A little bit I've learned about gardening this year...

1. You can plant corn as starters. Might be something to consider, if we decide to plant corn again.

2. Treat peas as if they are the drunkest sorority sister in the house. That is, support them, because they will undoubtedly fall over if they don't have something to hang on to and catch them. They need about five feet of vertical support.

3. Speaking of drunken sorority sisters, beer in tuna cans is awesome for the slugs. Well, awesome for us. Bad for the slugs.

4. Eggshells don't do crap as a slug repellant. I've watched slugs crawl right over them.

5. We need WAY more space dedicated to salad greens. Plus, they don't seem to grow as fast as one would think they should. The spinach, in particular, is being persnickety. It hardly grows, and then it bolts. Why??

I Made Corn Chowder Last Night...

...and now I feel like a cow in a feedlot.

Corn Chowder is too corny.

On an unrelated note, I am totally checking this book out from the library when it comes out: Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity From A Consumer Culture.

Methinks there will be a lot of vindication to be had on the day I read it.

Five Minutes on Bread

I would love to start baking bread.

I buy store-brand whole wheat bread. There's a ton of ingredients that I can't grow or buy from a farmer on it. Fail Bread.

I've tried to bake loaves of bread before but I generally fail. Rolls and pizza crusts are easy, but for the life of me I haven't been able to make good sandwich bread. It's always too moist and crumbly. It doesn't hold up to slicing.

Of course, I don't have any time to make bread. Or, rather, I have lots of time to make bread, but it's hard to make bread while holding and/or nursing a baby. And I have a potty-learner who always seems to need to use the bathroom when it is most inconvenient for me. So no baking bread for a while. Sad.

I almost bought a loaf of Dave's Killer Bread at the store this week. But it was nearly $5, and I can buy FOUR loaves of our usual bread for that. And I know I can make it for a fraction of that.

I Want Bread.

Brain Scrambler

I know I seem extremely disjointed lately, and that's because I am. Or at least I feel that way. I have so much in my brain right now that I need to lay out there to get it cleared, but I can't seem to grab an hour or two to myself and just reboot.

It's 99% good stuff. We are so freakin' blessed, it's not even funny! We're undergoing a kitchen remodel right now (which started out as an easy couple of projects and has turned into a beast, but for the good!), I am trying my hardest to not screw up our garden this year, the kids are changing and growing and I'm trying to give them great opportunities to grow and learn and be happy, we've had huge family changes in the last few months (my father-in-law's passing and we have two new nieces, not to mention Oopma-Loompa!), plus miscellaneous odds and ends projects that for some reason I seem to want to do. Oh, and I have this newfound interest in permaculture. Plus, you know, the dishes need to be washed, the family needs me to cook them dinner, the laundry seems to pile up quicker than I can get to it, and I'm trying to potty-train a three-year-old who hasn't had an accident-free day in the last month (you can just about imagine how my house smells, yuck!).

Haha, I just checked out a book from the library today! What makes me think I'm even going to get to it??

SO, in summary, I love this blog and I love to journal, but damn, it's hard!

I'm making a goal for myself, right here and now. I'm going to be done with half of my "stuff" that's going on in two weeks. That's about June 10. I'm going to clear off my slate before I get into anything else, CAPEESH? Capeesh.

Clearing my Mental Cache

These are things that I have contemplated writing about here, but for various reasons have not. If anybody develops a way to add a few hours to my day, please contact me. ;)

Slug hunting

Baby talks

Growing a Miniature Orchard (Or, Why I love Permaculture Magazine)

Farmville

Why Am I Playing So Much Freakin' Farmville?

Thrips

Aphids

Outdoor Preschools

Radical Homemaking

Hypomania

Recipes, Including Vegetable Pasta Salad and BBQ Chicken Pizza

Oh, And Lemon Curd

The Documentary Entitled "Escape From Suburbia"

Why Won't My Baby Sleep?

What Was That Noise, and Where Is My Preschooler?

The Kitchen Remodel

And much, much more...I want to write. I'm just too busy living life right now!

Check Out My New Wheels!

I scored a sweet deal at the children's consignment sale I attended last week: a used double jogging stroller. Not that I'm using it. Oh, no, goodness. I break a sweat just thinking about it. The Husband is now using it to give me a half-hour of solitude every other day, which I use to cook in peace. Or peas, depending on what's for dinner.



The first evening they all went out for a jog was a cloudy one. It was a bit chilly, so we bundled the kids up really well before they went out. Thirty minutes passed. I was rocking out in the kitchen when I saw him jog back up to the front door, completely drenched. I was so focused on chopping veggies that I hadn't even noticed it'd been pouring! I went out to see if he needed help, and when I opened the front door I saw two very wet and pathetic looking children looking up at me with sad, rosy-cheeked faces.

