It Could have been Us

Like much of the country, I watched the terror and devastation of the Moore, OK tornado as it ripped through the countryside. In these situations, there's nothing to do but watch and pray. I prayed for those in the path and that the storm would calm. I watched with pain in my chest as they showed the damaged school with a flat area that, just moments before, had walls and a ceiling. I counted the moments until my child walked through the door, because when you see something like that you think, "What if my child was there?".

I watched with the knowledge that the same storm system was headed our way. It's a helpless feeling. You can't stop it, all you can do is prepare. I just couldn't help but think, "What makes us any different from them?". My child is no more precious, our home no more valuable, my life no more secure. It could have been us.

The view from my "office" today.

As I've done many times in my life, I watched and waited for the storm system to arrive. We listened carefully to the weatherman, put the kitties in the large pet carrier (for which they were not grateful!), put on our shoes and gathered our supplies in our small hallway. My mother-in-law prepped to go in her closet, the most secure space in the house, but too small for all of us. We all huddled around the small TV with rabbit ears as the wind and hail arrived, and when they said "rotation above (our town)" I said, "that's our signal" and we leashed the dogs and went to our safe spots. Let me tell you, you don't realize how small a space is until you're crammed in there with 1 pre-teen, 2 large dogs, 1 small dog, 3 cats, 2 adult humans and tornado supplies. There we stayed, cats growling, dogs whining and everyone breathing hot air until the storm passed. We didn't sustain any damage, but one young man in our town was killed by debris as he drove, and there is a lot of tree damage around town.

Our electricity has been out since 10:30 last night, so I'm working today from the library. When I say working, I really mean staring out the rain-streaked window at the beautiful ducks and their babies. We lived to enjoy another day and my to-do list suddenly seems less important.


It could have been us.

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Winter Vs. Summer Squash

"A common question I get about summer plants is, “What’s the difference between summer and winter squash?”. It’s a little confusing, because both types are grown in the summer. I’ve certainly never seen a squash could be grown in winter, although that would be pretty neat!

The differences between these two types comes down to one main thing: summer squash is meant to be consumed fresh in the summer, while winter squash can be stored in a cool, dry place for winter eating. There are quite a few differences between these varieties, which I’ll outline below."

 

Read the rest at Ozark Natural Foods

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Glorious Greenery

I took these photos last week, and am a little amazed at home much the garden has already grown since I took them! I just love seeing daily changes in the garden. While it's a little behind, here's what the garden looks like...

The beds are planted and mulched with straw. 

Sweet peas are growing and producing blooms.

The artichokes have won the battle over slugs and growing well.

Fall-planted garlic is a few feet tall.

Love these nasturtium seedlings. I've planted them everywhere!

My artichokes got a bit of support with jute string around fence posts.

This garlic was started from garlic seed last fall (from my grandpa). They will be ready for harvest next year.

My broccoli bed with with a lettuce border.

Love this lettuce color!

The white and red onions are looking great.

Back- Egyptian Walking Onions, front- strawberries and rhubarb.

Wee little strawberry fruit!

So many Egyptian walking onion scapes.

About to walk...

Aren't they cool?

Lots of thyme.

Here come the figs.

 The severely pruned grapevine is putting out tons of new growth.

It's not all happy news. The slugs have gotten several of my seedlings.

This was a seedling.

Baby pears.

Juneberry fruit.

There are a few things that aren't shown. Last week we planted 18 tomatoes, an elderberry bush, barbecue rosemary and bee balm. There will be many changes in the coming weeks and months!

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Blooms

Last night I spent some time in the garden with my camera. Here's what's blooming right now:

These Hostas have the tiniest white flowers.

My Weigela is covered in gentle pink blooms. Love it!

The sweet peas are just beginning to bloom. 

The hardy Salvia does not disappoint!

This rose bush was basically a bramble. We finally got a trellis for her and pruned her properly. 

