Butternut Bonanza

While I may go down in history as the worst and least prolific blogger EVER, I can proudly proclaim "I am GOOD at growing Butternuts!"

I will admit to all of you, however, that I did not intend so many squashes. My mom and I used seeds that we saved from last year's harvest. Being new to saving our own seeds, we didn't note that we should have been paying attention to what varieties we were attempting to save. I planted three hills of Acorn Squash seeds saved from last year, and three of Butternut. I got SIX hills of Butternut. Apparently the hybrid acorn squash reverted to its parent plant, which must have been butternut.

I count 14 harvested so far, with six more or so still ripening in the garden.

I couldn't be prouder.

August!

August is just flying by!!
Miss Mariella is now 9 months old, crawling fast and pulling up to stand. She is not content to sit still for even a moment.

My garden is now in the "hurry up and wait" stage...waiting for all of the squashes and pumpkins to ripen! I discovered this squash hidden underneath my day lilies, had no idea it was there until last night.

My life...

Small squashes...

...make big Hubbards (I hope!)

It was time...

...to harvest the first zucchini! Having planted TWO zucchini plants, I am suddenly reminded of why I really only need ONE zucchini plant.

One smart plant?

Rather, one confused plant. Notice not one of the three large plants has any blossoms on it. The little guy with the blossom was a seedling that I had thinned but decided to re-root itself. Guess this plant has a strong will. It's earned the right to stay in the garden :)

First peas...

Around the Garden

I finally had some time to grab some pictures of what is happening in my little garden this year. I have a tendency to want to plant everything and then am disappointed when not much grows. I decided instead to plant just a few varieties of things I knew we'd eat. In the raised beds I have zucchini, yellow squash, hubbard squash, acorn squash and pumpkin. I've also got basil for making pesto, and one red pepper plant. My Mama visited last weekend and got all of these beds nicely weeded for me- don't they look great?

We're in the process of replacing our old white lattice fence with a hand built wooden one. Doesn't the wooden fence look so much better? I think it is so beautiful.

I repurposed an old trunk and its drawers for planting in. Below are lettuce and peas.
I didn't plant this lettuce this year...I planted it last year and it never came up. Apparently it was just waiting for the right time to show up!
And here are my baby peas! I usually plant Sugar Snap, but this year I planted a regular shelling pea instead. Anxiously waiting to see how they taste.

And here is my little helper, riding in the front pack carrier while I took pictures. (It is very, very difficult to take a picture straight down of a little wiggling baby!)

{this moment}

Today I'm joining SouleMama for {this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Joy

I can honestly say that I have never had as much joy in my life as I have now. Joy in watching my beautiful girl learning something new every day, joy in feeling like I know myself better now than I ever had before, joy in all of my accomplishments as a mom and as a person. I laid out in the yard on Sunday, in the sunshine, and nursed my little girl right there under the trees. In that moment, I thought to myself, I have arrived as a mother and as a strong, beautiful woman. I have never been so confident in myself as I am right now, today. I am joyful today. Tired, but joyful.

Outdoor Girl

As I had hoped, Miss M loves to be outside! She sat on a blanket and played while my mom and I got some much-needed weeding done in the veggie beds. I'm sure she'll be helping me with the garden soon enough. I wonder what she'll think of the pumpkins and squashes when they are ready for harvest?

Everything is growing!

I'm still here, folks. Sorry for the (lengthy) gaps in blog entries. I had such high hopes when I started this blog, and then life just sort of happened!
All sorts of things going on around here. Miss Mariella is now 6 and 1/2 months old and there is just no stopping her! She's rolling everywhere and working on getting up on her hands and knees to crawl. Boy, will I be in trouble. The house is far from child-proofed! Hard to find the time while working full time and taking care of her. She is such a joyful, easy going baby. Every day I am amazed by how much she is learning and how fast she is growing.

I was able to find the time to get a small veggie garden planted. Peas, zucchini, Butternut and Hubbard squash, and pumpkins. Hopefully I'll be able to harvest some veggies and make some of Miss M's food. I got a late start this year...we had such a late frost last year that I wanted to make sure I didn't lose any little seedlings to cold weather this year. I shouldn't have worried...it hit 90 degrees last week. I think it will be a long, hot summer.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of my garden up within the next week or so. If anyone is still out there and following...thanks for being so patient! :)

Wow, time flies! She's seven weeks old already. I promise to update this blog more, now that I'm getting *some* sleep!