Composting

Every so often, I'd say once a month. The two compost bins that we have, get turned over and fluffed. This adds air flow and loosens up the mulch. 

Haven't seen any worms. Guess the ones I found from the garden have left, died or were eaten? We had a small hole that appeared on the green bin. Diane thinks it was a mouse. 

It's looking great, but not ready to use yet. I'd say this summer - when we plant the watermelon and redo a few plots - that's when we should add what compost we have. 

Carrots, 70 days, almost ready

These carrots are supposed to be short and fat. Just perfect for container growing. Walmart has these big colorful pots for around $8 each. So full em' with soil and seeded the carrots

Since I used the last of the soil on this pot. I used the bag as a cover/mulch. The holes are 3" apart from each other and I think large enough to have water flow and carrot stalk grow.

Two weeks from picking our first carrot. One of the stalks was bent over, So we  gave it to our rabbit Mr. B as a treat. He just nom nom'd it down super fast.

Now we know why rabbits in the garden would be bad! 

Hunting Beetles

Will these Chinese Rose Beetles ever go away?!

During the weekly ritual of hunting for these pets, I use a clear beer bottle, filled with soap and water. Placing a flashlight under it in my right hand, and using my left to gently tap the beetles down into the bottle, they drop straight into the water/soap solution.

As you can see, the flashlight shines right up into the bottle creating a lamp so I can see where I'm going. Then the light goes up and out of the neck of the bottle, almost like spotlight. It actually pinpoints the area around the beetle as it gets close to the lip of the bottle. a gentle tap, and they fall right down into the solution. 

Kitchen Compost

Using a Folgers coffee container that we buy from Costco as our kitchen compost bin. Once it gets full - it goes into the regular compost bin in the garden.

Instead of it being the bright red container. We painted it, and then put a clear coat over that to make it last a bit longer. It doesn't scream - put me away in the cubbored either, as it sits incognito on the kitchen counter. 

That's just a good weekend of items - veggies, coffee grinds, egg shells and such.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Had plans for dinner in Waikiki, but we decided to cancel them and have dinner at home. We both though of having a romantic garden theme. 

Diane made french onion soup, lamb, with mashed potatoes and asparagus. For desert we had vanilla ice cream topped with a blueberry compote that I made. 

A bottle of wine and champagne to start, oh and romantic music (thank you Pandora). 

Everything was perfect - like it always is. I think we'll have more dinners in the garden this year. :)

Resurgence of Spider Mites

Quite a lot of eggplant on all the branches. These two photos are just the front of the plant. While we were trying to get a shot of as many eggplants as possible - we noticed some webbing and upon closer inspection - the spider mites have returned!

<<Queue dramatic effect>>

/dun-dun-daaaa!

So like the last time. We clipped the leaves, and parts of the plants more 'heavily' affected. Have to say - this time around it wasn't nearly as bad. Then the plant was sprayed down with water. 

We'll have to do this process for a few days in a row to make sure we keep the population down. 

Valentines Day

Last year when Kinsey brought home a few cotton seeds - we planted them and I was able to grow 1 plant. No idea how large, shape, size the cotton plant would be. It ended up getting over 10' tall - until it snapped in high winds during the Winter.

It's still growing though. New shoot come out every few weeks, it flowers and is producing it's cotton buds. I usually try to pick them when they full open - but the birds (i think) do take the cotton as well. That or it just falls off the plant?

Well since it's been giving cotton, we pick it and place the fiber into a bag to save it. Up until a week ago - I wasn't sure what to use it for. Until I saw a blog about Totoro. If you haven't seen the cartoon, I suggest you go watch it now. it's amazing. Hayao Miyazaki went on to create Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke and others.

 In the blog I found a link to a DIY Totoro plush doll. I thought - this is what I should make for Madison's birthday. But as I was planning and thinking of what materials, it changed to a Valentine's Day gift.

 I used scraps of material from other projects Diane had been working on. She also showed me how to do a blind stitch, (need to practice that more) and how to thread her sewing machine. (little nervous using her tools) - a lot of the details I just hand stitched.

As in true Reddit protocol - Completed 'Image' 1st  :)

   Finished

    Stuffing w. cotton

Tracing the pattern Cutting each part

Hand stitching the belly

Sewing the parts on

Taking out all the seedsalmost done, at least it 'looks' like Totoro :)

Giving Back - Big and Small

Just read about an Ex-NFL Star - Jason Brown who played in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens, who gave up football and operates a farm with 1,000 acres. He donates these crops to local food pantries, having given away over 46,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and 10,000 pounds of cucumbers. 

Brown began learning about farming practices in 2012 by watching... YouTube videos!  See his story below from CBS Nightly News. 

Diane and I always joke about our little 'farm', and we give what we can't eat away to friends, family, co-workers, and others. It's heart warming to see that others do the same and for such a great cause.