Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Victory Garden 2009

I've been gardening for a long, long time but have concentrated my efforts of perennials, flowers, etc. and not so much on a vegetable garden. A few tomato plants here and there and herbs but that was the extent of it. This year we are enjoying the fresh produce from our yard, more specifically, planted in raised beds - boxes that my sweet hubby built for me. Our own bit of a Victory Garden is planted with peas, green beans, tomatoes, lettuces, cucumbers, squash and okra. There's a special watermelon too that Jonathan (my 10yr old) gave me for Mother's Day. Watermelon IS my favorite food in the whole wide world! I also have a fig tree & blueberry bushes that are several years old with their best crop ever, coming right along. Victory Garden isn't just the name of the PBS show. Victory gardens were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at private residences in United States, UK, Canada and Germany during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" — in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. Making victory gardens became a part of daily life on the home front.
This bed was the last to be planted. It is at the back side of our garage and was a large bed of day lilies. I was afraid that my planting efforts were ruined last week when we had a new roof installed and the workers arrived and promptly began yanking out the support trellises, stepping on the young veggies, tossed large plastic tarps on top for shingles to be thrown down on. I just had to go inside and couldn't watch what they were doing to this plot. Someone came to the rescue and put down a large sheet of plywood on top of two packages of shingles, on each side of the bed which kept the young plants from further damage. Gracias seƱor!
These are the first of many tomatoes that we harvested yesterday. The yellow pear tomatoes are a heirloom variety that were a tasty and pretty addition to last night's salad and homemade pizza.
Here are two of the raised beds. In front are peas growing up a bamboo trellis. The other box is home to 5 tomato bushes and a squash that got into the mix.
Tonight we'll enjoy squash and green beans, fresh picked and some cornbread would be nice, incorporating Buttercup and Gretchen's eggs. I'll be sure and have some hydrangea blossoms on the table too!






Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Dirty Little Workout!

Do you workout on a regular basis? At home or a gym? Solo or with a buddy? Do you walk or run? wii fit, treadmill, swim, bike?
Having been a personal trainer and an aerobic instructor, worked full time in the fitness arena (YMCA!) for years I know the importance of cross-training, varying the mode of training. Also important when trying to lose weight is understanding calories in vs calories burned. One of the BEST training tools is a Polar F4. The great little device lets me know when I'm in my training zone, keeping me working out hard enough, not too hard, keeping track of calories and I'm writing down the summary at the end of the workout. Keeping a notebook or workout diary helps me with motivation and accountability.
This morning I went to the park with Cesar, walked and ran 3.75 miles. My journal entry for today:

time, 52 minutes, time in zone, 50 minutes, average heart rate 136 bpm, highest heart rate 156 bpm, calories 346. (I still have my core workout to do!)

My daily workout goal has been 500 workout calories a day. The workouts vary from walking & now running, solo or with one or two dogs, wii fit, Fitness Coach (another wii game workout) pilates, Reebok slide, stability ball, hand weights and bands. Lots of variety!!!
So why did I call the "A Dirty Little Workout". Saturday was a great day for gardening, my favorite activity and I was curious to see how many calories I'd burn during this activity. On this particular day I was making digging up grass, making a new bed and transplanting 2 rose bushes. Summary: time 5 hours, time in zone, 3 hours and 28 minutes, average heart rate 117, highest heart rate 145, calories...drum roll please.....are you ready for this? 1484!!! Ok, maybe it wasn't so "little"!
I have more pictures of my garden posted here.




Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Oh Bother! April Freeze in Georgia

Calendar says "spring" but thermometer screams winter. Drop cloths, old sheets & table cloths, up-turned emptied storage bins & trash cans, even a rain slicker surrounds a near blooming rose. What lengths will I go to to protect the tender vegetation! Peonies have buds waiting to burst. Same with roses & azaleas. Hydrangeas have their leaves and are subject to damage if not protected. Lots and lots of hostas up and unfurled.
Cherry tree has already bloomed but Mr. C doesn't seem to mind.

The 2007 Easter freeze reeked havoc on all of the above so I'm not about to let it happen again!!! This too shall pass and the temps should rise during the day tomorrow. Yee-haw!!! My sweet hubby has made me boxes for raised bed vegetable gardening. Two are in place and half filled with some black gold from my compost pile. The back of my workhorse Suburban is filled with bags of soil conditioner, garden soil (the good stuff!) ready to worked in ASAP!

My kitchen has become my make-shift greenhouse with starter peat pots of vegetables getting a head start with some shop lights. Scott set up the video camera & got a bit of
time lapse photography of their growth!

More garden pics from seasons past at maryhanks.com - "Welcome to My Garden".







Friday, September 12, 2008

What Shall I Be?


When I was growing up I had a board game called * "What Shall I Be?" ; designed for girls with choices you'd expect; nurse, teacher, etc. There was one that I always would pick but never ever did --- "actress". But the music lessons, choir, sewing lessons certainly shaped the things I do & enjoy today, as well as those jobs that I've had & "retired" from.

I've retired my aerobic shoes and microphone, the personal trainer clipboard...retired are the church organ & piano offertory, wedding & hymn books...

Some days now it's my ladder, a paint brush & faux finishing tools. Other days, garden gloves, a shovel & pruners. Often it's the sewing machine calling my name, something for my etsy shop. I need to spend MORE time working on new recipes, maybe a cookbook. For now, I hope you enjoy my shop, this blog & my other recipes!


PS...don't miss my daughter Sara's wedding pictures & blog!
*Object of the game is to the first player to become a Career Girl.
Players move around the board collecting School Cards, Subject Cards and Personality Cards.
Game ends when one of the players has collected 4 School Cards of one Profession and 2 Subject Cards and 2 Personality Cards that are good for that Profession.
Professions and their respective schools are:
College - Teacher
Airline Training School - Airline Hostess
Drama School - Actress
Nursing School - Nurse
Charm School - Model
Ballet School - Ballet Dancer
(No doctors, lawyers, designers....certainly not Vice President or President!)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Earth Day & Beyond

Everybody had great ideas for earthday today but I didn't see this anywhere. This is my all-time-favorite-couldn't-live-without tool...
I purchased this tool from a vendor at the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta, GA about 8 years ago. This sweet lady is still selling these and I'm told that they also come in a longer handled version (I know what I want for my birthday this year!!!). Sun Garden is in North Carolina. As you can see, mine is well worn! The handle was painted by me to make it easier to see when I set it down in the garden. The Homie Hand Plow, this Korean tool does it all!!! Last time I checked she was not selling on-line but does have a toll-free number 1 (800) 579-1722. Similiar items can be found in a search of
"korean garden hoe" and you may find a similiar tool at an Asian market in your area.
It's a handtool that is great for digging, weeding, hoeing of course!

Viburnum is in full bloom right now while the cherry tree has done it's thing. This cardinal coesn't seem to mind.

More pics from my garden.