The Garden Book

  

Thomas Jefferson had a garden book.  And now, so do the Kempers.  I will not say that our garden book will ever be as detailed or as faithfully kept as Jefferson's, but I hope it will be beneficial to us.  I've read in many gardening blogs and how-to's that a garden journal of some sort will be an effective help to improving the garden year by year.  That's precisely what I'm hoping for.  At least, if I can be good about keeping it updated.  Since I don't work in the garden a great deal, and I never make it outside without one or two kids in tow, sometimes it's hard for me to keep track of what is producing. Already, we have snap peas getting ready to ripen, and I hadn't even known the peas were producing yet.  And so I haven't gotten it down.  I guess it's one more thing to be vigilant about.


Some of the things I'm trying to keep track of:

• what and when we have planted
• what is producing (and preferably when)
• any changes or improvements to the garden plot
• maybe applications of compost (yet to have happened, though)

Things I may need to think about adding so I remember from year to year:

• weather damage (for instance, it hailed pretty bad just before we planted.  If we'd had plants in the ground, I would want to note that.  I know it has affected some cherry crops around the area)
• precipitation totals.  This might be helpful so we can remember just how wet or dry, but I don't know that I want to keep a tally of rainfall inches all the time.  This isn't an almanac, right?

Anyone else out there keep a garden journal?  Do you have anything you would suggest adding?

Friday Quick 5

1. You know you're in a "different phase of life" when you think it's insane to be up at 11:30 pm, even on a Friday night.  There was a time when I happily stayed up until 3:00 in the morning chatting with the friend, only regretful that I might need to get up for classes in the morning.  Now I get giddy if I hit the pillow by 9:00.  That, by the way, despite all our efforts, is a very rare treat.  There are a lot of things that are pointing out that we are in a very different phase of life.  Such as: naptimes are all important and are not to be messed with; sorting, folding, and transitioning clothes is a quarterly event; mealtimes and menu plans revolve around the fickle tastes of a toddler; and your choices in entertainment have, er, changed.

2.  Speaking of entertainment: it's time the jig was up.  Yes, I do like Phineas and Ferb.  The show that once drove me crazy is now something the whole family enjoys to watch and I have songs from Rollercoaster, the Musical almost permanently stuck in my head.  Sadly, it seems that my daughter is ready to move onto vastly more annoying shows. Like Strawberry Shortcake.  Sigh, what they've done to a perfectly good set of characters...  Back to Phineas and Ferb.  Yes, we are very much looking forward to the tv movie apparenlty airing in August.  Yes, we sing the songs as a family (and our own renditions) with some regularity.  And I gladly felt a little affirmation that a single friend of mine found the tunes quite catchy and is contemplating downloading them onto her ipod.  Thank you, Mel, and I love you.  Lest you fear that my giving into Phineas and Ferb will affect my good taste in film and entertainment, let me reassure you.  After actually watching it, I can see the cleverness and humor in much of what goes on, and I appreciate their embracing attitude towards creativity and ingenuity, as well as family.  I have seen many episodes of Dora and Diego and other kiddy shows thanks to my nephews.  I have yet to develop any remote fondness for them.  So, I think I'm safe from cheesy, overacted, and poorly written children's entertainment solely designed to force parents to fork over the cash to put little butts in theater seats.  I hope.

3. I bought some new flours I'm going to try out.  I'm very excited.  I even made Nick stand next to me in the pantry while I pulled each one out and named them and gave him look practically daring him to get as excited as me.  He didn't.  But, I really look forward to trying them out.  For me, this is the next step towards moving into a diet based solely (or it may have to be mostly) on real food.  This, for me, is a way to incorporate more whole grains into our diet.  The flours I chose are from other beneficial grains besides wheat that can be made into whole grain flour.  The ones I've chosen are spelt, kamut, teff, barley, and corn flours.  I'm so looking forward to trying them!  Plus, I've transitioned our baking to whole wheat pastry flour and hard white wheat flours.  You can substitute white wheat flour for all-purpose flour one-to-one and still get the same results.  I'm looking forward to trying it out and seeing if it's true.

