Sunday Garden Update

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The rain was exactly what we needed!  The garden has taken off as you can see in these pictures. I am most excited that we now have full water barrels and have even purchased a third barrel. Because of clean out, I am not sure when we will be able to use it but that will put us at over 900 gallons of rain water!  First up is the tomato beds! I did not lose a single tomato after planting in these beds!  I am equally excited at the row of sunflowers that have started in the front!

Next we have watermelons!  I am positive these will not be ready to enjoy until at least late August but I am still excited!

Everything in the garden beds are green and growing! We have been enjoying lettuce on BLTs and even enough for a couple of salads!

Finally the Greenstalk planters are alive and beautiful!  I am hopefully for lots and lots and lots of peppers this year!

We have determined that the peacock from next door is munching in the garden! I am so hopeful that we have stopped his access!

5 Things Friday

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1. For the first time in 22 years, Matt and I have made plans to go away for the weekend without any children!  I need a break and this worked out to be just at the prefect time.  I am not going to give any more details till we are home safe but I am super excited!
2. The garden is looking really good! One big change is the amount of watering we are doing. With that in mind, the current plan is to get one more tote to fill with water. So that even in drought we should be able to not use water that cost money!
The up front cost should be around $50. We are hopeful to get this put in place this weekend as we have a solid week of rain chances and have already filled most of the 2 tanks we have.
3. Foster care is stressful.  I have a ton more stress in relationship to the agency and it’s policies, procedures and expectations than actual dealing with every day kid stuff.
4. Kendall has to attend graduation practice next week otherwise she is completely finished with High School. Zach took an exam today and he is also finished. Davie County has 9 official days with the last one being an early release day. The count down to summer is really really close. I have less than that due to Kendall’s graduation!
5. Since this is Memorial Day weekend and we don’t have school on Monday, I want to finish the book I am reading. And do small repairs on both the Tahoe and Rogue.  Added stress of the Honda has stopped again!

Monday Menu Planning

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These next two if not three weeks are the busiest yet!   I am grateful that we were able to do some meal prep this weekend and I am hopeful to continue to start getting things used up and organized so the real meal prep can start the first week I am home. Sunday morning we made a huge batch (two full loaves) of French toast. The best part is that I went ahead and flash froze and moved to bags so they are ready to heat and eat!   Last night (Sunday) I made up 4 bags of muffin mix into mini muffins. Matt was able to package these up for grab and go as well! My goal is to have a realistic plan and stick to it for the remaining 3 weeks of school. I would like to think I could get a jump start on the summer but right now I want to focus on surviving!  Meal planning is not fun right now but needed!

Breakfast- Saturday- I made an omelet. Sunday-French toast Monday-mini muffins.   Tuesday, Wednesday,  Thursday   and Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts ,cereal bars, pancakes and eggs).

Lunch- Saturday- Raman noodles and left-overs   Sunday-Kimono’s   Monday Wednesday, Thursday- I went ahead and made up three salads to use these days!  Tuesday- depending on how long Kendall’s awards day is I am hoping to eat at home if not I will grab something on the way to Mocksville. Friday- definitely eating out!

Dinner- Saturday- salad spread and crackers  Sunday- Everyone had left-overs  Monday-Crockpot Queso Rice over chips Tuesday- Mashed potatoes and country style steak, green beans. Wednesday-Blackstone meal  Thursday-  Hamburgers and French fries   Friday- Breakfast for dinner

Sunday Garden Update

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This is the happy update that I have been waiting on posting!  Except for the need to start supplementing our rain water with spigot water, the garden is coming along nicely. First up our barrier is working and nothing is eating the plants. We also have okra growing!

Our tomatoes are doing awesome! We actually have a couple that are taller than the bed! I am most excited to report that we did not lose any in the regular bed!

We have lots most of the tomatoes that were in the regular beds. I think we are down to 2 tomatoes but the ones that are lower are still looking good!

We have lots of cucumbers that have germinated along with the ones I purchased and planted

. We have around 6 watermelon plants that are growing and lots of cantaloupes

I am very pleased with the squash and zucchini that have finally germinated!