So now we know to check the radar before heading out in questionable weather. And that the sun canopy makes a woefully deficient rain canopy.

Although I probably won't be taking that thing for a jog any time soon (unless there is chocolate involved somewhere along the line), I am looking forward to using it for regular walking type excursions. We haven't been able to much of that since The Husband sheared off one of the wheels on our last stroller while backing the car in the garage. By the way, I admire his ability to back the car into the garage. I can't back up vehicles to save my life, but he's been backing that thing in for almost a year and he's only ruined one stroller and one side mirror!

My roses are starting to bloom again.



Unfortunately, my big rose bush came down with Black Spot and I had to remove over half of the leaves. I don't know if I will be removing any more because I'm afraid it will die for lack of foliage. I've been really good at finding old spotty leaves on the ground, though, and I want to re-mulch the area this fall.

Garden 2010!

Last year we didn't do too much gardening. I was too nauseated and tired to keep up with it, and the potted herbs I had died a thirsty, hot death. I feel so guilty!

This year we are settled in as the time to plant came, so we decided to build a raised bed and try our luck again. Like The Husband always says, I'm the brain and he's the braun of the operation, so I designed the raised bed (okay, okay, the Pioneer Woman did) and he built it and filled it with a compost/soil combo that is specifically designed for raised bed gardening. I partitioned the bed a la Square Foot Gardening, and as the season evolves I've been sowing seeds and transplanting starters. Here's how it looks today:



From the top down, we have peas, three sisters (corn, beans, and squash), jalapeños, green and red bell peppers (starters), four different kinds of tomatoes (starters), cilantro, parsley, spinach, and lettuce. Every square is either seeded or filled with a transplant now, and we just have to wait for it to grow. GROW GARDEN, GROW!!

I started some starters in the house a month ago. I believe I had lettuce, jalapeños, basil, and thyme starters. They sprouted but were getting kind of leggy, especially the lettuce. Unfortunately we then had to leave for North Dakota, and they all died. My black thumb strikes again. Those poor baby plants.

Peas were one of the first things I planted; I sowed them straight into the ground (along with the spinach and parsley). They are doing so well, but I should have put in some kind of trellis when I sowed the seeds. The small plants are having problems finding the sticks I crammed in the ground Russian-Roulette-style (I sure hope I didn't impale any important roots). Hopefully they will find their way. I've also found a few aphids on them, but I've been hand-picking them off and so far there isn't any substantial damage to the plants. It's definitely something to look out for from now on.

The spinach and parsley have sprouted, but they're growing ever so slowly. Actually, with the exception of the peas, everything that I've planted has grown. ever. so. slowly. Most of it hasn't even sprouted yet. At this rate I'll be harvesting in time for St. Valentine's Day.

I am wondering if I am supposed to fertilize the garden. The dirt we used had compost in it, but I take after my grandmothers--I have the unrelenting urge to feed everything and everyone until they can't take anymore. And I know that plants have limits like people, but the thing is I don't know when I've gone too far with them. I don't want to overdo it. And I don't want to underdo it.

And this is the part where I usually throw my hands in the air and decide I've failed before I've even begun, because I can't do it right! And plant carnage follows soon after. But this year I have a different outlook. It's all an experiment, and I will try my best with the limited information I've got. After harvest time I'll re-evaluate and see what I should be doing differently. That's it. There is no valedictorian of gardening. I won't be given a report card with grades on it at the end of the year. I just have to do my best and eventually I will do well, but it could take years. And that's okay.

I've also put six strawberry starters in a strawberry pot.



I'm a little concerned I just paid $12 for maybe a pound of strawberries, if I'm lucky.

It's okay. It's an educational experience, an experiment. Even if I have to learn the hard way, I'll still learn.

It was really hard to get those plants into the little holes. If I do that again, I'm going to buy smaller starters.

Catch You On The Flip Side

The Husband and his sister (TL) were a little over an hour away from home when they received the phone call that their father had passed away. They were too late.

They put The Statler Brothers in the stereo in the car and jammed out to it in his memory.

As they turned off the interstate and onto the two-lane highway, they came upon a huge flock of pheasants. The Husband said he's never seen so many at one time in his life. He guessed that his dad was now hunting with his hunting dogs, Snappy and Snow, who had passed on years ago.

Seems about right.

Gerald: Dad, Grandpa, Husband, Brother, and Uncle
May 3, 1954-April 24, 2010

Life and Death

Haven't posted in a few months. Life lives.

Oompa-Loompa was born on January 22. He came into the world here at our home; it was a beautiful waterbirth. A healing birth.



He's three months old now. He's really figured out how to function earthside, and he is a mostly happy baby now.

We celebrate.

Munchkin turned three years old in March.



