Wow... so they changed up blogger a bit since my last post... ok then!  carrying on... :)

We've been VERY busy here planting!  The potatoes have grown gangbusters as well as the garlic in the rubbermaid tote.  I'm still awaiting my sweet potatoes from Sand Hill Preservation but they should be arriving soon.

First try at garlic ... in a rubbermaid tote! :)

I carried on last year's tradition of tomato madness... and decided to go with some pepper madness as well ~ 128 varieties of tomato seed were planted and nearly 100 varieties of peppers.  Some seed was from the bottom of my stash and was just planted for giggles to see if they would germinate... welllllllllllllllll.... a whopping 98% from both the tomato and pepper trials were viable.  Guess I'll be doing some major canning this year!  whew!

Tomato babies!

I've been stockpiling free pallets from a local architectural engineering company for many uses - first and foremost they will be the new 'fencing' around the main portion of the veggie garden.  Others will be broken down and the posts used for new beds and.. pretty much whatever else I can think up.  :)

Georgia didn't really have much of a Spring this year... it seems we jumped smack into the middle of Summer with high humidity and crazy high temps.  Then Ma Nature threw us a turn for about 2 days of near freezing temps.. then right back up to the 90's again.  I wasn't sure whether to go ahead and plant Spring crops when it was time... or just go ahead with the Summer crops!  I started lettuce and it just withered in the high temps... but peas are still growing great.  I'm starting spinach, chard, brussel sprouts and all my herbs today.  Tomorrow I'll be starting all the melons, squash - winter & summer, cucumbers and much, much, MUCH more!

On the personal front, I signed up to go back to college!  Seeing my oldest son excel in his first quarter gave me that lil kick in the rear I needed...So here I am, going back to college at 42yrs old.  :))  Should be an adventure! ;-)

Well, I can hear the thunder booming outside so I must run out and drag some bags of soil up onto the porch to continue my seed planting craziness! :)  I'll leave you with some blooms from the garden.  Enjoy!

Planting 'Taters!

This is my first attempt at growing potatoes.  I'm excited and ever so hopeful!

First, I read up quite a bit on the good old internet...  I found some great ideas for ways to grow them on Pinterest :

This information for using this method can be found here:
http://urbanfarmerseward.posterous.com/potato-towers-and-living-fence-posts

Another great idea was to build a potato box from wood.  But I didn't have any excess wood lying around. Besides I want to give it a trial run for a season before I invest this much into it.

The information on this box can be found here:
http://tipnut.com/grow-potatoes/

Another great idea a gardener had was to grow their potatoes in hay lined laundry baskets.

The link to the directions for this method can be found here:
http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/5215/growing-potatoes-in-a-laundry-basket

You could even grow them in burlap bags or even trash bags if you're so inclined!

 Directions for each can be found here:   http://www.sustainableeats.com/2009/04/19/planting-potatoes/ and here: http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-a-trash-bag/index.html

Here is a link to the valuable method of the famous Ruth Stout.  She pretty much just tossed her seed potatoes on some fertile ground, covered them with straw and just let nature do it's thing!  But, since my land space is already all committed, this isn't a method I'm able to try myself yet.
http://www.ehow.com/how_7204254_ruth-stout-method-growing-potatoes.html

I reviewed all these methods and after seeing another facebook friend share pictures on the method of using a plastic trash can to go vertical I finally decided this was the answer.  The can can be placed on my driveway and will get full sun.  Here's how I did it:

First, buy a trash can!  :)

Drill some holes for drainage

I tried to keep the holes all spaced out evenly.  Went up also just along the edge as well.

done!

Wash out your trash can

I decided to lift mine up off the ground a bit by placing it on bricks.  Our driveway just gets SOO hot come summertime

Ready for planting

I added some old decaying hay that I put in a shady spot last fall.  It was filled with earthworms and all kinds of great dirty goodness!  I put about 4" of this in the bottom.

The stars of the show.  Store bought seed potatoes.  If these do well, next year I'll spring for some fancier varieties :)

Place them on your straw with the growing 'eyes' facing upward.  This is a bit crowded..we'll see how it goes.

Then I added about 2" of Moo Manure from the store.

Then another 2-3" of potting soil mix.

Ready, Set, GROW!

Marching Right Along!

It IS March.. altho our weather would beg to differ.  We've got temps in the low 70's for the next 10 days!

Let me do a quick catch up on what's been going on at the Sassy Butterfly's House o' Chaos!

1.  Planning, Planning, Planning, Creating and Planning the new website and e-commerce store for my new seed shop!!!!!  Wanna know the website?  Do ya? huh? huh?  Wellllll.. I can't share it with you just yet.. but SOON!  The official opening date is March 25th.  I'll be sharing all the details with you then!

2.  Planning, Planning, Planning, Creating and Planning the garden beds for this year.  Everything is hugely expanded from last year.  Gotta keep my family safe from all the GMO crap that's everywhere we look.  LOTS and LOTS of veggies on the plan for the coming season.  New berry bushes, new fruit trees and vines are coming.  I can hardly wait for all the delicious goodies we'll be eating this year!

