Farmville, Part 3

I know that I said in my last post that "planting would have to wait for tomorrow" but that was a bit of a lie. I just couldn't resist having all that black dirt lying empty for the night. Plus, I had all those Burpee babies just waiting to be planted. So I quickly grabbed a few tomato plants and this monster (summer squash) and planted them in the few remaining moments of fading light.

The next day it rained all day long. In between each shower I managed to plant almost every thing else. This picture is taken a few days later when everything had a chance to dry out a bit. The squash in on the far left hand side with 9 sweet peas, and two rows of bunched onions. The next 3 rows contain a variety of peppers- Sweet Cayenne, Hot Portugal, California Wonder (green bell peppers), Red peppers, and a mystery mix that might produce white, green, red, purple, and chocolate color bell peppers. The last 3 rows (closest to the patio) contain Jubilee (yellow) tomatoes, Roma and Big Boy tomatoes. So far it looks like they're all going to make it with the exception of 1.

I'm really hoping that we get a good crop this year of at least something. I'm really learning a lot as we go along. I started putting down the manure yesterday and in a week I'll start giving them liquid fertilizer. I think they need all the help they can get.

I also planted 6 types of herbs. We go through so much basil, cilantro, mint, oregano, rosemary and thyme every month that I decided it would be more economical and accessible if we grew some ourselves. I set the boxes out the night that we dug up the sod and they completely flooded because I didn't get a chance to drill tiny holes in the bottom so that water could leak out. So I killed all of them except mint. The moisture level was back to normal yesterday, so I replanted all the herbs.

So there's our little farm. I'm really, really hoping that we get some produce this year. It would be great to see all this effort produce something tasty. Next year I might not grow the tomatoes from seeds like I did this year but instead just buy the plants from a nursery. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how everything turns out.

Our Little Farm

So as promised, the story of our little farm continues...

On Monday, the 17th, we decided the time had come to finally plant the garden. Our planting season is a little different than that of Nevada in that we have to wait to plant after the frost zone passes, which is May 15th. Monday was a dreary and cold day. Everything was muddy and soaking wet. Great for cutting up the sod, not so great for picking up the sod and transporting it somewhere else. My job was to push the wheel barrow through the yard, past the neighbors house, and over to the empty lot and empty it. But I couldn't just discard muddy grass in a huge heaping pile because that would just look to ghetto. I mean, really, this is where we live, right? So I carefully removed every stinking piece of sod and turned it up right and laid them side by side. Alex thought I was nuts but I didn't mind because I didn't have to shovel up the sod. Here I am on my way back from the last load of sod.

Remember the little, pathetic patch I dug? It's nothing compared to what Alex did. The entire garden is a little more than 16 feet long and 8 feet wide.

Even though we dug out the sod we wanted to have a raised bed to grow all our vegetables in. To do that we needed a good border to hold all the dirt. Alex took our little hand-held shovel and dug a 4 inch border around the garden. We then headed over to Lowe's to grab all our supplies. We bought 15 bags of manure, 51 bags of black top soil (yes that's right- 51 bags!), 6 planter boxes, 27 tomato cages (two different sizes), vegetable fertilizer, and a massive piece of ply-wood that we had cut into 6 sections to box in the garden. It took us 7 trips to Lowe's to transport all of it home in our little Hyundai.

Here's the garden boxed in with 48 bags of black top soil waiting to be emptied.

And here's our 16x8 garden filled with wonderful black dirt.

We marked the sprinkler with an orange flag. By this time it was 8:30 at night. The sun had just set and we were pretty beat. Planting would have to wait for tomorrow and so will the rest of the story. :)

When in Rome...

Alex and I have been planning to plant a garden for what seems like ages now. I became thoroughly convinced last summer when bell peppers cost $1.50 a piece that we desperately needed to grow our own. Last fall we mapped out an area in our back yard and in March I purchased a 50 piece Burpee starter kit. That's the 2 square boxes you see at the bottom. In the far left one, I planted all the herbs that we use on a regular basis (thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, mint, and cilantro). In the second box I planted 3 types of tomatoes, 2 types of bell pepper, onions, and one summer squash. On the far right, I planted 7 spicy/hot pepper plants. I think next year I'll organize a Garden Party in the neighborhood and see who shows up.

Then in April, when I should have been studying, I decided to start digging some of the sod out of the garden. Under the sod is 100% clay. It's easier to dig up than Nevada clay, but once its wet it sticks to everything. We picked an area in our back yard that gets tons of sunlight but has fairly good drainage.

After an hour, this is how much I had dug. Yes, its pitiful. I grew bored and conveniently realized I had better things to do.

I'll post more tomorrow.