4.  My friend Mel is in town for the weekend.  She's home from Germany to plan her wedding and get married before going back.  It's been so wonderful to have her here and to get to talk to her about all the changes and plans in her life.  We've also been doing some reorganizing in my pantry and closest and can I say?  I don't want her to go home!  While the house isn't as clean as I'd like it, my closets now show great promise, and it's all from her genius.  I have told her again and again that if she ever decides to change careers, she should seriously consider becoming a home organizing assistant.  She works wonders.  I'll be her first customer and recommendation!

5.  We have snap peas about ready to pick.  We're pretty excited.  I am a little concerned that our first tomatoes might ripen while we are on vacation, but what can you do?  I look forward to finding out if they're really better than supermarket tomatoes (I'm sure they are) and if they make good sauce.  I have full confidence in home salsa.  But I'm most excited about making spaghetti sauce and homemade ketchup.  It's kind of hard waiting for August and the influx of tomatoes.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!  I am guaranteed to: Mel's here and my nephew's birthday is today.  Plus, my brother and his girlfriend are in from out of town.  It's a busy weekend!

How does your garden grow?

These pictures are already a few weeks old...

Quick 5

What is it about Fridays lately?  Or the end of the week?!  Here again, I'm late on the Quick 5.

1. Simon had his 2 mo. check up and his first round of shots on Friday.  The poor guy wasn't even phased by the first one.  We might have been fine if it had ended there.  But four more shots later and he was an unhappy fellow.  Still, he's growing.  Over 12 lbs now, though he's not as big as his buddy who was born a week later.  It won't be long before we're moving into 3-6 mo. clothes and Mom might shed a small tear as all the tiny new baby things are packed away.  Or not. 

2. Confession: I love getting new clothes/outfits for the kids.  It's fun.  I love pulling out new things for them to wear, so when they move up into their new stage of clothes, I get a little excited to see what we have.  I know this will wear off when our hand-me downs become thin and I am desperately trying to find garage sale/clearance sale finds for a good price and keep my kids from going naked.  But for now, I want more variety for them than I am concerned about for me.  I feel a nomination to "What Not to Wear" coming on.  Please, folks, at least give me that year to lose the weight, and then you're welcome to do it whether I have or not.

3.  My birthday is coming up in a few months and my mom is already asking for a birthday list.  Do you have any ideas?  I always struggle with birthday and gift lists because there are long lines of things we could really use but would really put a crimp on our budget if we got them ourselves.  So do I ask for an extra mattress pad for our bed my birthday?  Cuz we only got the one, and it takes all day to dry, and we are always making our bed on laundry day when we really should have crashed into it a half hour ago.  Or should I ask for something I would never buy myself and get spoiled just a little for my birthday?  I know the answer anyone would give me: get the "luxury" item (not to be confused with luxury class items).  But we could really use the mattress pad...

4.  Have you ever considered the intentional life?  I'm not talking Randy Carlson here, though he's got a good schtick going.  But I am talking about living your life with purpose and discipline.  It's something I'm thinking a lot about right now.  How much of my life do I live intentionally?  And are those intentions good?  Are my intentions for having a clean house good?  Am I intentional about my relationships?  With my husband?  With God?  It would be easy to look at "the intentional" life and create for yourself a list of do's and don'ts, or even more to-do's.  If I can check off these things, then I have created an intentional way of living.  But the more I think about it and look at it, I think it's more an attitude, a way of thinking.  It's a reflective sort of life, where you are not simply measuring yourself against a stick, but that you are mindful and aware of how you are living and what you are doing.  Have you ever noticed that if you just plunge into life headlong that you end up doing a lot of really stupid stuff?  Your mistakes are more numerous, or more disasterous, and that you don't even enjoy the ride very much.  It bares some more thinking, yes, reflection and meditation.  But I don't really want my life to go by and at the end be asking myself, "Where'd it go?"  SimpleMom.net has a few posts on living a good story.  It's good.  Go check it out.

