Square Foot Garden Boxes - Round Two

I was back at it again today, I just can't get enough digging in right now.  Don't mind the weeds growing in the rocks.  Those will be gone soon.  I sprayed them with vinegar while I was out there.  While the kids and I were planting we decided to do some experimenting with the space that we have.  I have crowded seeds and plants into every nook and cranny that I can.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but the plants and seeds that I added today are in a larger font.

I planted most of my seeds on the 16th, you can read about it here.  Below I will list what I planted today.  I'll use the same format as before and list the vegetable planted and the amount of plants per square.

In my previous post about my 2012 garden, this was the box on the right.

**Second Row L-R**

Premium Crop Broccoli - 1 with Detroit Beets - 12

I am experimenting and I needed some more room for beets, so we'll see how it goes!  I planted the beets around the outside edges of the square.

Yellow Sweet Spanish Onions - 16, grown from sets

**Third Row**

Red Onions - 16, grown from sets

Red Onions - 8

Another experiment.  Trying them in the corners with Kale.  It will be interesting to see who wins.

**Fourth Row**

Red Cabbage - 1

Premium Crop Broccoli - 1 with Chioggia Beets - 12

**Second Row**

Little Gem Lettuce (from old seed packet) - 4

Red Onions

Red Onions - 4 and Walla Walla Onions - 4

Early Wonder Beets - 16

**Third Row**

White Giant Chard - 4

Walla Walla Onions - 16

Premium Crop Broccoli - 1 with Early Wonder Beets - 12

**Fourth Row**

Red Cabbage - 1

Imperator - 8, Carnival - 8, and Purple Carrots - 4

I like how tidy my garden looks right now.  By midsummer I get tired of the jungle and start pulling things out.  You have been warned.  :)

saws

 The other night Mr. Orange decided that he needed to saw his favorite stick in half.  The day before we had bought a teeny little saw for a project we were doing around the house.  Mr. Orange found it in the garage and started sawing away.

It took him awhile to cut through the stick, but soon enough, it was cut in half.

He finished with all of his fingers intact, and Mr. Blue didn't lose any eyeballs in the process.

{PS - I love his hair in this picture.  He has really cool hair.  I know I am biased, but still.}

CTR Towel Tutorial

Remember several months ago when I mentioned that I needed to get a certain project done?

Well, other things came up, the sewing machine made it's way back upstairs, and the towels have been staring at me ever since.

Last week I decided enough was enough and I finished the towels.

We only have two boys getting baptized this year, and they were baptized in March and April (by the way, they LOVED their CTR towels - or at least their moms did).

I went ahead and made extras - orange, yellow, and green.  Then we're covered if anyone moves in!

The Primary President also wanted a few for her grandchildren.

I would love to take credit for this, but that would not be "choosing the right".

I found the idea here.

I used two different towels.  Some were from Target and the rest were from Walmart.  The Walmart towels are fluffier, but I like the bottom on the Target ones better.  The Target ones don't have the hem lines on them.  (I'm not sure what they are called, but you can see them below the yellow CTR shield.)

So, this is how I did the project.  Feel free to copy.  I sure did.

1.  Find some white towels and super cute fabric.

2.  Print out the CTR shield on card stock, then cut it out.

3.  Trace the CTR shield onto iron-on paper.  I used Heat 'n Bond because that's what I had, leftover from this and this.  Make sure you trace the pattern out BACKWARDS!  It always takes me about 5 minutes of double-checking to make sure that I am doing it right.  Trust me, do it backwards.

4.  Cut around the outside of the shield leaving about 1/4 - 1/2 inch of paper beyond the pattern.  Get out your super cute fabric and iron the pattern onto the back (the ugly side) of your fabric.

5.  Cut out the letters and shield.

6.  Position them where you want them on the towel and iron them on.

7.  Stitch around the letters and shield with your sewing machine.

I like the zig-zag.

I will admit, it's tricky.  I had never used terry cloth before and I have a hard time on tight corners.  I figure, if you use matching thread, then you really can't see the mistakes that were made with love.

8.  Print out this poem.

Sorry you'll have to copy and paste it into your own document.

I'm not super fancy and I haven't figured out how to give you a link for it.  :)

My Baptism Towel

This towel will help to remind you


Of your glorious Baptism Day,


When you chose to follow the Savior,

To be righteous, and walk in His way.

When you come up out of the water,

So pure and so clean, without a sin:

Use this towel to dry and to warm you

And prepare for new strength from within.

A Gift from your Father awaits you,

By hands blessed with priesthood power.

The Holy Ghost can then guide you,

And direct you from hour to hour.

Sometimes you may not heed his warnings,

This Comforter whom God has sent.

That’s when you will need Christ’s Atonement,

So you can pray, fast, and repent.

Your Heavenly Father smiles with you

As you enter His Kingdom, His way.

This towel is a special reminder


Of the covenants you make today.
~T.J. Eich

garden boxes

 I live in a house with a backyard the size of most people's family rooms.  I also live in a townhouse and have an HOA to deal with.  The year after we moved in I tore out all of the rocks behind our house and tried to grow a garden there.  The soil is hard as a rock and is also filled with rocks and building debris.  Needless to say, the veggies were pretty unsuccessful there.  I have since converted that area to flower beds and when the time comes, I water it every day or two by hand because I don't want to go through the trouble of changing the sprinklers.

Last year I decided that I wanted a real garden.  I looked around and decided on a square foot garden.  I bought Mel's book and followed all of his advice, including making the box 6 inches deep as opposed to 12 inches deep.  That was all fine and dandy for some of my plants:  mint (that will be in a container this year!), basil, chard, lettuce.  However my tomato plants had a rough time.  My beets, carrots, onions didn't grow quite as big as I felt they could have with more room.  I have been fretting over it all winter.  This weekend we did something about it.  Here are the boxes before...

and here they are after...

