Gardening

When we moved into our house almost two years ago I immediately installed a small raised garden bed and started collecting plants.

My garden didn’t produce much that first year, but I enjoyed a few tomatoes and carrots.

I started some plants in pots and kept them inside over the winter. Pots are an excellent way to expand on a small garden space.

As I gathered more and more potted plants I needed a way to store them vertically. I bought a plant stand from Wayfair so my whole dining room floor wouldn’t be covered with plants.

With a little practical gardening knowledge under my belt I determined that this year’s garden would be better than last year’s – both in terms of size of harvest and in growing plants we would actually eat.

I started with lettuce, spinach, peas, and radishes (even though I had never even tried a radish before this year).

Once the weather warmed up I added tomatoes, peppers, and beans (and a few Brussels Sprouts – this ended up being a mistake. Cabbage Whites are evil!)

Speaking of Cabbage Whites, I have learned more about bugs since I started gardening than I ever knew before! It’s remarkable to me how if you step back for a minute and avoid the pesticides a predator will swoop in and make a nice lunch of many of your garden pests (to get to this point you do have to be willing to tolerate a certain level of things munching on your beautiful plants).

Going out into my garden is really soothing and helps me take my mind off other things. I really enjoy the excuse to get out in the sun and work with my hands. I have become a little bit of a crazy plant lady, but you know what? I don’t mind.

Traveling Socks

Last week my husband and I visited some of my relatives a few hours away from where we live. We packed up and set out on our journey.

sock1

We stopped in the lovely Asheville, NC for lunch. As we were exploring we came upon a yarn shop and my husband encouraged me to go in (he is a keeper).

skywool

That’s 3.1 oz of Merino combed top and a skein of Viking Raggen for man gloves. What else do you expect when visiting a yarn store?

We made it to my family’s house mid-afternoon and spent the evening talking and visiting. When it was time for bed I was surprised by the most beautiful quilt.

quilt detailfull quilt

The next morning we explored my uncle’s garden, picking beans and learning how to dig potatoes. It is super hard work. I spoiled quite a few potatoes finding that out.

We had a picnic lunch with more of the family that came by to see us. We even had an unexpected visitor!

My husband was tired from digging potatoes, so he took a nap.

nap

He had a lot of fun playing with the dogs.

As the afternoon waned we got ready to come home to the city.

This sock has a lot of good memories knit into it now.