5.  I got an old slowcooker from my mom.  Can I just say, I've never been more excited about an out-dated appliance before?  Foodinjars.com has a great method for making fruit butter in the slowcooker.  She's posted about blueberry butter crockpot style and on SimpleBites.net, apple butter.  I'm going to try her Strawberry Rhubarb Butter in the slow cooker (and maybe the Orange Rhubarb).  I like the idea of not having to stand over it and stir it as much, as after making banana butter and having Simon crying at my feet in his carrier and calling Nick to come rescue me from the stove.... Well, I don't want to have to do that again.  Can you tell that I am into food blogs right now?  I'd give anything to be able to take pictures like they do.  Maybe that what I should ask for on my birthday: a photography class.  Hmm....

Happy Tuesday.  Maybe I'll actually be on the ball on Friday this time.  I refuse to make promises.

Belated Quick 5

1. I was away from home all Friday on an impromptu trip to Omaha.  The reason?  Wedding dress shopping with a friend.  Very, very fun.  I was not with her when she said, "Yes, this is the dress," but when we left each other I knew it was in the top two.  I have to say, I'm really looking forward to this wedding.  Partly, because I have yet to meet the groom, and this is a very dear friend.  I can't wait to meet her future husband.  But mostly, because it's been a long journey for her through single-hood and trusting the Father to be faithful to her in any form of marital status.  It's gonna be a fun party.

2.  Eliza has grown so much that when I sit on the floor she's the same height I am.  This may not sound like much, but when you are used to looking down into your daughter's face and then being confronted eye-to-eye... well, it's showing how much she's growing up.   She's still very much a baby in many ways.  Though her vocabulary is growing (she can now communicate "walk", "shoe", and "don't know", among other things, she still can't make every desire perfectly understood, which leads to a great deal of crying and tantrums.  Still, I can see the little girl beginning to form from the baby.  I miss my baby, a little bit, the ability to cuddle and how she used to lay her head in the crook of my neck when she was tired.  Better yet, though, is the enjoyment I get out of this little person developing before my eyes.  She's definitely not perfect; she has a lot to learn.  I have a lot to learn in being her mama.  But she's oh, so sweet!

3.  Simon will get first shots the end of this week.  Well, the first shots I'm in the room for.  Two month old getting five shots.  Enough said.

4.  The garden is GROWING!  I have had several posts I've wanted to put up, but just haven't been able to get to the computer long enough to do it.  Nick has been working hard and is very excited.  The plans for expansion are coming and already he's talking about how he'll modify it for next year.  I should note it in our garden notebook.  On his agenda for right now is building the compost bin (he's all about compost) and then making plans for a greenhouse.  He plans to build it off our second story kitchen.  There's a bit of roof on the back of the house where the first floor juts out a bit, and our kitchen sits looking out on the roof and the backyard.  Nick intends to build the greenhouse right off the kitchen door that leads onto the roof so that we can step out into a modest-sized greenhouse for herbs all winter long, and where he can easily begin seedlings for next year's crops.  It's rather exciting that we're becoming "serious" gardeners!

5.  Started P90X!  My body is feeling it.  Sadly, I don't think it will happen today, as I didn't get the dvd in time from Nick to work out this morning (and though he said I could, I really didn't want to disturb his sleep).  I thought maybe I could this afternoon, but naptime is coinciding with lunch, and I don't want to do this workout with a full stomach!  I may have to see if the kids will go down for bedtime tonight and if Nick goes to work in the basement, I might pull it out then!  But I'm determined to lose weight and get fit and healthy!

Weight loss blues

Can I say, I'm just a little discouraged and a little disgusted with myself.  My weight has been fluctuating, which is to be expected (apparently you can fluctuate as much as 2 lbs within a single day), but not really dropping.  I hadn't expected to make dramatic gains: no 14 pounds in two weeks for me.  I want the slow and steady loss, maybe a 1.5 a week.  So that should be three pounds by now.  But it hasn't happened.

I know part of it is my eating style.  I'm still a little kerflummoxed by vegetables.  Don't ask me why; I don't get it either.  I just don't know what to do with them besides put butter on them, and that's not exactly where I'm wanting to go.  I've tried a few recipes, and didn't really like them.  I think it might be an uphill battle on that one, for a girl who rarely ate them beyond the canned quadrumvirate of peas, carrots, corn, and green beans.  It was all my dad would eat.  So it's all I ate.