We have two vertical towers on the back deck, one is entirely peppers and the other is peppers and herbs!

We have two planting of green beans ,both are a bush variety!  I will plant vines after the sugar snap peas come out probably in the next 2 weeks!

Finally we have sunflowers growing in front of the tomato beds!

And look how pretty my front door planter is

Five things Friday

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  1. Fun Fact of the day that explains how busy my life really is. The last time I posted a 5 things Friday was March 20th, almost two months ago
  2. We are currently still in a significant drought. We did get some rain a week ago but we are quickly using up all of our rain barrel water. I am hoping that we can keep enough water to support the gold fish and algae eaters that we purchased and put into two of the rain barrels. My current plan is to use regular water in addition to Epsom salt to the barrel for the tomatoes. We don’t have enough to fill from rain barrels so hopefully the Epsom salt will be beneficial.
  3. Kendall graduated from Davidson Davie Community College yesterday. This marks the beginning of the end of the year. Next week both Zach and Kendall go to school but the following week, neither are required. E and I have a full week after they finish but that is only three weeks till Summer Break begins!
  4. Matt and I are scheduling lots of fun trips this summer.  I will get to visit Disney World for close to two weeks!  We also have a beach trip planned to Myrtie Beach as well.
  5. I am hoping to have some extra time this summer to rest and recharge!  We have been doing some extra cleaning both inside and out. Last year, I paid a maid for the first and last cleaning but I don’t think that will be necessary this year!

Monday Menu Planning

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This week I am going to admit that menu planning has been a struggle. I know one of the reason is that I don’t have any “Convivence” freezer meal and I also don’t have time to add in. I am also trying to be mindful of using up items we have purchased such as salad supplies but I really am tired and don’t want to cook. I have  three weeks before my summer break so I have to finish strong even with Kendall’s graduation, foster care pressures and just life.  I finally made a menu plan and my goal is to stick to it!
This week we started with graduation activities for Kendall on Thursday, she will receive her associates degree from Davidson Davie Community College.  I am also going on a field trip with E and we have two additional appointments related to foster care.

Breakfast- Saturday- pancakes made by Matt. Sunday- I had peanut butter and jelly on a toasted hot dog bun.(yeap this is honest)    Monday-Cereal bar Tuesday- strawberry baked oatmeal, Thursday- I plan to make mini muffins for everyone   Wednesday and Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts ,cereal bars, pancakes and eggs).

Lunch- Saturday- Chicken tacos from the freezer  Sunday- Steak and baked potatoes.  Monday- Friday- I want to make at least one salad and use left-overs but I also know I will be eating out on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday due to a busy week of “fun” stuff.

Dinner- Saturday-  Chinese from Panda Panda Sunday- Dinner at Cracker Barrel  Monday-Dorito Chicken Casserole  Tuesday-  Grilled chicken salad Wednesday-Sloppy joes and french fries Thursday-  Spaghetti   Friday- Insta pot hamburger helper.

Sunday Garden Update- Spring planting complete!

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Saturday we spent most of the day working outside. I managed to weed a couple of the flower beds, and we ended up planting out all the peppers in 2 and half green stalks. After a stop at a local farm stand and an additional trip to Lowes, we also finished filling all three green stalks.  We planted out green beans and seeds to replace the loofa gourds that the frost killed.   My plan was to go outside today and take lots of pictures to share like this one.
I was so excited to share that we have squash plants, cantaloupe and more watermelon plants and zucchini plants that have germinated as well.  The only sad news was that multiple tomato plants were damaged and lost from the frost  this week.  I was actually taking pictures when I discovered this…
Yes something has decided to start using my garden and hard work as a snack buffet. Matt and I scrambled around to try and put up some barriers to stop the attack before it gets worse.  We added a pallet to the only entrance to these plants as well as some wire fencing on one side.
I am hoping this works otherwise we have to figure out what and how to barricade the side closest to the house as well. I re aimed the camera in hopes that if the critter is coming in from the house side the cameras will capture.  I will definitely keep posting about this.
Maybe next week a picture heavy post with lots of sprouts and things!