Before I go, I want to wish my beloved husband a wonderful and Happy 36th Birthday! May the next 36 years be more amazing than the first!

A Semester Confession

For the last 17 weeks my life has revolved around this little thing:

This 1 gig memory stick contains virtually every reflection paper, essay, chapter assignment, PowerPoint presentation, lesson plan, and research project that I have submitted for the last year, especially during this last semester.

I managed to finish off my third semester at Newman University with:

Theology 4443 (Faith and Society): A

Education 3123 (Technology and the Classroom): B

History 3073 (History of Kansas and the Great Plains): B

Education 3162 (Teaching Methods): A

Political Science 3063 (World Government Systems): A

I'll be honest, as I always should, I'm not happy with the results. My professors were wonderful and professional and more than willing to help. This is one of the many reasons why I love my exorbitantly priced, but small university. I was a total slacker this semester. It's actually quite ridiculous how badly I procrastinated. I missed an A in the Education class by .5 points because I decided around week #12 that I didn't feel like writing yet another reflection paper even if it was worth 30 points. The reason for my history class is even more foolish. Put plainly- I didn't study. I produced a research paper that was by far substandard. But that's probably because I started the research a day before it was due and then spent the entire day of the final writing it instead of studying for the final.

So why did I decide to sabotage my own grades and eventually my GPA? I just couldn't get motivated this semester. I was talking to two of my friends that I had in almost all my classes with last semester and they were feeling the same way. I think because last semester was SO intense and overwhelming with all the things that had to be done that when I looked over the requirements for this semester I thought, "Piece of Cake!" and then took a 14 week nap. Then I started a new job at a restaurant about 3 miles from my house. The money is not so hot but they were willing to work with my school schedule and I can ride my bike to work. Then there is house-work. I don't care what anyone says-that's a full time job in itself. I can't leave off the dog. I used him as an excuse to step away from whatever project I was working on at the moment to go on a 2.5 mile walk every day or play Tug-of-War. When it comes right down to it I put school at the bottom of the list when I should have made it my main priority. The worst part is I don't think I'll make the Dean's List this semester.

I did do stuff this semester that was pretty labor intensive, so it's not that I completely slacked off.

• I put together a 106 page, 8 lesson plan Unit on 8th grade Economics complete with Kansas standards, Goals, a visual map of the Unit, a pre-test and final test, a newsletter to the parents, 2 extensive WebQuests, a PowerPoint presentation, countless hand outs, and detailed 2-3 page lesson plans. I created about 99% of this massive portfolio and I worked on it all semester long.

• I created a WebQuest for the first time ever. I had never heard of a WebQuest before. Basically, it's a way to incorporate the Internet and technology into a classroom. Instead of giving the students a list of questions and just letting them roam through the Internet at random to find a bunch of information that's probably not reliable, the teacher creates a list of websites for the student to explore. It can be done as an individual assignment or as a group activity. I chose one of my favorite subjects: Christopher Columbus and the Colombian Exchange.

• I wrote my first 15-page research paper. Truthfully, it was a huge challenge and I don't think I did a very good job. My topic, Human Trafficking, was vast enough and I broke the paper down into 7 parts but next time what I think I'll do is write 3 5-6 page research papers on 3 different aspects of the topic and then combine them together to form 1 large paper. (Something to think about: we currently have 27 million slaves in the world today. That's more slaves then we had at the peak of the Atlantic slave trade from Africa to the Americas. Human trafficking is every where, including here in the United States. As a matter of fact, last year Chicago was named the #1 hub for human trafficking in the States. Thousands of extremely poor people are promised a "better life" if only they would come work for So-and-So. In the end they are transported illegally and put into a life of debt-bondage where they are required to do whatever it is that their Owners tell them too. They might work in a factory, a mine, clean your house, or be sold into prostitution. It's sad. It's tragic. And I am amazed that this isn't being addressed in every single church across the country.)

• I was invited and accepted into the Pi Gamma Mu, an honor society for the Social Sciences. I got my graduation cord, certificate, members card and pin just the other day.

So there it is. Next semester I will be taking 1 on-line class and will be working on my Senior Historical Portfolio, in addition to taking an Economic Class, another Political Science class, and 2 more Education classes. Until then I have the summer to recoup and get re-directed. That should be fun.

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing all my friends and family a wonderful and delightful Mother's Day!

Margie Harris

Linda Burke

Boba Pavlovic

Anna Pavlovic

Corey Byington

Donna Harrold

Civony Hill

Amy Larson

Jana Maldonado

Anna Mason

Sara Patchett

Britney Rimes

Stacy Shaw

Mindy Tillack

Jennifer Welsh

and all my Aunts

You are all amazing women and fantastic mothers. This world would not be the same without your nurturing, guidance, love, strength, and humor.