Thankfully, I did finally make it to the chiropractor; hip is much better; P90X starts next week.  Again, I don't expect to lose more than a pound or two a week, so don't expect me to become the P90X poster child.  I'm not doing their diet.  I'm doing my own.  I don't want that much protein, and I want just a few more carbs.  But not a lot.  But I've already made sure we're stocked with brown rice, not white.  And I'm gathering the arsenal to slowly change our eating habits.  One thing I intend to do is take the first mini-pledge from 100 Days of Real Food: 2 different fruits or vegetables at every meal.  I think I can make that work.  I'll figure it out with the vegetables.


So.  Next week is really ground zero.  I hope I make it.  I hope I lose weight.  I hope I don't ruin my milk supply, as I intend to continue nursing my son until he's one.  I hope, I hope, I hope.

Friday Quick 5

1.  Summer's here with a vengeance.  90-degrees and above for at least the next week and a half.  As I get older, I find I like summer less and less, weather-wise, and enjoy fall and even winter more and more.  Maybe it's weight-related, or the fact I don' like to sweat.  I don't know.  Maybe, if I can get my weight down and keep it down for a year, we'll know the truth.  Still, I notice both summer and winter encroach beyond their bounds in this part of the country.  Spring and fall are so fleeting; but I guess perhaps that's true in any part of the country?  Summer starts well before the Solstice (though this year Spring couldn't decide if it was winter or summer and rapidly flopped between both), and often lasts up to or even beyond the Autumnal Equinox.  The same goes for winter, often beginning to encroach in late November, early December, though the Solstice isn't until nearly January.  But then again, maybe the weather has it better: the solstices used to be called Mid-Summer's Day and Mid-Winter's Day, suggesting those season were already in progress.  Maybe the calendars have it all wrong.

2.  I've found procrastination to be one of my greatest down-falls.  When I was pregnant with Eliza, I noticed that every now and then I would have pain in my hip, likely connected to something being out of joint in my back.  When I was pregnant with Simon, it became quite bad, prompting me to go to the chiropractor.  After I gave birth, everything seemed fine; until a few weeks ago.  Then the pain came back so badly that I often limp.  I know it is that spot in my back acting up again.  I also know it's exacerbated by the fact that I often carry two kids up 1.3 flights of stairs practically every day, and many days with a load or two of groceries to boot. I really need to get it taken care of, as it's crimping my exercise.  It's hard enough to do the Wii Fit Step and Advanced Step for more than 20 minutes, but extended walking/running or intense exercise can be quite painful.  And I've yet to make the appointment.  I've set an appointment with myself to call and make an appointment on Monday (the office is closed on Fridays).  Procrastination is gettin' the boot!

3.  11 days without a soda, unless you count a few gulps to wash down some Ibuprofen at the Farmer's Market to deal with my hip pain.  Which I don't.  It was provided to me, I drank what was needed to get the medicine down (okay, with maybe one extra taste), and I didn't ask for anything more.  And except for a few stress moments over the past few days, I haven't wanted one.  Now, ask me how I'm doing on desserts....

4.  Zoo trips are becoming a regular repertoire of ours.  A group of my friends who have/are caring for young children go to the zoo almost every Friday morning to let the kids run and enjoy the outdoors, as well as the animals when they take a moment to look.  Eliza is, for the most part, the youngest of the kids and often has a hard time keeping up.  She's not always included, as she is often the last to arrive on the scene.  My heart teeters a little when I see this.  I am grateful to these little girls and their moms, as they're really good about trying to include her, but sometimes it can't be helped.  Eliza can't do everything they do, and she can't move as fast as they can; sometimes, she just can't join in everything.  Generally, Eliza's unaware when she doesn't get to participate, but it gives me a taste of "someday", should she be excluded by children who mean to do it, how a mother's heart can ache for her child.  Eliza is a beautiful little girl, so sweet and open, and I hate the idea of her being hurt, especially intentionally, by another.  Yet I also know I can't shield her from every difficulty and trial, as they will help her to develop the strong character I hope she will have.  It's hard being a mom.

5.  Since the others are so long, I'll keep this one short: Simon has begun reaching for things.  The cutest thing I've seen these past several months: Simon laying on the couch with his daddy leaning over him, cooing to each other while Simon reaches up to touch Daddy's face.  Be still my heart!  I love those two men.