Down Mulberry Lane

Pics from camp meeting

I didn't have my camera with all the time, but here are a few pics of our time at camp meeting. 

This is Megan and Linda.  We brought Linda with us.  It was her first time to camp meeting and she really enjoyed it.  The car ride is long and the girls listened to some music and watched a DVD on the way, I believe. 

This is Paige sleeping in the carseat.  Car rides are especially long for her.... construction took us on a couple detours that we hadn't planned for. 

The girls were just talking at the memorial park at the academy.  This was one of Paige's favorite places to stop (It was also just before her class, so we had to keep her focused as to where she was going).

This is another view of the same little memorial. 

These three are Paige on the homemade waterslide.  They have a sewn form underneath.  They cover it with a heavy plastic sheet.  Squirt dish soap on the plastic and run water down from the top and half way down to keep the plastic wet.  The kids get to sliding down quite fast and at first Paige wasn't too sure about it, but she enjoyed it a bit more each time.  Paige rode down on her tummy; she rode down backwards;  she rode down with a noodle; she rode down with friends.  She only quit because they got the popsicles out and it was time to go.  She was chilly (they use just water from a hose), but had a big smile on her face.  Here's some more fun water shots...

A view from the top... Paige is in line behind one of the teachers.

Paige's first time down... a bit stiff and unsure.

Back up again!

On her back!

with a noodle!

Landing in bubbles.

With friend Thea from our home church.

With another new friend.

Popsicle ending at the waterslide. 

Paige at crafts.  They made telephones that day. 

Snack time... popsicles again... it was a really hot day this day!  The kids and MOM's were glad for this snack!

Story time with Pastor Dave.

Paige is in upper row, still in story time.  They held their classes in the music rooms so the Kindergarteners could sit on the risers.  They used the new SDA readers from the new reading program.  Paige really enjoyed them and wants them... now where to find them...

Activity time had various activities.  The kids especially liked this one.

Last one, the kids sang in the adult auditorium one evening.  Paige started out in front, but later got pushed to the back when the kids wanted to get on the microphone (which was off... the adults know better!)  Paige's class had between 45 and 60 kids each day... more on Sabbath. 

Sorry it was mostly all Kindergarten adventures... that's where I had my camera... I didn't bring it to the other meetings!  I didn't even take a picture of our camp site... and I try to do that each year...

Warmly, ~Melissa

Well, I am back, so hopefully I can get back to blogging!

We attended camp meeting in MN.  We had a good time.  Well, we had a trying time for the first half.  We discovered that Paige truly does have a problem with food coloring.... red affecting her the worst.  We had allowed her to get some of those Koolaid packets for water bottles and the purple caused her stool to turn bright green and she pooped SOOOO much, poor kid.  Then she tried a red one and man-O-man, did she get extremely naughty.  Rolling around on the floor, saying she hated class, she wanted to leave...the only thing she enjoyed was running around during activity time in her  class... and run she did... I think she felt so wired that was the only way she could feel normal.  So, we took the food coloring away and I missed a couple meetings trying to manage a little one that refused to obey.  Once it wore off... she returned to her pleasant and obedient self.   Dh saw the reaction and decided that she really does have a problem and we will go back to natural food colorings again.  *God is good!*

The meetings I got to attend were very good and I'm glad I got to attend the ones I did.  Others sounded interesting, but Paige needed me to be there in her class, so I stayed with her.  (She ran away once while I turned my attention to a little girl in her class and I looked up and she was gone... apparently a boy had taken the ball away from her and she got upset and decided to pout on the other side of the building (This was when still on the food coloring).  I decided to stay and keep tabs, since no one else saw her escape from class, either.  I did have fun with the Kindergarten class... they need helpers anyways to manage all those kids.  And by the middle of the week, Paige was again enjoying her class, which made it better for me as well. 

Camp meeting is such a blessing for me.  Some years I enjoy the messages with pure joy.  Some years, I am sorely aware that I need to make some changes and repentence is strongly felt.  This year was one of those years.  It was not a sad time, though, but one that really refreshed my walk with God.  That can never be a bad thing.  *Ü* 

Later, I felt a need to apologize to a few at camp meeting for making a teasing comment... which they took lightly anyways, but I felt bad that I had joked... teasing is not a gift of mine and I don't take teasing well myself, so while apologizing, I felt impressed to encourage a couple gals and they both cried tears at needing to hear what I had said.  Crazy... I likely wouldn't have encouraged them, had I not felt the need to apologize for teasing them... and it appeared to be just what they needed.  *God is so good!* 

Coming back home was nice, although I saw that I had a HUGE job ahead of me.  I still am not finished cleaning out the camper, as the first week back it was high 80's and high 90's with high humidity and no wind... not a breath of wind... my laundry just did not dry and it was all over the house (trying to dry)!  With the high temps and high humidity, brought scattered storms which kept me from doing too much in the garden.  I did go out and attempt to weed, until I was sinking in mud and causing more problems being out there then if I just left it alone until the ground would tolerate me walking in the garden! 

