July First in the Garden

July 1, 2013June 30, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

I don’t know about all of you, but I am having a difficult time swallowing the fact that today is July 1st. Where did June go? Perhaps it was washed away by all of that crazy rain we have been having here in northern Illinois. But as I sit here, looking out my kitchen window on this first Monday of July, I am shocked by how different this view looks from that of last year. Peering at me from the other side of my window is a sea of green: green grass, green vegetables, and lots of green weeds. This landscape stands in sharp contrast to the garden of last year where everything had a tinge of brown to it. What a truly striking difference a year makes.

Last July:

This July:

Just plain crazy isn’t it? Well, I have all kinds of garden goodness coming your way this week, and this is just the beginning. Join me for a walk through the very lush, very green garden…

And just one last little treat for you…Here is what the garden looked like before I took all of the above pictures…and spent six lovely hours weeding. Ah. Gotta love gardening and all of the hills and valleys it brings to our daily lives.

Happy Monday all!

Late June Garden Update

June 18, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Sorry for the late post this morning folks, but it is just the most beautiful day here in good ole’ Rockford, Illinois and we have been making the most of this greatness. But for the moment my four year old is busy playing with some paper dolls here on the deck (my oldest is at nature camp this week), so I have a spare minute to share a bit of our garden progress for this week.

Now, you may notice that all of the garden pictures for this week are close ups. Well, that is because it is not just the fruits and veggies growing fabulously this week, but also the weeds. Oh boy. Words can’t quite describe the weed-growing action we’ve got here. So, only pretty close ups of the veg, and we will just avoid those unsightly photos of the weeds. Sound good? We will just pretend for the moment those weeds just don’t exist 🙂

I hope you are all enjoying this day, no matter where you are. Happy Tuesday everyone!

The Wonders a Week Can Do

June 11, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

Good morning, friends. Although it has been less than a week since we took a walk through the gardens together, so much has changed. I hesitate to say it because I fear I may jinx it…But we have been getting some fabulous rain, and beautiful temperatures of late. In fact, much of the rain has fallen in the late afternoon and evenings, blessing us with partial or full sun during the daylight hours. Our garden seems to be loving this, because I must say I don’t think I have ever seen it this healthy looking in the five years we have lived in this house.

And so today, I ask that you join me once again for a tour of the gardens…

Garden Tour

May 29, 2013May 26, 2013 / makingofahome / 4 Comments

Although at a snail’s pace, we are getting our garden planted and the space is looking a bit less like a field of dandelions and a smidge more garden-like these days. Join me today on a tour through the gardens…

Spring Goodness

May 16, 2013May 15, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

It seems that after a very long winter…Spring has finally arrived! The flowers and trees burst with color, asparagus spears peak out from the surface of the soil, and dandelions and wild violets paint the yard with vibrant color. At this moment, I find it hard to think of a better time of the year.

This week finds us in the midst of school and home garden planting, retirement celebrations, dance recital rehearsals, and birthday party preparations…All enjoyed with a magnificent spring melody playing in the background.

I hope all of you find yourself in the splender of this season as well!

Kicking Things Off

May 6, 2013 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

It’s official. The school garden at The Cathedral of St. Peter School is fully under way! Sunday afternoon, we hosted a School Garden Kick-Off Festival where students and their families were able to peruse the garden space, take a look at our fabulous garden sign (hand-crafted by my father-in-law and decorated by the students of St. Peters), and visit with some very special guests.

We were so very fortunate to be joined on Sunday by Father Beekman, who blessed the garden space; Andrea Hazzard of Hazzard Free Farm spoke with families about growing and cooking with grains; Dick Zander of Zander Nursery met with students and their parents to discuss how to grow the best tomatoes in town; and Chef Paul Sletten of Abreo and Social visited with guests to discuss cooking with fresh produce. It was truly a wonderful afternoon. The weather could not have been more beautiful, and we were so thankful for all of the families who came out to help ring in this exciting new program for our school.

The entire day left me feeling a great sense of gratitude for all the Earth provides, and how her beauty and bounty can truly bring people together for the greater good. I cannot wait to see what wonderful adventures await the students of St. Peters as we venture forth with this new endeavor.

Breaking Ground

April 30, 2013April 29, 2013 / makingofahome / 3 Comments

After much anticipation, last week we began work on our school garden! Today I am thrilled to take you on a quick tour of our progress thus far. So strap on your garden boots, here we go…

We have a bit of structural work to complete this week because we are hosting a “School Garden Kick-Off Festival” on Sunday, where there will be garden tours, local farmers and a chef…oh my! We then hope to get the kids planting next week. I cannot wait!

Arrival

February 28, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Just as we were nestling in for the night yesterday evening, there was a knock on our front door. There stood our mailman with a small box tucked under his arm…Our 2013 seeds had arrived.

So, our dinner table found itself scattered with those many seed packages, and tiny hands eager to sort them by vegetable, color and shape. We had such fun, we completely forgot about the steady snow falling silently outside our window. Spring is on the horizon.

Late Fall Planting

November 27, 2012November 27, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

The week of Thanksgiving, we abandoned the warmth of our kitchen to do a bit of gardening. We recently acquired asparagus and rhubarb crowns, and wanted to get them into the ground before the first major freeze of the season. So, we took advantage of a seasonably warm afternoon, stepped into our gardening shoes, and dug our fingers into the cool, damp soil.

First on the docket was to sort through our worms from our compost. The girls and Tyler picked out each individual wormy (as the girls like to call them), and placed them into a fresh compost bin that would be moved inside for the winter. Then the amazing, black gold was used in the trenches that would house the asparagus roots.

The girls then helped me to separate the asparagus roots, which we concluded look just like how we imagine aliens to look, and placed them deep beneath the surface of the soil. We did the same with the rhubarb crowns, burying them underneath the black earth in hopes they will produce delicious spring vegetation in a few months.

Outside Versus In

November 6, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

On this sixth day of November, the day greeted us with the first signs of yet another change of season. The first flurries of the year fell from the gray sky, melting into ice old pools of water in the garden, school parking lot and curbsides.

Although it is quite nasty outside, when we peered under our temporary greenhouse we found it teeming with life and vibrancy. We do plan to eventually put in an actual hoop house, but for the time being our little makeshift project seems to be doing just fine and is supplying our family with fresh verdigris for our dinner this evening. I do believe I see a fresh arugula salad with dandelion vinaigrette dressing in our very near future 🙂

Making of a Home

workshops :: blog :: shop

Gardening