I’ve got worms!

The good kind, that is.  My pound of red wiggler worms arrived today.  I built a worm bin using these instructions.  Yes, I even drilled by myself!  So, my worms came and I frantically started cutting up newspaper, dampening it to make the bedding.  I added my worms and viola!  My own personal composting unit- vermicomposting- great for the environment, great for my garden, great for my trash!  If you know me, then you know I’m trying to go as green as I can.  I use recycled toilet paper and paper towels, using cloths as much as I can.  I use cloth grocery bags and I garden.  I’m even going to head up the “Green Team” at school with my buddy, Gina, the new PTA president.  (shh, it’s a secret)  Pretty soon I’m going to have to make another worm bin, because I’m going to use one in my classroom for our cafeteria waste, as part of a project I have to do for my technology endorsement.  If you want to find out more about vermicomposting, check out the Adventures of Herman the Worm. Okay, okay, I’ll show you the pictures already!

My bin:

Inside the bin:

Some of the worms:

Their food, before I buried it:

He’s baaaaack!

Remember our cute little tree frog from last year? He’s back and fatter than last year.  He’s still only about as big as my thumb nail. He also is still using our banana plant as his home.  We’ve decided to name him- any suggestions?

 

 

Do you know what this means?

Hint: this is my apple tree that bore no fruit last year.

A look at my garden.

Last year, anyone who read my blog saw the beginings of my first garden.  So, here’s the first look at my garden in 2008.  I planted 5 new flowers today, and I’ll give you a glimpse of those as well. 

This is a picture of the sedum I planted last year and this lovely purple sedem I picked up at Lowe’s today.

I loved the colors of these cute little perrenials. 

These perrenials have lovely, tiny pansy looking flowers. 

 

Now for the veggie garden.  I’m still waiting on my Italian Ice tomatoes from Burpee, but for the time being I went and bought a Big Beef and a Celebrity tomato plant.  I stopped at a rare plant nursery today and he was just planting seeds for some interesting varieties.  I’ll be picking some up in a few weeks when they are ready.  I’m going to get a Brandywine and a Cherokee Chocolate tomato.  Sounds yummy, huh?

Other than tomatoes, I planted the peppers and eggplant that I’ve been growing from seed, plus I bought an eggplant from Home Depot, just in case mine don’t make it.  I also put cucumber seeds in the ground and I’m soaking the green bean seeds to plant tomorrow.

Tomatoes:

Eggplant:

 

The veggie plot:

Well, that’s the garden so far!  I’ll keep you updated.  We have some lovely Spring color on our trees, so I’ll make sure to take some pics tomorrow before they stop blooming.

My tulip surprise!

In the fall, I planted a lot of tulip bulbs all around our house.  By the time Spring  arrived, I couldn’t remember what I planted, so it was a lovely surprise.  I took pics of all 6 types except for the ones that haven’t bloomed yet.  Those appear to be a deep purple.  Enjoy!

Look at the mosquito sitting on the upper right petal of the flower above!  Ick!

 

Can you see the pollen on the petals?  I hate pollen, but I love the clarity of my new camera.

 

The start of my garden!

The kids and I wanted to try starting veggies from seed this year (other than cukes and beans, which we sow right into the ground).  We picked out some eggplant and a sweet pepper mix.  Here is the first of Beck’s garden 2008!  Can’t wait for the harvest!

Here’s our mini greenhouse:

Here is what we planted:

Black Beauty Eggplant:

Sweet Pepper Carnival Hybrid Mix

We also have some flowers growing!

How fun do these look?

I’m ordering these from Burpee.  It’s the Italian Ice tomato. I hope they grow well!

Sugary sweet and bursting with juicy flavor, ‘Italian Ice’ is a summer picnic treat. Clusters of 1-1 1/2″ snack-sized fruits ripen from green to ivory white, becoming uniquely sweet and mild tasting.
Chill a bowlful for a satisfying portable snack when the heat of the summer demands a cooling, melt-in-your-mouth taste sensation.

Garden brainstorming

With the warmer  temperatures we saw this week and the rain that we’ve had for the last few days, I have my vegetable garden on the brain.  So, I’m just going to use this post as my brainstorm.

Last year, we grew tomatoes- bad year for them, okra- pretty good crop, cukes & eggplant- excellent crop, peppers- horrible year and carrots- none grew. 

This year, I’m only planting 2 tomatoes- one cherry and one standard sized.  I’m definitely planting Japanese eggplant & cukes again, as we loved that!  What else should I plant?  Does anyone know what else grows really well in Georgia- zone 7b? 

My new garden friend

This little froggy has made his home in our banana plant.  I heart tree frogs.  He’s only about the size of a nickel. 

Have I told you I like bees?