I did get a trip in to pick strawberries, which was wonderful!  We made freezer jam, which didn't set, but I hadn't made it before, so I am unsure when the pectin sets... I want to pick one more day and get enough berries to make some cooked jam... and more in the freezer for smoothies!  

The garden was a bit depressing for me.  Today I got a lot accomplished in the garden.  But in looking at what was lost from weeds or seeds simply not coming up... I think we lost 1/3 of our garden.  We tilled the corn, beans and okra areas under and will try to replant and hopefully the seeds will grow this time around.  The other rows of cabbage and beets and swiss chard and peppers... and other things... had about 3-5 plants per row (15-20 feet per row).  So, I have most of that weeded and hope to replant in the blank spots after the other seeding is done.  It is not all bad... my box garden looks very good, except for my pepper box... I lost all but 2 of those... the water jug tops we cover them with didn't allow any moisture in the box, so they dried up... That was weird since I cover things in the large garden with water jugs (with the top open) and they do just fine.   

All in all, I think our gardening is going much better than in past years.  (even with the corn, bean and okra loss).  Layering seems to be quite helpful in slowing down the weeds.   The vine garden is doing quite well.  We are in the process of trying to find something to layer over the ground to keep it from weeding up when the vines spread out.  The onions are doing well.  And I've already enjoyed fresh lettuce, spinach and arugula.  Today I harvested my first radish... so things are growing! 

I truly have garden hands... they have been scrubbed and they are sore, but they are still stained green and there is a dark staining in the lines of my hands.  I think I will cut my nails and head off for bed.   

Warmly, ~Melissa

Busy day, no pictures, LOL

I was so busy, I didn't have time for picture taking!  Actually there wasn't much to take pictures of.  At least with what I was doing. 

I finished planting the BIG garden today!  WOO HOO!  I am keeping a close eye on my squash however, because I am almost sure they aren't coming up... I used old seed and the pumpkins (same year seed) came up, but the butternuts are not up yet.  I may have to replant those...*sigh* 

Steve helped me in the garden some today.  We got a fence up for the cucumbers.  We figured we have 10 more rows of climbers to fence up.  We don't have enough fence, so we plan to put fence post and weave baling twine between the posts for the climbing peas and beans. 

Yesterday, while working in the garden, I was feeling flustered... nothing was coming up.  Two rains, two weeks and only about 3 plants of okra seemed to pop out of the ground.  Well, between yesterday evening and this morning... my potatoes popped, many of my wax beans, my snap peas...and much of the okra, a few cucumber plants and pumpkin plants... PHEW!  How impatient I am, but in just 12 hours... things were up and my heart was lightened.  God is good! 

I also finished the box gardens today.  I planted some huckleberries in containers (new to me).  I planted tomatoes, peppers, radishes and carrots in the boxes.  I also worked on the container potatoes which are now HUGE!  They are as tall as the can... they got away from me.  I buried up about a foot more today and will try to bury some more tomorrow.  It seems that I was stressing the plants so I quit for a bit to give them a rest from all that soil being dropped onto them. 

Now, I can focus on the weeding.  We actually got round one of the BIG garden done today as well.  The grass and weeds came up in their fury after that last tilling... Dh is actually letting me do a bit of layering around in the big garden!  I'm so excited!  LOL  I am testing lasagna style gardening in some of my boxes in the box garden.  But Steve didn't want me to do it in the large garden.  However we are going to test it with a couple rows to see if it makes a difference with weeding.  So I have 3 beds of onions.  The first bed Dh tested with some urea... which he didn't tell me about until tonight.  He was fertilizing the pasture and threw a handful on my one bed of onions and they are up about 4 inches taller than the other two beds... crazy.  He says it is natural... but I'll have to read about it before I fall for that one... he said Round up was safe, too... but after alot of reading... I am not using that anywhere near our garden again... likely not on our property either.... since we drink well water.  I am a researcher and my husband is a truster of small words when it has outstanding results... like killing all the weeds so he doesn't have to bend over and weed.  *grin* 

I understand that awesome thought that a product could make life so much simpler, but I believe that when God said we would have to work in the ground... it would be work... and the chemicals to eliminate work... are proving to be bad for us... just as not doing work is bad for us... God only knew what was best for us and I believe there are things we can do to make gardening easier... like the raised beds... the soil is so much easier to work with... crazy idea... but it works!  I can run my 3 tined hand tools through the soil and it is easy to work with... not so with my large garden... which is hard as a rock from over tilling!  I still have to get out and weed, I still have to work the soil, but it isn't back breaking labor.  It is work that is good for me! 

I also am going to work on mulching more in the gardens this year... hoping to put some more organic material back into the soil by mulching heavily ...as heavily as possible.... our garden is quite large and the amount of mulching materials on hand is limited to grass clippings and a pile of compost. 

Well, off to shower.  I've been in the garden since 11 am short of a meal break and a rest break... about 7-8 hours in the garden!  Whew!  It was a long day!

Warmly, ~Melissa

Box garden is growing...

Box of four o'clocks and zinnias.

Box of wildflowers.

Box of sunflowers on upper left.  Box on right not planted yet.  Box in center is cosmos and dwarf hollyhocks.

Salad box.  Spinach is growing well and ready to start picking.  The lettuces will be thinned out and fed to a baby rabbit that my daughter found/saved from the dogs. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Blossoms and Bees

The apple, pear, and plum trees have all lost their blossoms and are just putting on fruit.  I was a bit disappointed, but was pleasantly surprised to see another bunch of blossoms apppearing. 

Clover blossoms in the field. 

Strawberry blossoms (yes, my bed still needs more weeding).

Raspberry blossoms.

This is the best picture I could get of trying to capture a bee on a raspberry blossom.  This little guy was moving quickly from flower to flower and as soon as I could focus, he was buzzing on to the next flower.  I love these big bumble bees.  Below are a few of my mishaps with the bee.

You can see the detail in his wings in this one, but I wasn't trying for this view of him. 

This one is a bit blurry, as the hen moved before I could take another.  I am trying to get a picture of the bumble bee (I took dozens) and this hen is in the thickets of the rasberry vines just peeking out at me.  LOL  Must of thought I was nuts! 

Locust tree blossoms.  I am unsure of the variety, but the smell is wonderful... it competes quite well with the plum trees which are a bit more fragrant than the apple and pear trees. 

There's a bumble bee in this one... can you see it?  (you'll only catch his backside).

You can see him better now. 

You can see he is fluttering his wings to keep on the flower as he is upside down on the blossoms. 

As I was trying to catch the bee in the locust blossoms, A hummingbird came up quickly and I was watching and when I realized I should get a picture, it flew off before I could get the camera to focus.  *sigh* 

Anyways, I had fun exploring the yard.

Warmly, ~Melissa

A Blister a Day Keeps the Weeds Away

Today I got my official first blister of the season from weeding the garden.  Actually I don't believe I have had a blister on my hands for several years (tells you how much I weed my gardens!)  LOL  The blister isn't very large, it is just under my middle finger. 

I weeded the flower beds, my salad bed, part of my strawberry bed, then decided I would tackle the larger garden and I weeded about 1/3 of the garden.  I will let Dh work on the corn area as I am unsure where the rows exactly are... he didn't mark them and the corn isn't up, yet.  I haven't decided how to weed the other third of the garden as of yet.  That is my vine part of the garden where everything sprawls.  It's not all planted yet, either, so I sit and Hmmmm... and I still haven't figured it out!  LOL. 

I've hit the bad spots down.  Now I need to finish planting what is left to plant (another salad box of greens, zucchini, yellow squash, MN melons, watermelons, and huckleberries...plus a box of peppers, a box of tomatoes, and a row of tomatoes).  I also need to put some poles with baling twine to support the peas and beans.

After that, I hope to weed it thoroughly one more time in another 8-10 days.  Then we're off to campmeeting.  I always return to weeds that grew feet in height over our short vacation... I'm hoping that we can stall some of that.  Last year our efforts weeding before we left were not for vain... it really did help.  Get the weeds when they are small and they can't bite you in the butt!  *grin* 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Driver's Education...

Chelsea and Megan are taking driver's education together.  Their cousin is also taking the same class with them.  This is a common scene at our home this month since they've begun the course.  It is fun to see them apply themselves to the class.  They were nervous about taking the class, since Chelsea doesn't remember much of school, only having attended Kindergarten and 1st grade at school.  And Megan has never attended school at all, she's been homeschooled the entire time. 

The first week was a bit rough for them, but they have adjusted, and felt more comfortable.  They get asked lots of questions about being homeschooled.  Some are really strange questions like... does your Mom teach you?  Do you wear pajamas all day?  Are you really smart?    They've been accepted into the class for the most part.  Their driving teacher loved them, probably because they already knew how to drive for the most part... just needed help with some things like parallel parking (which I don't do well) and interstate driving.  Their classroom teacher has had fun with them and everytime they are split into groups they get asked by the kids more questions about homeschooling. 

