How Does Your Garden Grow? {April 10, 2012}

The sun is shining. The birds are singing. My 1 year old wants to be outside...non-stop, but who can blame this November-born babe? Last summer, she experienced everything from a backpack and this year she is ON THE MOVE. It would be most accurate to say she is on the run, jump, climb and fall. This can make gardening a little tricky. If she is in my line-of-sight, all is well, however, as soon as she is gone, trouble ensues. Keeping her entertained nearby is my best plan, as long as she keeps the gardening tools outof here mouth and the gravel out of her diaper.
We didn't add anything new to the garden this week, but we did do A LOT of weeding and more weeding. I contemplated creating a collection of photos to play "Name that Weed". It could very well be next week's post. Yes, you can count on it. There are the usual dandelions and such, however, this year we have a newcomer. I asked around to my Facebook followers and others and I learned quite a bit about this weed, including it's name. Shotweed, also known as "Little western bittercress" (Cardamine oligosperma) is an edible broadleaf weed. It germinates in early fall and blooms in early spring. Tricky, right? After it blooms, it's little seed pods dry up and when they are ready, they "POP" everywhere. Great work Mother Nature. They have seed dispersal down pat.

The only way to mange this plant is to pull it as soon as you see it and then send it away. Do not leave it next to your garden or it will dry up and shoot those seeds. WSU's Hortense site, says the only way to fight it is to put several inches of organic mulch over it. Sounds good to me.

 

I know I mentioned last week that I wanted to work on my palette garden. Well, I have located palettes. That's a start, right? I have also cleared out the picture window over my kitchen sink. This was no small task and I have some mason jars that will be housing some herbs there for me. I am going to attempt to use it as a safe spot to germinate some sunflower seeds as well. The window seat is way too accessible to little fingers that want to help.

Oh, and my happy gardening mama story of the week. We have been waiting for our tulips to bloom. We check everyday. (They did open for a few hours one day last week, but I kept my mouth shut.) On Easter morning, the Lil Man was heading downstairs and he SHOUTED, "Mama, our tulips bloomed for Easter! They bloomed!" Oh, happy heart. Now I am sure it is only a matter of moments before the dear chomp them or Lil Miss plucks their gorgeous little heads off. It is my world...and I love it.

How is YOUR garden growing?