JR and Ashley move to Alamo Heights...

We took a little trip to San Antonio yesterday to see JR and Ashley's new home in Alamo Heights.  It's very modern, with lots of light.  I think this one really fits them.  I took a few pics. They've just moved in, so there's lots of stuff still in boxes. There are three bedrooms (and the baby's room and the guest room each have their own bathroom), and office, and a small 1/2 bath in the living area.

 Ashley, Max and JR on their front porch

 The long front room, open to the kitchen.  They are looking for a new couch, etc. I think then this furniture 

will go back to the South Town house.

 View from front door to the kitchen

 John coming out of the pantry. Lots of room in there, with shelves built in.

 Kitchen

Love this sink! 

 Max's room! He has a rug, and his crib mattress was delivered while we were there.

...and a mattress pad.  Ashley showed me a picture of the crib and dresser they bought for this room. 

They will be delivered soon.  She bought a quilt, too, but it won't be ready until late April (I think).

 ...and a few onesies!

The deck on the back, from the kitchen door 

Another pecan tree (there are several)

Wayward Pines is coming back...!!

I was surprised to find that Wayward Pines is coming back for a second season! I thought it was a one time event, but here we go! I'm so glad, it was one of my favorite shows last year.

Spring Garden Notes - March 26, 2016

Well, of course, after weeks and weeks of warm weather, luring me into a false sense of security, we eventually got a couple of nights of freezing weather again.  I do this every year -- you'd think I'd learn.  I cover all the tomatoes and peppers as much as possible, and even threw blankets over these on the second night.  Most of them lost a few leaves, but overall the plants will be okay.

 My tomato plants (the rocks are to weight them down in the wind)

 All the pepper plants

This one tomato plant got the worst of it - I hate it since this is one that I raised from seed and a particular variety I was so excited about.  It's a Rapunzel tomato, so I may try to baby it along and see what happens.  Or I may just pull it up and replace it.  What to do, what to do......?

The potatoes are up, I'm pretty sure every one I planted has now sprouted!  I'll add dirt to this container as these plants get taller to fill the tub to the top.

Here are the two plants I'm growing for the fences this year -- no gourds for a change.  I'm hoping they do well, two types of melons.  The crispy golden melon was a free pack from Baker Creek Seeds, but the one I'm most interested in is the Long Ex Snake!  Started these in pots and will transplant them out by the fence when they are big enough.

Today I planted the squash house - it's a couple of cattle panels curved into an arch that John put up for me a few years ago.  Sometimes we put climbing beans on it, but this year its all squash.

Sweet Meat - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Table Dainty - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Red Kuri - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Japanese Pie - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Tomboncino Squash - Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

So now Beds #1, 2, 3 and 5 are planted.  Monday we start planting Bed #4, the final one.  More beans and squash, mostly.  

Meanwhile, around the rest of the place....

Our three bridal veil plants are starting to show off!  So pretty, I really love these plants.

The Tangerine Cross Vine is starting to pop down by the potting shed.  Today I watched a hummingbird enjoying them.

Our Afghan pine is starting to develop new needles.

And the granddaughters are enjoying the Fairy garden.  I love how they both have embraced the idea of fairies.  KT is very sure they are real, and Joss is just enjoying all the little things she can move around.  She's trying to put a Disney princess on the fairy swing here, but she wouldn't stay on the seat.  So cute...this just made my heart swell watching them.  KT has lots of ideas about what we can make for the fairies this summer.

Spring Garden Notes - March 17, 2016

Making good progress in the garden - Beds #1 and #2 are complete now, and the automatic water system is all set up in them.

I didn't get pictures of the packets, but I put in these squash:

Squash - Alexandria, Johnny's Selected Seeds (a pale green squash)

Squash - Gentry, Johnny's Selected Seeds (a yellow squash)

Next up, a few rows of beans:

Rockport, Johnny's Selected Seeds

Carson, Territorial Seeds (a yellow wax bean)

And I finished off that row with some Huckleberry plants that I started in the greenhouse.  I planted 12 seeds, but only 6 made it.  They are looking very healthy, though, so hope to get some fruit on these!

