Can I plant yet?

Well, another gardening season is coming, but not soon enough I fear. I have been worse than last year in wanting to plant something! So I helped myself and started planning for this year. A few things I learned from last year:

1. 1/2 pound of any seed is a lot!
2. 1/2 ounce of carrot seeds is even more!
3. Weed your onions first, they'll thank you for it.
4. Three good hills of buttercup squash will give you plenty for the winter. (I'm glad the other three didn't come up!)
5. No matter how hard you try, some years you are just not supposed to grow cucumbers (I quit after getting 3 plants from nine hills and planting 5 more from the greenhouse only to have 1 die and 1 barely stay alive.)
6. No matter how much you don't try, some years you will get more than enough. (We are eating alot of beans!)

A few things I learned for this year:

1. Try wide beds instead of the classic rows. You can get more plants in the same space - think of planting 2 rows and then plant a third inbetween them, then walk around the outside.
2. There are several plants that don't like to be planted by potatoes.
3. Onions do not like to be planted by peas and beans. Where were my onions last year? Between the peas and beans.
4. Always be willing to try something new. This year I am trying the Ornamental Rainbow Corn and the Broom Corn.

"Write it down." vs. "My memory is great!"

Well, my brain has been very busy of late and I figured I should put a blurb in here about the latest clickings. As I have been canning like a mad woman, I figured I should probably write down what I planted, how much, what kind of harvest I got, and what I did and didn't like. I have so far partially documented my beans, tomatoes, peas, and onions. Only carrots, potatoes, beets, squash, pumpkins, herbs, and my all of my flower gardens to go! I know I will thank myself next spring when I am asking myself, "What did I plant there? What was that variety again? Where did I put those tulips? Hmmmm......."

Keep the weeds down...

I have to admit I have never tried this one before this year, but have heard others have had great results - use your grass clippings inbetween your rows and around your plants in your gardens. (I've heard straw works well, too.) It really cuts down on the weeding. It also helps or walking in the garden bare foot -quit soft actually.

Over organized? I think not!

O.K. So as I was marking out my garden and getting ready for the kids to help me plant, I had the thought that my organization may have gotten a little out of hand. Then I looked at my garden layout and quickly dismissed that thought. Late winter/early spring I took the time to literally graph out my garden. (I know it sounds a little anal, but I had the graph paper on hand.) I laid out where I wanted my rows to go and where I wanted my vining veggies to go. I adjusted for the space they needed and voila - I had a garden planned. After my accomplishments today, I am really glad I took the time to write it down. I don't want to know what kind of mess I would have ended up with if I had just gone there with bags of seeds and three kids!

Household Routines

I've been asked a lot lately about how I "run the house." I guess I like to have an order to my day/week, etc. I'm no drill sergeant by any means (unless maybe you ask my kids), but I find things run smoother if I have an established routine. So, here goes...

I like to have one day a week to do laundry. This was not always possible when I was working. Now that I am home, it's the best way to get it all done in one day rather than doing laundry for 5 or 6 days of the week. There are always exceptions to this rule - potty training, sick people, accidents, etc., but I find that if I stick to one day a week, I also eliminate the "Mom, where's my clothes?" questions. At our house, everyone knows that Wednesday is laundry day. If you don't have your clothes in your dirty clothes basket by the night before, you will have to wait until the next week. I have also quit picking up clothes from the floor, no matter how close to the basket they may be. For the most part, everyone in our house is able to pick up their clothes.

As for cleaning the house, I like to have a room or two per day. That is the time that the room gets a good once over. Dusting, going through old mail, throwing out old magazines, evicting the toys to their owner's room, etc. I have also given the older children chores to do every day during the week. Vacuuming and sweeping are two of the main chores. The only stipulation I give them is that they need to pick up the room before they start - papers, pillows, afghans, etc. This also keeps the mess under control.

Well, that's the basics. I know this is not near enough cleaning for some people and way too much for others. I know this works for us.

A wise person once told me, "A house needs to be clean enough to be healthy, but dirty enough to be lived in."

Spring Cleaning

O.K., so I'm being a little ambitious here. I started with the dining room - the easiest to complete in a day. Pictures, walls, rugs, registers, door, trim, the works, all received a thorough cleaning. I moved to the kitchen two days later and accomplished half of it, including moving the stove (yuk!). It's amazing how much dust and dirt can accumulate in less than two years. So, my theory is to take it one room at a time, or half a room depending on which one it is, and clean the whole house this spring. I know it all sounds crazy, but until I can get into my gardens, which is at least another three to four weeks, I need to do something to keep my mind off (or on?) the dirt!

Washing Windows

Spring cleaning has arrived, aka, I took down the Easter clings from the window and noticed how dirty the windows were. So, here is a little window washing tip. When you wash your windows, use side to side strokes on one side of the window and up and down strokes on the other side. It makes it easier to tell which side has the streaks. (I can't take full credit for this one, but I don't remember where I read it.)