Wordless Wednesday | Sprouts
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Experimentation
I recently was looking at specifics on growing potatoes, since my yields are never great. I found a website that made a chicken wire tube that stood upright. It was pretty large, probably about 3 ft in diameter and 4 foot tall. As the plants grew they added straw to it and it allowed for around 100 pounds of potatoes in roughly 12sqft. I’m not going that big as you can see from the 5 gallon buckets. I figured if this were a complete failure I got more growing conventionally. I figure it this way works out and I have a relatively decent harvest, I will consider going bigger. I’ll keep you updated.
Growing here are some Kennebec potatoes and a type of red. Not exactly sure.
Attached
Found these two hidden away in the television stand. Not sure if they were trying to playing on the Wii or on Zoe’s educational game. Either way, I’m sure there was trouble that was had.
Monday Morning Scramble
* Rain. That was the keyword for this weekend. It rained starting late Friday night and didn’t stop until Sunday morning. It left a swamp in the backyard and kept me inside the entire weekend. Needless to say, I’m itching to see how the plants in the greenhouse are holding up.
*Got a surprise coming in the next week!
* Went with Zoe to our church Daddy/Daughter dance on Friday evening. I’ve always feared this event. I never knew what to really expect. It exceeded all my expectations. Zoe had one heck of a great time. We even won two tickets to the Fort Worth Zoo from the raffle drawing. Zoe loved the dance. She is a dance queen at the house, so it was cool to see her moves on the dance floor. Great evening overall.
I’ve got it marked on the calendar for next year.
* Grayson is *this* close to crawling. I give him another couple weeks before he finally gets that butt moving around. He can get it up in the air by himself. His arm strength just isn’t there yet. Right now he resorts to rolling to get around the living room.
*Mavs lost to Linsanity on Sunday. But, who really cares? The Knicks still have a losing record. I agree with most the DFW folk, it was odd to see Tyson Chandler in a different uniform.
*Rangers spring training begins this week. The really insanity is in Surprise, Arizona, with all the mystery behind Yu Darvish and the media that comes with it and the recent relapse coverage of Josh Hamilton.
* No, I’m not going to tell you the surprise. Not yet!
* This week? I’m pretty sure the word this week is going to be sun, and lots of it. That means lots of work in the garden. I still have a pile of mulch sitting in the driveway that needs moved. I need to transplant the lettuce, spinach and other greens to their permanent home inside the cinder block holes. I’m going to try and finish shaving Biff (I started almost a month ago and got all around his neck but stopped for some reason)
//Grab a shovel. I’ll meet you in the backyard.
(photo credit: Centerpoint Church. Used with permission.)
**i scheduled this wrong. oops. should have posted this morning.
A Much Needed Upgrade
I’ve never really owned a watering can. Never really had a use for one. I usually just use a hose or cup or something to water my plants. When I decided to to start seeds indoors this year I found a two litter bottle laying around and poked some holes in the top. This actually worked very well as when I turned the bottle over it didn’t start pouring water until I gave it a squeeze. It wasn’t until I moved everything out to the greenhouse that it became a burden. After dividing up the plants into individual pots it took twice the time to water (which didn’t bother me, but the squeezing of the bottle was doing a number on it) and I would run out pretty fast. The hose from the rain barrel doesn’t reach all the way out there. Sometime last week I had mentioned to Stephanie that I needed a watering can and voila. She got me one for Valentines. She is a great listener.
Having both around is great though. I keep them filled with rain water at all times. When I venture out and poke around, they are right there waiting to lend a helping hand.
Fine, don’t listen to me
Okay, so we have two new kittens that Zoe loves dearly. She’ll sometimes pick them up when they are playing and rough housing together. I always tell her not to pick them up at this time as they will probably be rough with her. I continuously have to tell her this, but she never listens. I’m hoping this time she will finally remember.
Let just say, she came this close to getting a nice scratch across the face.
Cleaning Sniff | A simple how-to
First you gather up the bath tub from your Barbie dollhouse.
Fill the tub with water and dunk Sniff all the way under, soaking up most of the water.
Pull him out and let the water drip back into the tub.
Show off you awesome kitty cleaning skills
Dunk him back into the tub for a final rinse.
Ring out all the excess water.
Hang Sniff up on the kitchen chair to dry.
Happy Valentines Day
To my lovely wife, Stephanie, I love you!
Though we won’t see each other today I will still think about you.
Remember that one time we went to Mineola and spent the night at that bed and breakfast? And it snowed? That was a great Valentines! That seems like forever ago.
Hope you are having fun in Austin! See you Wednesday evening.
Trout Fishing
I have visited Tandy Hills park several times in the past thirteen years or so. I’ve hiked here. Gone orienteering here. Even geocached here. It wasn’t until Sunday that I found one of its hidden treasures. Trout Lilies. I went out Sunday morning, with my sister in tow, to see if they were in bloom yet. My sister and brother-in-law had recently discovered this park just a few years ago and ran across them in bloom. Last week I went looking for them but didn’t really know where to look. It wasn’t but a 10 minute walk in the windy 30* weather to the spot they had found. At first glance we thought none were in bloom, but upon further inspection there were multiple shoots about to open up and we found one in full bloom.
The water was brisk.
Obligatory self portrait.
Though our visit Sunday was short, I’d like to come back soon to see if I can find some more. Perhaps another lunchtime extravaganza? I think so.
Monday Morning Scramble
* Since Stephanie is out of town and I fell asleep with the kids last night, we’ll call this the Mid-morning scramble.
* Mom and dad doing crossword puzzles and their two kids watching videos on their phones at dinner. Not waiting for dinner, but DURING dinner. Saw this over the weekend. Completely ridiculous. At what point does human interaction get thrown out the door?
* Remember kids, when you go out for hike even for just an hour, wear proper footwear. I didn’t think anything of this on Sunday when I went out with my sister to Tandy Hills and now have blisters on the tops on my toes. Ouch. New Balance, you shall stay in the closet from now on.
* February reared it’s usual nasty side this past weekend, complete with a weekend ending dusting of snow. Always fear the month of love.
* Nine days until pitchers and catchers report!
* Took Stephanie to Valentines dinner last Friday. Just us. No kids. Dinner. Drinks. And ice cream sandwiches. Seriously, if you are in the West 7th area of Ft. Worth you should stop in Sweet Sammies. Homemade cookies paired with bluebell ice cream. Just a mom and pop and a great concept.
*This week? Not much. Getting my butt handed to me by Zoe and Grayson until Wednesday. The weather forecast calls for another night in the 30s, then it should warm back up into the weekend. I’m pretty sure we are in the home stretch heading into spring. You should enter the Baker Creek seed giveaway for a chance to win a collection of tomato seeds. Two days left.
//Grab a shovel. I’ll meet you in the backyard. There is always work to do.