Today I planted cucumbers:

Holland White - Seed Savers Exchange
Dragon's Egg - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Double Yield - Totally Tomatoes (a freebie that came with my tomato seed order)
Muncher - SeedsNow.com

And all the carrot mats that I created the past few weeks (6 square foot of each type):

Parisienne - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Snow White - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Chantenay Red Core - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
and 6 square foot of some carrot seeds that had fallen into the plastic bag I keep them in last year and I have no idea what kind they are, so it will be a surprise!

The past couple of days I spent some time on the container garden - I have an area in the peach orchard with pots in semi-shade part of the day.  Some of these are veggies, some herbs and a few flowers.  There's a huge pineapple plant I started years ago from grocery store pineapple -- that thing is giant now! And I have an aloe vera that has to be re-potted and has many, many babies I need to move out.

This pot has Magenta Magic Orach I'm trying out this year -- here it is after only two days.  Instant gratification, right!? Looking forward to trying this.

I've potted up several of these - the Tango Lettuce seed I got as a freebie also.  I've grown it before and we really like it.

The dwarf pak choy came up in only two days, too!

This pot of Hot Pink Swiss Chard was from last year - it survived all winter out in the open and is now starting to shoot up again!

Here's my comfrey plant - it's now three years old - wintered over in the greenhouse.

And finally, the purple bearded iris has started to bloom!! I look forward to seeing these every year, they bring with them many good memories of my parents.  These came from their house, and I've spread them around some on the property.  I'll have better pictures in a few days when they really burst open. Lovely!

Spring Garden Notes - March 8, 2016

Peak planting time this week and next, so I'm going to be spending lots of time out there.  Yesterday I put out all of the peppers (Jalapeno, Gypsy, Sweet Red and Sweet Golden.)  I have one Trinidad Scorpion pepper that's still pretty tiny that I grew in the greenhouse that will go out here when it's a bit bigger.

 Here's the one Gypsy pepper that I grew from seed - out of 6 little pots, this is the only one that survived.  Frustrating!

Today the okra went out.  I soaked the seeds overnight to give them a boost to germination.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how those Jing Orange are.  The packet only had about 15 seeds in it, so just one row of them, but I'll save seeds if they do well.  We never get enough okra each year, so hoping to get a big harvest this year.  I grew the Silver Queen last year, and it was my favorite ever - not as "spiney" or "itchy", a very smooth pale okra. Delish!!!

Tomorrow it's squash and a few herbs if it doesn't rain too much tonight!

Winter is coming.....

Game of Thrones released a trailer today!  I  CANNOT WAIT for the return of this series...love it!

Spring Garden Notes - March 6, 2016

Gosh, I haven't updated my garden notes for a while...we've been spending all of our time out in the gardens and have made lots of progress.  I've started planting out some of the little plants that were started in the greenhouse, starting with Bed #1H:

Broccoli, Purple Heading
Broccoli, Green Goliath
Broccoli, Romanesque

 Bak Choy

Peas, Oregon Sugar Pod
Peas, Oregon Giant

The peas are finally coming up!

Next up in Bed#1G are yellow, white and red onions.  I purchased these sets from Tractor Supply - didn't start these from seeds.

In Bed#1F are spinach and kale.  I've had on and off success with spinach in the past, so hopefully this will be a good year.  I'll be planting some in the container garden, too, just in case.

Spinach, Firebird F1
Spinach, America
Spinach, Giant Noble

And in Bed#1E are the lettuce, using the seed mats that I made a few days ago.  Such an easy way to plant these tiny seeds.

Lettuce, Buttercrunch
Lettuce, Sierra
Lettuce, Paris Island
Lettuce, Jericho

Today I put out the tomato plants that I've been growing in the greenhouse.  I've had them outside during these beautiful spring days lately for several hours to get them use to it.  I sure hope we're done with the freezes, because there's no turning back now!  These went into Bed#1A:

Tomato, Rapunzel (2 plants)
Tomato, 10 Fingers of Naples (2 plants)
Tomato, Marion (1 purchased plant)
Tomato, Florida 91 (1 purchased plant)

We'll be placing drip irrigation on these in the next few days.  There's some rain in the forecast for the next couple of days, so hopefully we'll get some!  We really need it.

Meanwhile, two of the rhubarb plants have emerged, and I'm not giving up on the third yet.

 The two pear trees are sprouting and the Orient Pear is blooming!  So pretty!

 Orient Pear

Warren Pear

And John decided he wanted to try some strawberries, so I've left that project to him.  He put in 8 plants of this variety this week.  We'll see how they do.

Spring, here we go!