You May Call Me MISTRESS Gardener

I adore nasturtiums.

 They belong to the category of flowers that used to be labelled "thrifty":

flowers such as geraniums and marigolds and sunflowers
that can easily be grown from seed and aren't too picky about the soil.

 I've read that they're good for planting next to vegetables,

BUT

my raised-bed veggie garden has soil as rich as chocolate cake...

... and that's not a good match for nasturtiums.  

The growing advice for these bright flowers, after all,  is
"Be nasty to nasturtiums."

The saying means that rich soil and plentiful water will

give a gardener lots of green leaves but not many flowers.

So I decided to make a bed-within-a-bed for my nasturtiums.

I started with a plastic nursery pot...

and buried it in my bed within an inch of the top.

I got some "gardening sand" from Home Depot...

and mixed it in about a ratio of about one part sand, two parts soil.

I filled the nursery pot,

then moved some seedlings from another pot into their new, lean beds.

Do you see all that space around the new seedling?

Yeah, that didn't last long, once the zucchini took over.

Next year, the zucchini are banished to their own pots.

BUT!  The nasturtiums that fought for space are flowering,

which means their new beds -- and soil -- are working out just fine.

Look At Your Dad. Now Look At MY Dad...

Just look at this guy:

You can tell right away he's a Fun Dad, right?

But he wasn't the kind of Fun Dad who just showed up on the weekends, 

took me and my sister out for ice cream, then disappeared for a couple of weeks.

Nope, he was the kind of dad who was both fun and there.

There for dinner, softball games, trips to the snow,

the lazy Saturday afternoons watching an old show on TV.

(Though a more accurate stock photo would show me on the sofa behind my dad, putting little pigtails all over his hair.  He adores head-scratches, and would put up with girly hairdos if it meant he could get his head-pets.)

He's also the handiest person I know; he could fix anything from

my favorite copper bracelet to my funny little Renault, a car he both rebuilt AND repainted.

(Ignore the unfortunate seventies perm, and focus on that sweet ride.)

My dad had -- and still has -- a big laugh and a great sense of fun.

I don't remember him ever labeling anything as "kids' stuff", so he went on

hang-gliding or trampolining,  roller-coaster riding or bungee-jumping,

 as long as he wanted to. 

(Not my actual dad.  I believe he was about sixty when he gave the big rubber-band a try.)

The best gift my dad ever gave me was the gift of craft.

Watching him pour a cement front porch, or install a shower, or build a brick wall, 

I learned at a young age the satisfaction of creating something with your own two hands.

And as this blog attests, I've continued to do that.

So, thanks, Dad!  I'm glad I had you for a father.

And for you and all the other dads out there:

Happy Father's Day!

ETA:  This is how extraordinary my dad is:  I didn't even remember to bring up that he was a wild animal trainer when I was a kid!

I mean, of course he was!  Didn't everyone grow up with monkeys and bears and big cats?
We spent a few months in Florida raising actual bear cubs in our house!

Yep, that's me, five years old with a bear cub!

And here's Dad, my sister and me riding a real, live, elephant:

So, yeah, 
top that, Internet.

Many thanks to my sister, Vic, who added her own memories of growing up with Dad
in the comments below, and provided the cool cheetah photo above.

Attack Of The Zucchini!

Haaaalp!  I surrender!

I GET it, zucchini.  You grow like crazy.

Despite last year's zucchini failure..

...here's the haul from just about a week and a half from

my six "Container Zucchini Astia" plants:

And there's just as many out there on the vines waiting to be picked!

Oh, I can make these tasty zucchini cakes that I found on Pinterest...

... and also pickled zucchini, which was a big hit with my Weight-Watcher's using relatives.

But I think... maybe... six zucchini plants, even container zucchini plants,

are just too many.

Also, the leaves are soooo huge the dang things shade the nearby

annuals and tomato plants.

I'm holding a leaf next to a Topsy-Turvy for scale; the thing is about 12" across.

So next year, I'm only planting three,

and I'm keeping them in bounds by planting them in a pot:

Intrigued by these burlap-wrapped containers?

I'll be posting a tutorial soon!

Craft Fair! Worth It, or No?

I did a craft fair today, for the Granada Hills MOPS group.

Last year, I had quite a good haul, money-wise...

... but this year?  Not so much.

Still, in retrospect, it was a good experience.

I got to meet some lovely people...

...such as the Pampered Chef ladies behind me,

who helped me with my set-up and didn't complain about my spillover.

Across the way, the lovely Shannon from Random Sacks of Kindness

showed me an awesome new way to make primitive pennants.

Thanks, Shannon!  I'm totally doing these for my Etsy shop!

And having the fair as a deadline made me finish up my A-MA-ZING

Harry Potter "Snitch" quilt!

I love it!  As soon as I get it photographed, it's going to be in my Etsy shop!

Sugar Skull FTW!

My AVALANCHE of recent gardening posts

might lead you to believe that's all I do.

Au, contraire!

I am also an enthusiastic quilter!

I'll be taking this beauty to a craft show this weekend.

Wish me luck!

Although I'll probably make most of my money from my $4.00 tissue holders,

maybe someone will decide she can't live without

a hand-embroidered sugar skull lap quilt.

(Psssst... remember:  visitors to my blog can head over to my Etsy shop

and enter the code word MINNIE at check-out to receive 10% off!)

A Victim Of My Own Success

How many seeds should you sow for your garden?

It turns out, poking about EIGHTEEN Sungold tomato seeds into starting pots

when you want about THREE plants is probably overkill:

So... yeah.  After putting sixteen tomato plants into my garden,

I ended up with SIXTY-TWO extra little tomato plants.

Someone better take some of these off my hands,

or I'm going to have to sneak some onto the neighbors' doorsteps at night.



ETA:  I took a bunch of extras into work, and they were gone, baby, gone within hours.
I took the rest in the next day and again, I saw staff member after staff member
leaving the break room clutching a new tomato plant!

So maybe... I'll plant as many next year, too.

People love getting a new baby tomato plant!

I Have Achieved Zucchini!!

Look!  I have grown a ZUCCHINI!!

(Stars are not actually part of the zucchini.  But wouldn't it be awesome if they WERE?)

I know, I know... given zucchini's reputation, experienced gardeners are thinking,

"Well, aren't you adorable, all excited about a zucchini!"

But, this is what I managed, zucchini-wise, last year:

However, this year, I used planting soil as rich as chocolate cake,

and a nice deep planting bed.

I planted Zucchini Astia...

...which has been developed for container planting.

AND,

I tried something new!

I planted some zucchini in some

right side-up Topsy-Turvy planters!

I planted tomatoes in the bottom of these last year, and they did... okay... so I was meh

on planting them with tomatoes again this year.

Then I thought, what about using them as a super-deep hanging planter, instead?

GENIUS!

As you can see by the difference in leaf size,

they aren't as crazy-robust as the zucchini plants in the bed ...

... but they are indeed producing zucchini!

WOO!

I AM NOW OFFICIALLY

A SUCCESSFUL ZUCCHINI GARDENER!