Weirdly Psyched About a Veggie Garden

Never liked any gardening work. Ever.

Until now.

Been wanting to go a little more green lately. Started small - reusable grocery bags. Then, working on going all natural with the cleaners and soaps and other things that we use in the home and on our bodies. And for some time I've been thinking about a vegetable garden. My cousin Mark started honing in on my little desire. Then I went to visit my sister-in-law Lindsey. Ok, she's a single mom, owns her own home, works full time and managed to build a veggie garden! It looked great too!

So - there's no reason I can't start one too!

I've been doing a lot of research and talking to people who have gardens of their own. But mostly I'm bugging my cousin Mark.

So far I've found some sites that seem very helpful:
Square Foot Gardening - I have a small yard so I'm totally in to this concept. Gotta get the book...
No-Dig Vegetable Garden - lots of useful info here
Composting
Start Growing It - finding lots of veggies I want to plant but this site has a lot of info about fruit to plant
Too much info to add anything else about this site - just check it out
Awesome article about plants that deter pests and no-good bugs

I'm not planting anything until next year. But I'm hoping to get a start on the beds by fall... I am thinking this will be great bonding project for Gillian and I.

Here's some plans I have come up with:

• I am going to have four 4x4 raised beds. These beds will be split by 16 square feet. Each square foot will have a different veggie or fruit in them. So, I will potentially have 64 different areas to plant 64 different veggies or fruits. Realistically though, I will be planting only veggies and fruits that I know my family will eat. So most likely I will have a couple square feet of the same veggie.
• I am going to lay down news paper in the bed, then hay, then organic fertilizer, then straw, and compost.
• I have a small yard so I'm going to be lining up the beds against my fence line:

• I have already started composting thanks to the generous donation of a compost bin from my parents and the generous filling-up-of-grass-clippings by Jonathan.

• Some of the veggies and fruits that I WISH to grow: (keep in mind these are just ideas, I have not done a lot of research on what I can actually grown and how to do it yet) (Also - the last few items in bold are either doubling as asthetically pleasing/herb and pest/animal control)
• Romaine lettuce
• Asparagus
• Tomatos
• Green beans
• Potatos
• Zuccini
• Squash
• Red peppers
• Egg plant
• Banana pepper
• Broccoli
• Corn
• Watermelon
• Strawberries
• Cucumber
• Artichoke
• Sweet potato
• Mushrooms??
• Basil
• Catnip
• Chives
• Chrysanthemums
• Dahlias
• Dill
• Garlic
• Marigolds
• Petunias
• Sunflowers

More to come about my veggie garden experiences! 

Relay For Life

Recently Participated in Relay for Life in Huntington, IN. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been motivated to get involved, raise money, volunteer, etc because of little Layla Grace.

I was feeling like I had to do SOMETHING, and just at the right moment, I got an email from my sister-in-law Lindsey. She was asking for donations for her relay. She was the captain of a team in Huntington, IN. She got motivated when her dad (my FIL) was diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago. I asked how I could participate and so the journey began.

I made a goal to raise $200. I thought since I was participating from a distance, this was doable. I made my goal with the help of friends and family through on-line donations!

Then came the relay. It was a lot of fun. Super hot though. And stormy. We managed to get 20 laps in. We started actually walking at about 12am? During the day it was too hot and there were too many goings on. We finished at 2:30 (with several breaks in between).

I got to know my SIL much better.

On a side note, I got to see my in-laws new home and it's GORGEOUS! I also got to see Lindsey's new vegetable garden (see my next post).

Here's some pics from the relay:

All of us waiting in the stands ('cept for Jonathan and John)

Survivor's lap with Cris (caregiver) right before all of the family could join. They were right out front! Well, there was a couple way ahead of the pack...

Gillian and my neice KK after the relay. There was a lot of baked goods left over so they perused the neighborhood. They made over $50 in about 4-6 hours! Good job girls!

I did relay for life to honor all of those that have been taken by this disease, those that have beaten it and to help prevent the rest of us from being attacked by it. I list below the members of my family and friends that have survived or perished because of cancer:

Loved ones lost:

Aunt Barbara

Uncle Sean

Jonathan's Grandpa

Survivors:

My mother Elizabeth

My father-in-law John

Aunt Joanie

Uncle Jimmy

Grandma Lauver (RIP)

I know I have not listed all. I know so many friends and extended famly members have mentioned thier loved ones.

I pray that cancer is beaten someday. I pray for the families who have hurt because of someone lost to this nasty disease and I pray for the little ones who know nothing more than a hospital bed, medicine and iv's.

Children's museum

This is a post a few months late  :)

Went to the Children's museum with Lesley, Jonas, Jack, Gillian and Maddie.

Fun pics of the kids in the farm area:

Layla Grace

A couple months ago (I believe late January early February), I was touched by the story of Layla Grace. She was a two year old girl who touched SO many people' lives including my husband Jonathan, my children, some of my friends and so many random people.

Layla was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer before she was even 2 years old.

Layla's story helped me to focus in on what is most important - my family and friends. In regaining that focus I have started to improve so many areas of my life.

Thank you Layla for your blessings.

Here's some of the pictures from a baloon release in honor of Layla Grace after her passing: