Mystery Plant

Any idea what this vining wonder is in our garden? I think it grew out of seeds from our compost, similar to what Steph & Scott experienced last year directly in their compost pile.

The leaves are huge. To put it in perspective, even my size 10 feet pale (literally) in size next to it. I'm guessing some type of squash . . . we'll see!

Garden Progress - July

I don't want to jinx anything, but our garden is rocking this year. No harvest yet, but I think we're just around the corner from cucumbers and basil.


A couple lessons I've learned this year:

1) Cucumbers sprawl like crazy! I made the mistake of putting the chicken wire fence on the wrong sided of the cucumbers, and they overtook the row of lettuce. We have a handful of good looking cucumbers though, so hopefully they'll be equally as tasty.


2) Put in taller and stronger posts for snap peas. These poor guys had no more room to climb, so I had to tie some string from a tall stick to the tomato cage to give them something else to vine on. I hope they make it. They're a bit crowded, so I'll space them out better next year if they end up working.

A sunflower not quite ready to bloom. Reminded me of the XBox logo.

So excited that the sunflowers worked! These little guys can't help but make me smile. They're only about 3.5 feet tall and have a much smaller bloom than their full size cousins.

How Does My Garden Grow....Like Sow

Ahhhh Spring! We planted our garden on May 13. These pictures were taken on May 28th (happy birthday, Kelly!) With the help of our very own compost and a bag of organic garden soil, our tiny garden plot came to life.

This year we're trying:

Cherry tomatoes (1) -new!

Grape tomatoes (1) - the only tomato to turn red on the vine for us last year

Roma tomatoes (1) -new!

Cucumbers - new!

Snap Peas - had success with these last year

Green Beans - had success with these last year

Lettuce - new!

Basil - new!

Green Peppers - not very successful last year but keeping my fingers crossed

Jalapeno Peppers - new!

Sunflowers -new! I think these will be a long shot.

Cucumbers (above)

Snap Peas

Grape Tomato Plant

We condensed and moved our garden spot slightly. I love our trees, but they severely limit the sunlight in our backyard. We're taking the lessons learned over the last two summers and downsizing the space.

I placed newspaper over the bare soil spots and covered with grass clippings to deter weeds.

Happy to report everything has sprouted. The first week of April I started basil, cucumbers and sunflowers from seeds inside. They have made the transition to the great outdoors. All other plants were pre-potted.

Anyone else working their green thumbs this year? Potted gardens count too!

Photo Week: Checkered Flag Style

I love Stephanie's inspiration for the past week's photo challenge: The Indianapolis 500. I absolutely love the month of May in Indiana. The month kicks off with the Mini Marathon, a race where anyone can compete and the city comes alive with such enthusiasm. I'm not a huge racing fan, but I've come to love Indy Cars, the Speedway and everything that surrounds this month. I'll admit it. I tear up when I hear Jim Nabors sing on race day and during the fly over.

I didn't get the camera out this week, but I can't pass up posting for a Photo Challenge. Here are some of my favorite black and white puppy dogs. Tippy, the black lab/golden retriever mix, is a 6 month old service dog in training in the ICAN program. He is an amazing pup and is going to be a rock star service dog. Ruby wasn't really keen on him the first day or two, but by the end of week three, she hated to see him go just as much as we did. Hopefully he'll be back with us on another furlough in a couple months.

Also fitting are pictures from the Mutt Strut at the Speedway on April 26th.

Thanks, Steph for sharing the spirit of the race and all its fun!

Photo Challenge: Capturing Spring Results

Thanks to Steph for sharing her gorgeous spring in action pics!

Despite last night's freeze warning, the calendar confirms it's spring even if the temperatures do not!

These Virginia Bluebells in our front yard are so fun this time of year. Unfortunately, their lifespan is not long lived (or at least our past two springs here, they didn't last long). By June we'll have to pull them, but for now we enjoy them and their droopy glory!

Photo Challenge: Capturing Spring

Greetings and happy Spring to all! I've noticed our plants in the yard are growing super fast. My challenge to you is to capture a particular plant and photograph it everyday (or every other day, whatever works) for the next two weeks. Then create a series of shots that capture the buds, blooms and blossoms of the season. As always, please let me know if you plan to participate, and I'll add you to the post.

Start: March 23

End: April 6

Images of late Spring 2008 - Casa de Laycock

Pledge to End Hunger - Join the cause!

Indiana is leading the charge! Woo hoo! Learn more and join the cause here.