Mary Mary Quite Contrary....

How does your garden grow? Time for a garden report!!
Well, I am feeling like quite the gardener this year, as EVERYTHING we have planted has grown-woohoo! This is most likely due to the fact that we have been watering regularly and taking time to thin, prune and sing to the garden (ok, well maybe not) The weather has been nice, the girls have been helpful and I have been amazed. Our tomato plants are taller than me and are loading up nicely with small to medium green tomato babies. Our crook neck squash have lots of little yellow crooked babies, we have eaten greens and blueberries until we turned that color, and our cilantro bed is extraordinary. The basil is making an honest effort (I am surprised we even got anything, as the seeds expired years ago and had also somehow gotten wet along the way, dried and stuck to the seed packet and we peeled them off, and planted them stuck to the bits of paper) The cukes are getting babies--although they don't look cuke-ish---hmmmm......more like acorn squash (watch out for the veggie start clearance rack I guess) We have gotten quite a few strawberries, and the bush beans are growing like crazy. Our flower beds are big, bushy and beautifully green, we are still waiting for any blooms. My cilantro bed is getting tall and threatening to bolt, I have big plans of making cilantro sauce and freezing it day after tomorrow. I don't want to cut it all though, one of the coolest things this year was that we planted and grew our own seeds that we harvested last year. We had amazing nasturtiums and cilantro, it was really so rewarding to see our seeds sprout and grow. We are wanting to do more of it for next year. Layla harvested some nasturtium pods this morning and we are planning to do our marigolds, cilantro and maybe beans too for next year. We are also wanting to build a little shelter to grow our own starts, since Layla is so into the planting part, and our season gets off to such a late start around here. I'll let you know when and if that happens. :)
Product Update
Vinegar of 4 thieves: I brewed up a batch of this to use as bug spray and we took it to the river this weekend. It must have been really strong because we didn't even see a mosquito the entire weekend (well Layla got 2 bites, but I think she's just sweeter than the rest of us) even though we didn't use it. Thankfully the wind changed (or something) and the bugs were all gone. Alan did spray it on a couple of times and he smelled a little vinegary for a bit until it dried, but then just herby and nice, I think I'll add a little citronella essential oil in the next batch just for smell-um good and extra bug protection. I am excited to have a natural alternative for chemical bug spray.
hand soap/shower gel: The girls have been using this and loving it in their bath room, it smells nice, it is gentle and cleans well. I am not a huge fan because of the consistency; it is, well, slimy. I think it is very similar to the feel of egg whites, which I don't really like to rub on myself, but apparently kids think it's great, and are into slimy stuff, so it has worked for us. Layla is into "rose" scent (ew) so I am planning to get a Dr. Bronners rose bar of castille soap to try for the next few batches and see how that works out. (they don't have a rose essential oil at my co-op, so this is the most cost effective option)
Oh-our 8th annual Blochtoberfest was amazing and as always a smashing success. Can't remember if I had given an update, and it's kind of a big deal around here-so in case you missed it, make sure to catch the next one (can you hear me all the way down there in California??) It was the party to celebrate my wonderful husband making it to his 35th birthday-the new fire pit was great, and we even have some special fire music planned for next year (can you say didgeridoo??) I laughed so much that I lost my voice and am still working on getting it back (maybe if I ever shut up?!?) ok then, Alan is watching some excruciating documentary on Hitler, so I obviously need to go grab the remote and change the channel to the smurfs or something, so he doesn't get nightmares (or die of boredom).
talk soon-j