I don't show the front of the house often because we are starting over with  small perennials. When we moved here there was a sickly hydranga, the rose bramble, a mysterious plant climbing up the wall, and TONS of purple irises. I like irises as much as the next person, but a flower bed full of them doesn't provide much interest. We have been buying perennials to fill this bed and I can't wait for them to reach maturity and really fill in this space. We now have liriope, dusty miller, hyssop, hydrangea, butterfly bushes (buddlea), the rose bush, mums, and a lilac. I have also planted oregano as a covercrop/living mulch so that I don't have to purchase mulch each year. Once this fills in, it should require very little maintenance besides adding compost and pruning. I will post more photos as my beautiful perennials grow.

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What to Plant in April

Y'all, we made it. We made it through the cold, damp, frosty spring. Can you believe we got snow in May?! I will admit to spending a few days grumbling about the weather each time I passed a window. 

It's all a distant memory now. The forecast doesn't show anything close to freezing and most of my crops are planted. I wake up to birds singing through the open window and life is good. 

It's finally time to get those summer crops in the ground. If possible, it's best to plant during a drizzle or before a nice, light, drenching rain. I know it's hard to predict, but when I know we're getting close to a rain, you'll probably see me run outside with a pocketful of seeds. They like rainwater so much more than city water, so I try to give them what they want. Worst case scenario, it doesn't rain and you have to water anyway. 

Here's what can be planted in May:

From seedlings or starts:

• Tomatillos
• Asparagus
• Tomatoes
• Cowpeas
• Sweet potatoes
• Peppers- hot, bell and sweet
• Marigolds

Direct seed:

• Pumpkin
• Squash
• Basil
• Okra
• Eggplant
• Cucumber
• Watermelon
• Cantaloupe and other melons
• Beans (snap, pole, lima)
• Corn
• Collards
• Radish (last month for these!)
• Peanuts
• Artichoke
• Nasturtium

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Growing Citrus

"Oh, to live in a place where lemon trees and lime trees grow prolifically, where I could step outside and grab a fresh lemon for my salad dressing. Dare to dream.


While we can’t grow 15’ tall, mature citrus trees here in Northwest Arkansas, we can grow certain varieties made specifically for indoor growing in containers. If you have never enjoyed the scent of the bloom of a lemon tree, you owe it to yourself to seriously consider dwarf citrus. They make a beautiful houseplant and, I was happy to discover, house cats want nothing to do with them."

Read the rest of my article at Ozark Natural Foods

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Month in Review- April

The good news is that we are finally out of our drought! It's been a cool rainy month and even though I'm not thrilled that we are behind on growth compared to most years, I'm very happy we don't have to worry about drought levels anymore.

Pests/Beneficials:
The rain has created a new issue for me in this yard, a bumper crop of slugs. They're on almost all my crops and it took me a while to figure out what the heck was eating everything because they were gone by mid-morning when I would check my crops. I have applied iron phosphate to the worst areas to keep from loosing everything, but I don't like to interfere with nature more than absolutely necessary. I'm still not sure it's the right decision. It is a organic solution but, as I said, I prefer for nature to balance these problems.

The ladybugs are all over the place. As I was weeding this afternoon, I had a few keeping my company by pacing the area I was working. I have a lot of insects I don't recognize, so it looks like this year should be a good learning experience.



Growth:
Veggies-
The slugs got most of my turnips and radishes before I discovered what the problem was. We will still get some radishes, but not as many as I would like. The carrots didn't germinate well, perhaps because they were old. I will try seed tape again this fall with fresher seeds.

In spite of slug damage, the broccoli and lettuce are growing well. My strawberries and onions are growing very well and seem unaffected by slugs. 

Sunflowers, cucumbers, corn and other summer seeds have started germinating in spite of the inconsistent temperatures.

Ornamentals-
Our tulips didn't bloom last year, probably because of the early heat and drought but they were so beautiful this year! The iris' scattered around the yard promise to provide many blooms as well. 

To do differently next year:
Instead of prepping all my beds early, I will prep them as I plant to prevent weeds and compaction of the soil from rain. The temperature of the soil that was bare compared to the soil that was still mulched was about the same, so there didn't seem to be any benefit to uncovering the soil for warming. It certainly wasn't worth the weeds that appeared!

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