map out dreams/goals of the attendees.

Monday through Friday, there was always a task for the day, and I had a love/hate relationship with the 10 year writing challenges in the beginning. After a week of trying, and finally becoming honest with myself and being happy to do small things, and they can be goals, too. Looking back on 2019 and previous years, helped me to come to this conclusion.

I'm not going to share all of my goals here, but here's a few(no particular order):

1. Learn French

2. Buy a house

  3. Add cut flower garden

                  4. Get in the stock market

                  5. Network with other                              bloggers 

Did you notice the range of dreams and goals? Pretty cool, huh? And I can proudly say, my husband and I bought our house, I've been in the stock market over a year, I'm networking with bloggers, and at the time of this writing, I've gladly spent 440 consecutive days of learning French. 

Looks really likely that the cut garden is next. 

Why do I want a cut flower garden so much? Well, being mainly a vegetable grower, I've grown a few flowers here and there, and they always stay outside. Being able to grow an abundant amount of fresh flowers to freshness up my house with a pop of color would be amazing and cost effective!

According to Nikki over at Savvy Gardening, one should start with easy to grow annual flowers like, zinnias and sunflowers, and how your flowers are organized will help with the maintenance and growth process. Some flowers might need support to keep them upright as they grow.

I'm pretty confident about growing sunflowers. Sunflowers and cosmos, I've grown before. Zinnias, Echinacea, scarlet sage and orange coneflower, no experience at all, and according to the information  from Savvy Gardening, I might not have some plants organized where they can be properly supported. Basically, I cleared an area for the flowers, took a mixture of a handful of seeds, and sprinkled them on the soil, and covered lightly. 

As I wait for the emergence of the first sprout, or any signs of development, this experiment could be a complete garden mess or something absolutely beautiful. I'm pulling for the latter, but one thing's for certain---I'm working on  creating my best decade ever!

#agreenhaven #goals #gardening #cutflowers #sunflowers #zinnias.                          #cosmos