Garden Row Markers

Every year we have a garden, even though we tend to have issues with certain vegetables. Corn, onions, tomatoes... but we keep trying. We don't usually mark the rows, but last year I painted the names of the plants on sticks and stuck them in the ground. This year I decided to do something different. We have a huge stack of pavers out back, so I dug some out and grabbed some acrylic paint. 

The plan initially was to draw the vegetable on the paver, and then add the name. But I wanted the kids (well, Layla) to help, and that was a little tricky for her. 

Of course Morgan had to help, too. So we decided to just paint the entire top of the paver the color of the vegetable it would go with.

It took a little while with those small brushes, but we eventually got them all painted. 

Here they are!

Just for fun, I decided to make a rainbow colored one to go in our flower garden. 

Once they were dry, I painted on the name of the veggie. 

Once they were totally dry, I sprayed them with a few coats of  polyurethane to help protect them. Then I just placed them at the end of each row.

And the good thing about these is that they can be saved and reused, year after year. Did you plant anything this year?

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Starting the Garden

Winter is long gone here in Florida, so it's time to garden! You can see last years garden here. We aren't done getting plants or seeds, but we do have a few things so far. I decided to try and orange bell pepper this year. One green so far, but we will get more.

Not veggies, but I had some leftover flower seeds/bulbs from last year, so we're going to plant cosmos, morning glories & some ranunculus.

We are giving up yet on onions. We are going with red and sweet onions.

We didn't plan corn at all last year, but we're going to try again this year. I really don't love the idea of planting hybrids, but it's all I could find locally.

Green beans of course! We prefer Blue Lake Bush Beans.

I hate planting carrots because the seeds are so tiny. But I saw these planting strips & decided to give them a try.

Now we didn't plant this, but once again, we have rogue pumpkins growing on their own. This one is in our front flower bed.

And here is the actual garden. A little beyond the fence is a pond.

We also have a large area out in the field where we will be planting. This is where we attempted pumpkins last year.

Now this isn't garden related, but hey, they're fruit trees, so it's similar. Our peach tree is starting to turn green again!

New leaves...

And blossoms, too.

And it isn't the only thing. The orange & grapefruit trees are starting to bloom. And let me tell you, the yard smells amazing right now. Someone needs to bottle a true orange blossom scent.

And now I need to announce the winner of the Hailey's Bows giveaway. The lucky winner is comment #14 - Blue Eyes! Congratulations! Please contact me so I can get your information over to Sharon. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Would you be interested in sponsoring a giveaway? Or guest blog? If so, please feel free to get in touch!

Around The Yard

Sorry for the break! I am back with real posts! With the mostly mild Florida winter, we have been working & playing outside a lot. We are working towards being more green & growing more of our own food, so the latest projects have been devoted to that. Mike built this worm box, but as you can see, the cats love it too!




We had previously been tossing our fruit & veggie scraps where we plant our garden, but he ended up building this compost bin out of repurposed pallets & crates.

This biggest project has been the new chicken coop. This was our old coop. As you can see, it isnt very big, and it's pretty dark. The sheet metal isnt usually there, and it was a bit brighter, but this was in progress and the right side has already been covered with metal.

Here is the new coop, in progress. Yes, french doors on a chicken coop! They were from a job he did, and instead of tossing them in the landfill, he brought them home to use. You can see this is immediatly to the right of the old coop.

This is the new nesting & feeding area. The divider wall is to block air and make a cozy spot for nesting & roosting.

This is to the right when you walk in, their run area.

We got it all finished yesterday & all the chickens moved, so my next post will be the new & improved coop!

A Few More Pumpkin Shots...

Since it's October already (!), I thought I'd share a few more pumpkin pictures. They have all been harvested now. It's almost the time that we could be selling them, if only the darn bugs hadnt done what they did.

But hey, at least the gourds made it!

We ended up with all different shapes & sizes. There are still quite a few that arent ready yet.

I do have a couple of projects to share, so hopefully they will be posted soon!

The End of Pumpkin Season

Unfortunatly, our pumpkin growing season has come to an end. (These little guys have been sitting in this window since early summer!). Blame the stupid squash vine borers. I can deal with aphids & squash bugs, but apparently, I am no match for borers. They have destroyed almost everything.

This is almost the extent of our harvest. There are maybe 5-6 pumpkins still growing in the field.

We got a few Jack Be Littles.

And quite a few Lil Pump-k-mons.

And a few big guys. Jack O Lantern & Cinderella. I'm hoping these guys make it. They were picked a little early, in order to try & save them from the borers, so I am really hoping they dont spoil.

The biggest, our Cinderella.

I guess I can see now why there arent really any real pumpkin patches in Florida. They grew fine, but those darn bugs. I guess we probably should have started with a smaller area, instead of trying to go so big the first time. And more research and bug prevention in the beginning probably would have helped, too. At least it was a learning experience, right?

Oh, and I would like to say thank you to Missy at So You Think You're Crafty & Photo Jewelry Making. I won a $25 gift card from a giveaway! Thank you!!