I decided to add another 6 inches. Mr. Blue and I built two new 4x4 boxes and placed them on top of the old ones.  The kids insisted on helping us screw them together.  They actually did a really good job!  Then we put several braces along each side for stability.  (I kept telling Mr. Blue to "watch out for my babies!!!" when he would hammer around my spinach and other veggies that were working their way up.)  I may add screws later, but probably not.  Then we started to make our mix of soil.  Mr. Blue and Mr. Orange mixed away while I carefully pulled out all of the sprouts and plants that were growing in the garden.  I put them in our sled and anything else I could find in the backyard for safe keeping until all of the new soil had been mixed in with the old.  

Mr. Blue and Mr. Orange then started to shovel the dirt into the boxes.  We only have one big shovel so I got down on my hands and knees and started to mix it by hand.  All of the spiders I had seen while pulling out the veggies were very kind and found a new place to hide while I mixed it.  Otherwise it would be half-mixed right now and would probably stay that way the rest of the summer.  After it was all mixed I put everything back in.

We are currently growing the following:

36 spinach (4 squares, 9 each)

32 garlic (2 squares, 16 each)

12 chard - red, white, yellow (3 squares, 4 each)

3 red winter kale (3 squares, 1 each)

I have my fingers crossed that they will continue to grow.  Why wouldn't they?  I mean I talked to each plant as I took it out of the box and as I put it back into the box.  I was very nice to them and loved each one.  I'm a crazy lady with a garden.  I'll admit it.  In the next week or two I'll plant some more seeds.  It's supposed to be rainy for the next few days and I don't want the seeds to wash away.

When I went inside after I had finished all of the planting I thought about the wonderful afternoon that I had with my family.  We all worked together to make something that will be so beneficial to each of us.  I love the excuse that working in the garden gives me to take the kids outside and teach them about how our food grows.  They love helping me plant and watching for the sprouts to appear.  Mr. Orange keeps an eye out for pests and spiders and Miss Pink plants spinach in the grass.  (It's really growing in the grass right now.)  I also love the fact that our garden helps us to be more self-sufficient.

In the past year or so the amount of produce that we consume has increased significantly.  It's nice to be able to grow the things that we eat frequently so that we can save money, but still eat really well.  I'm not sure how the HOA feels about me ripping out my grass and putting down rocks and garden boxes, but they haven't said a word to me yet.  So as long as they aren't saying anything to me, I'm going to keep on growing.

Secret Project

Have you met Ana White?  Well, you should.  Or maybe you shouldn't.  I was wondering if I should have in mid-December.  Remember the secret projects I was working on? (If you need a refresher, you can go here, or here.)  I finally remembered that I had never posted any pictures.  So here you are...

The kids have lots of dress up clothes - gotta love Target after Halloween!!! - and when I found this plan I knew I needed to build it for the kids.

I also found this other plan that I thought was perfect!

My dad and I spent a Friday night picking out wood and a Saturday sawing, sanding, and using every other power tool we could get out hands on.  It was freeeeeezing cold outside, but we did it.  I am so proud of the way they turned out.  The kids love them.  I can't wait to do more of the projects on her site.  I have a long, long, very long list of things I want to build.  And I will, it will just take time.

onesies

Within the past month or so, two of my nephews turned one.

I hadn't made onesies for awhile (and I didn't take very good pictures of the ones I made for my sister and cousin's shower) so I figured it would be a good time to make some more.

I will apologize in advance.

There will probably be several "sewing" posts in the near future.

Sister Saturday

We had a double shower for Sister Saturday this month (yes, I know, it was on a Wednesday and not a Saturday, but the name stays the same regardless of which day of the week it is held on...) for my cousin K who had a baby boy in November and my little sister G who is having a boy in April.

 My cousin K is an amazing person.  I truly admire her and her positive attitude.  She just had her fourth boy!  She is a wonderful mother and I can only imagine that she is the BEST teacher in the world.  I wish my son could be in her class.  :)

My brother in law is a photographer, hence the camera shirt.

 My littler sister G is pretty awesome too.  She is able to get her creative juices flowing like nobody else's business.  (Remember the Proclamation book???  She did all of the design work by herself.)  She's one of my best friend's and I miss her when she is so far away.

Our Sister Saturday ended up being on the night of a terrible storm.  Mr. Blue was worried about me driving to my parent's house so he came home early and kicked me out of the house so that I could head down.  I thought that was a little rude of him since I hadn't finished my gifts yet, but he insisted that I leave so I did.  I packed up my sewing machine, grabbed my pot of butternut squash soup (it was soooo dang good too!!!), and the rest of my "supplies" and made the trek.

I arrived at my parent's house and set up my station at one end of the kitchen table.  My sister had taken up the other end of the table.  I sewed like crazy for the next hour and a half to finish up 12 onesies that I was giving to my sister and cousin for their babies.  I finished with time to spare and my sister swears that she didn't see the ones I was making for her.  Hmmm, maybe that's because she had to start making another pot of soup since my mom was having a difficult time getting home from work.

I cleaned up my mess, made the table cute (thanks Mom for providing the decor!), and helped finish up the food.  Everyone made it through the storm and we enjoyed a fun evening filled with delicious food, fun stories, laughing, baby pictionary, giggling, more stories, more laughter, and of course dessert.  I love my Sister Saturdays.

I'm pretty sure I cracked a really great joke right before I took this picture of my aunt.

My cousin K's little guy, Z.

Don't you worry, I made "Z" onesies for him.  They turned out super cute!!!