She's had a few rough patches over the last few months, but she is still my sweet, caring daughter on the inside. I've been able to see how she deals with stress, and unfortunately she deals with it kind of like me: retreating to seclusion and shutting everyone else out. Oh, and crying a lot. I wish I could have some do-overs lately.

Nobody told me that the mommy guilt would hit like a Peterbuilt semi after #2 is born. I think that's been the hardest part of a handful of hard parts.

But every day is a new start. A clean slate. An opportunity to create more love in our lives.



The Husband's father (my father-in-law) is very near the end of his life. He will be departing within the next day or two. We went to see him earlier this month, and while I wish we would have gone sooner, I'm glad he got to see his grandkids one last (and, for Oompa, first) time. Hopefully The Husband will be able to make it in time to say goodbye himself.

We grieve.

It's surreal. The Husband is only 26 years old, too young to have to say goodbye to his father. Papa Gerald is only ten days short of his 56th birthday, too young to go, really. What a shame. I grieve for my husband, for my children, for his wife he leaves behind. So sad.

Ok, I had to get that out there. I feel better now. Thanks for listening.

New Starts

"Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful." -Mark Victor Hansen

"As you begin to take action toward the fulfillment of your goals and dreams, you must realize that not every action will be perfect. Not every action will produce the desired result. Not every action will work. Making mistakes, getting it almost right, and experimenting to see what happens are all part of the process of eventually getting it right." -Jack Canfield

"Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing" -Thomas Jefferson

"Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. " -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Regular posting to resume momentarily. Happy Spring.

Snowman for my Pumpkin

Munchkin is two years and nine-and-a-half months old. I can't believe it, because she still feels like my little baby. She still curls up in what's left of my lap and requests Mama Milk. When it's sleepy time she will fall asleep drinking Mama Milk and sometimes I just sit with her peacefully asleep in my lap, still latched on, just like she did when she was a newborn. And I remember that someday she won't do this anymore, that I will be giving her The Talk and taking her shopping for bras and pads, maybe even wondering how it came to be that this girl I cuddled not so long ago is now a teenager who won't talk to me.



I don't want to become complacent and take these fleeting moments for granted. So when a freak snowstorm hit us earlier this week, I woke her up early from her nap so we could bundle up in our scavenged snow gear and make a memory. She hadn't seen snow since we were in North Dakota last December, so I wasn't sure if she even had any memory to draw upon. But of course we read about it in books and she sees it on TV, so she had many expectations to test out. We made this little snowman. Of course it had to have two button eyes, a carrot for a nose, and a little pink scarf. She was so in love with it!



I tried to get her to lay down and make a snow angel, since she pretends to make snow angels inside on the carpet all the time. Unfortunately it was snowing huge, wet snowflakes and she didn't like them falling in her face. As soon as she laid down, she got right back up and refused to try again. So I showed her how it was done. Then I realized I was eight months pregnant and wearing a pea coat that was much too small for my girth. I hope the neighbors weren't watching me trying to get up!



We also "made tracks" in the snow and threw snowballs. After I finally managed to convince her to go inside (it was getting dark), we drank warm apple cider together in the kitchen, trying to warm up.

She's getting so much more mature, but she'll always be my baby.

New Year's Resolution

Hello...hello? Is this thing on? *taptap*

Hi, My name is HausFrau, and I'm a naughty blogger.

Today is still January 1. It's a better time than ever to start up again, no?

I humbly apologize for my gaping inadequacies. I promise I have no more morning sickness. Though, it's getting awfully hard to move.

So much has happened and on the verge of happening that it's hard to know where to begin.

We are still very much enjoying our house. I laid around in it for two straight months, doing nothing but forcing myself to eat popsicles and toast while I kept the TV on the 24-hour cartoon channel. After I finally felt better, the summer was all but shot, and I quite enjoyed the autumn and beginning of winter. I've been cooking up a storm, making up for all the meals I didn't eat earlier.

Munchkin and Husband are doing quite well. Husband has taken to playing copious amounts of computer games in anticipation of this little one's arrival, just like he did with Munchkin. I've found it's best to let him get it out of his system. Munchkin likes to talk about her "baby brother" (yes, it's a boy) and give my belly kisses and cuddles. Today she was trying to get him to sing with her. I'm not sure how she expected that to work.

I am 35 weeks along, so I am in the midst of getting our home set up for the birth and the baby. I have some cleaning tasks to attend to in the next few days, a few miscellaneous birth supplies left to acquire, and some knitting and sewing projects to finish up, but other than that we are ready. Oh, I am so ready. I feel like I'm going to burst open, and flipping from one side to another in bed is a five-point maneuver.

I could probably blather on for another four or five paragraphs, but I won't do that all at once. My life is fairly boring, right, so I need to stretch out of blathering for a few posts at least. ;)