3.  Pinning, Pinning, Pinning and more Pinning on Pinterest.  Goodness, there's so many great ideas and pretty things to look at on that website!  First it was the gardening ideas that sucked me in... then I found the home decor, then the photography, and, oh my, SOO many wonderful craft ideas.. then recipes galore!  Before I knew it I was another year older!  (not really.. but close!)  If you'd like to see what it's all about, feel free to take a look at some of my boards. http://pinterest.com/sassybutterflys/  (see ya in a few weeks! lol)

oh! and I completely changed the look of this blog tonight... kinda more scrapbook'ish which is what I'm into these days... it'll probably change again before I'm good and satisfied.  :) (and yes, scrapbook'ish is a word... I just made it into one!)

Other elements of busyness have been more doctor's appointments for family members, an upcoming surgery for my middle child, an upcoming WEDDING for my baby brother, dentist appointments, tax prep, various house projects, and lots and lots of research about avoiding GMO foods, eating organic, exercising and ever so slowly losing weight, re-digging the spot for the pond form, fighting a never ending battle against English Ivy, squirrels, and looking for a new rabbit to join the family... well, yep, we've been kinda busy around here!  :)

I'll be back to share more soon!

Hugs!

Happy New Year's 2012!!

This is my theme for 2012.  So many new and exciting things to look forward to this coming year!

My oldest is starting college in just a few days.  He is majoring in game design and media production.  I am so excited for him to start this new adventure in his life!

I will be starting (back to) college later this year as well and well be majoring in Horticulture.  I am VERY excited about that as well!  (altho not looking forward to those Math classes...lol)

I am starting a new online retail business this year selling heirloom veggies, herbs and flowers.  I will be sharing more info by February 1st on this lovely tidbit of information!!  (SOO excited!!!)

I am also starting a second business venture doing work at home jobs for pretty much anything in the administrative field including spreadsheets, data entry, web research, social media commenting and reviews, transcribing, order entry, and much, much, more!

My youngest will be finishing up her last middle school year of home school with me and she will be transitioning back to public high school in August.  She is VERY excited, although I do believe that is mostly excitement over all the social aspects of this change...lol

I will finally be purchasing a new (new to me) vehicle that actually runs.  At least that's my plan...

We hope to take our second ever family vacation... It may end up just being camping, but by gosh, we will do this!!

I hope to take some weekend vacations with the MAN this year, we need some quiet time just to ourselves as our lives are so very full of pure busyness.  :)

I have accepted my new plight in life, post tree-fall, and that is one of a 'dizzy blonde'...haha.   It hasn't improved, doesn't appear it's going to.... I still 'tip over' if I look up or down at anything, and let me assure you, that makes gardening a REAL challenge!! lol  But I just laugh at the absurdity of it all and I've learned to just hang on to something... and go with the flow life has given me.  I will be putting in some higher raised veggie beds tho, to help with this a bit.  My Christmas present from the MAN is gonna be a truck full of top soil in the Spring.  I am THRILLED about that!!  :)

I am starting a new exercise program - Just Dance 3.  heh.  It'll work you out!!!  Also, some Bob Harper dvd's, water aerobics and some yoga.  Whatever's easiest on the bum knee and ankle.. but I will get this weight down to a manageable number this year!

My youngest brother is getting married in March.  He is marrying a wonderful, wonderful woman and I am so pleased for him !

My middle son will be graduating high school in May and will be enlisting by June.  (gulp)

My plans for food this year are to eat as much that I can grow !   More fresh veggies and fruits, nuts.  Some meat and lots of cutbacks on the carbs, sugar and processed foods.  It's time to love myself a whole lot more!

More volunteer hours around the community for the whole family.  We did several volunteer opportunities around Christmas and I felt like it was a really great thing for us to do as a family together.

Expanded veggie plot areas, flower garden reshaping, landscape timber installations for the dreadful sloped front yard, and re-installation of the pond in a different spot are all highlights of this year's TO DO list.  An exciting prospect is that some plants I've been pining for will be purchased all in good faith that they will provide seeds for next year's sales on the seed site.  Therefore, a business expense.  Yea baby!  :)

There is much to look forward to this year.  I am ready for the changes, the challenges, and the blessings.  This is going to be a very good year indeed!

Hugs, Love, Hope & Gardening Blessings to you all!

~Wendy

'Tis the Season!

I just wanted to wish everyone a VERY MERRY Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Lots of exciting news coming... I can hardly wait to spill the beans!  :)

She's strutting her stuff!

This is, and will forever always be known to me as "Mom's Maple".  It is a Japanese Maple that my mom planted here somewhere in the range of 20+ years ago.  It came desperately close to destruction during the freak windstorm and tree downing in May of 2011.  The giant pine fell just a few feet from "Mom's Maple" and broke quite a few large branches on one side of the tree.  She leans towards the only sunlight she can receive because she is planted much too close to the house and back porch.  She gets the brunt of any winds that push through our area.  But that hasn't stopped her.  Oh, no.  Here she is strutting her stuff this November of 2011.

Strut that Stuff Girl!

Mmm! Love these shades of color!

These leaves are a bit late to the party

She is a survivor.  Still growing and showing off all her beauty despite the odds against her.  Reminds me of where I want to be in my own life right now.  Ever growing ~ mentally, emotionally, spiritually... all with a bit of sass to strut my stuff with.  :)

Fall Eye Candy

Had a lovely day at the park with THE MAN a week or so ago.  Just thought I'd share some of the pretty sights there was to see.  Enjoy! :)