One day they had a guest speaker and he was talking about emergency workers and he asked if anyone had family that were emergency workers... my girls with their cousin, all at one table, raise their hands and the girls thought it was so cute that their "cool joe" cousin says... yah, he's my uncle.  We all had a good laugh about it.  We love my nephew and are glad that he feels proud of his family.  He's had a hard time connecting with family over the years and it is nice when he shows some warmness towards family. 

So far they've passed the driving part of the course, now they have two more tests to take to complete the class.  They have to get 80% to not have to drive for the DOT.  70% to pass the class.  We will see, but they have proved to do well so far. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

ps... like the scooby doo t-shirt?  My husband loves anything with scooby-doo and the girls often ask for a shirt just to please Daddy.  The shirt says "Got Munchies?" 

Box Garden

Here are pictures of our box garden.  In previous posts you've seen the campfire area, which is on the opposite side of this area, you can see the chairs that are around the campfire area.  You can also see the manure compost pile behind the fence that I posted on a few days ago as well. 

The green strip that looks like grass will later show some yellow lilies. 

We added 7 more boxes, making our box garden total 10 boxes total (if you include the strawberry bed). I've got some lasagna style gardening in trial in 3 boxes (still not planted, but the layers are starting to break down).  I've got flowers planted in 5 boxes.  And the roses are starting to return.  I've also planted sweet peas by the trellises. 

This is one of the flower boxes with the seedlings just popping up. 

Here is my salad box.  Each quarter has different items... spinach, romaine, and two different lettuce mixes.  

This is the sunflower box.  Again it is just starting to sprout. 

One of the climbing roses that is coming back.  It will be another year before I will need to provide a support for them.  It is always exciting to see that they've made it through the winter!

Warmly, ~Melissa

Growing Potatoes in a can...

This year we are trying something new.  We are growing potatoes in metal cans.  This is our first attempt at raising potatoes in a can.  I was unsure if it would work, but so far, so good. 

The two garbage cans and one large barrel are being used to grow my potatoes.  They sit in our smaller garden.  Dh wishes I would paint the cans to make them a bit more attractive, but I have not had time as of yet.  I wondered if the tall cans would struggle to have enough light to grow the potatoes, however the sun must be rising high enough for the plants to get their sunshine as the leaves are nice and green. 

These are pictures of when the plants just broke through the surface.  Since then, (about a week) they are now about 6 inches or more tall.  The soil in the can is a mixture of compost and peat moss.  I filled it about 6 inches deep and then planted my potatoes and topped it with another 3-4 inches of soil.  It seemed to take a long time for them to break through, but when they did... we sure did smile.  Our biggest concern was that they would lack sunshine, but that is not a problem and they are growing quite well. 

I hope I picked out the right type of potatoes.  You need to use a late season potato so that it will have time to grow up to the top of the can, however we heard that the yukon gold's are not good choices (and they are a late season crop).  We picked potatoes from the seed house that were said to be a late season... they are Kenebecs. 

 To continue growing them in the can, we will need to add soil to the can so they plants can grow upward in the can.  When the plants get to about 6-8 inches high, you want to cover them up to about 3 inches above the soil, repeating until the can is full and the plants are up at the top of the cans.  Come harvest time, we should simply need to tip over the cans and sift out our potatoes.   

Dh thinks this is alot of work for a potato, simply because they are rather affordable at the store.  However, I think it is good to know what is in our soil as we grow the potatoes and I believe learning how to grow another crop is fun and rewarding.   In the three cans I wasn't able to plant but about 1/4th of my 5 pound bag.  We will see how many potatoes we gain to see if it is worth continuing to grow our own potatoes. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Campfire

We've been working on our small garden.   I'm sharing pictures of the campfire area in this post.  The above picture is our campfire ring, which originally was just the rectangle brick ring.  I added some flat stones around the base as I didn't like having mulch right up against the fire, as it didn't seem very safe.  Dh and I had added mulch a couple weeks ago on the entire garden area, surrounding the boxes and campfire area.  He did most of the work with the mulch. 

I pulled out the older chairs that used to sit on the porch.  The legs have been bent and aren't perfectly straight anymore, but no one really notices when they sit out in the campfire area.  The mulch helps them all find a level spot and they work GREAT!  I had to wash the chairs as they were covered in pigeon poo from being stored in the barn. 

This is my rock mess.  I still have yet to decide what to do with the rest.  I am considering making a base underneath the barrel/garbage cans.  Dh made a table out of the large rock that you see in the top left of the picture.   I've been enjoying working outside, hence the reason I haven't been blogging much. 

It is fun to see things come together.  

Warmly, ~Melissa