Our Victory Garden

Back in the WWII days, citizens grew "victory gardens" in their backyards, growing all sorts of veggies to put on the table, to stretch the ration card purchases. We have been gardening for years, because that is how my parents taught me, and I have hopefully passed on this desire to grow green things, either to enjoy in the home or at the table. In fact when Mom and I did a genealogy hunt in Lithuania in '99, we learned that our love of gardening comes from our Lithuanian genes. All my cousins had gardens in the country, and grew gorgeous flowers and veggies thru most of the seasons, inside and out.

This year we decided to try something different, because hubby had a shoulder replacement, and he and a tiller aren't compatible anymore. We did our research, talked to the experts at the Flower, Lawn and Garden Show this past spring, visited and talked to Powell Garden growers, and he went online to www.gardeners.com to design and print up templates for our new version of the Victory Garden--raised beds.

All I can say is "so far so great" because we have been harvesting the BEST spinach we have ever tasted, and wonderful leafy green lettuces that every bunny in our woods is dying to taste. After we built the raised beds, and planted seeds and seedlings, I suggested we fence it as we used to do our big garden. Hubby said, oh the beds are high enough. I said, please humor me. So he fenced all around our garden, and I am so glad because this year is a "big bunny year" and the dogs of the neighborhood (including our own) are big and heavy-footed. Good fencing makes good gardens, to paraphrase Robert Frost.

More spring before summer blows it away!

I just picked a bunch of spring blooms, before a storm blew in with its hailstones, and Violet kitty fell in love--with the flowers!

Then got busy beading some gifties for a tea coming up at our church. Hope the moms and girls like them.

Spring blooms

We finally have spring (sort of, actually, maybe...) because a day that goes all the way up to 85 or 90 is more like SUMMER, hello??? Well, we will take what we can get, because weather in MO is interesting to say the least. So we are busy cleaning out flower beds, raking up winter dead leaves, branches, stems, stuff that hides all the blooms coming out. Got our water garden up and running, and now I have the HUGEST tub of water iris I will have to divide--any takers out there, please let me know. Maybe I will plant them down at the creek, so the snakes, frogs and turtles will enjoy their blooms too.

And when it rains, I head for the beading room, creating new stuff for different events, like a High Tea coming up, or a good friend's move to TX. Keeps me busy. In between sewing American Girl doll Easter sundresses, which is also an interesting project. I found that by the third one, I had the pattern and shortcuts all lined up and it flowed! Now we just await strappy sandal delivery for the girls.

Speaking of Easter, I found the cutest bendy-earred bunny pattern online, so started mass producing them for little ones for Easter. I thought they turned out rather cute. Even made one for a little boy, a "chocolate" bunny!

Rainy day beading

Our church had a youth auction for mission trips this coming summer, so I got busy and put together a few pieces of jewelry. Both sold, which pleased me and the youth minister, so now someone has some glam, all courtesy of a rainy day!

And the third necklace is now a birthday gift for a friend, with the promise of spring in its bird nesting charm.

Weather for ducks, and geese!

Looked out this morning to greet the FedEx guy coming with a package and doggy biscuit for Molly dog, and we both said, whoa, where did those guys come from? Of course next door, but hey, they loved the bread crumbs I had thrown out earlier for the birds, and all those puddles. Don't know how they will get back over/through the fence, but I am sure they will manage somehow. Meantime, hubby reminded me that I always wanted geese statues out there on the front lawn. Now I have them--animated too!

What to do when it's still snowing..

Watch the birds consume another 50 pounds of sunflower seeds, watch the icicles drip from the gutters, watch the snowplow go down the road and back up, oops, just missed that mailbox, clean house, bake goodies and eat them, and now for the grand finale--watch the orchids bloom!

We enjoyed the orchids at the Flower Lawn and Garden show, and now we have our very own orchid collection, with the littlest one a purchase at the show, and my baby deep blueberry/purple one just opening up. Then hubby found one in the back of the clearance racks at Walmart and had to bring it on home, to rescue it he said! That one is white. So they seem to be happy and they certainly cheer us up in the kitchen during this white white winter.

Taste of Spring

Well, we made it to the Flower Lawn and Garden Show, along with half of Kansas City! And it was loverly! The fragrances, the colors, the flowers, the animals (yes even those), all the great ideas of what to do when the snow melts. Even got to re-up our membership at Powell Gardens, and got a nice little purple flowered plant, whose name I don't remember, but tiny purple flowers now grace our family room. And hubby gave me a beautiful orchid from Dave Bird's Orchid Farms. Went there ONLY to buy more bark, right? Fell in love with his orchids and since we got it nicely packed to weather the cold trip out to the car after the show, it is now in happy bloom by my soon-to-also-open orchid I raised up from a baby.

We also got ideas on new tricks for Molly dog (yeah right) and how to install a train running through our garden--which of course won't ever happen, but it certainly looks pretty neat. And saw Wings of Love, the bird lady and her friends, always a great attraction.