Unintentionally Green and loving it!

Ok, so I was (ok, am) the type of person who scoffs at tree huggers and this whole green movement, so how how did I get to this place where I am vermicomposting with worms under my sink, using organic materials to fertilize (kelp), enriching my soil with Vermiculite and composted horse manure, and reusing playdoh containers for my window sill herbs??

Here's how: I've been going to an organic gardening class for a month now given by a woman in my community named Beverly. She is a walking gardening encyclopedia. She can tell you which plants will help your skin, blood pressure, teeth, sinuses, what will make your hair silky smooth, and even plants that will replace the "little blue pill" (these ones grow as weeds in my backyard). I already wanted help getting these dumb plants to thrive in the Arizona heat, but she has taught me way more than I expected! If you're in the area, she teaches a hands-on class every other Saturday morning at 6am. The next one is this Saturday the 6th and she charges 5 bucks a lesson. You can ask her whatever you want and she always has super helpful handouts including when to plant different types of veggies in this area, and good organic recipes for potting soil. If you're interested you can email me and I'll tell you where to go. These little 1 week old beauties are a tribute to her teaching skills. (they came up after 3 days because of all the rain- it also tranplanted seeds to the other side of the pots. Oh well) Thanks Beverly!

Mixed Salad Greens (and flowers)



Sugar Peas



Pie Pumpkins, Canteloupe



Chatantais, Zucchini (I can't remember what those tiny plants are that I put in the middle/left- I guess it'll be a surprise!)



And here is the next place to plant as soon as I get my composted equine manure to help the soil!!! (yes, these are the fences!!!! they are a little dirty after the crazy rain and wind- I haven't cleaned the splatters off yet. If you're wondering what that table thingy is in this picture, go to this post)

Trash to Treasure....

Ok, so the other day I was on my way home and saw some miniature picket fences propped up against the dumpster. Of course I had to throw them in the car and take them home. I have outlined the place I want to put them, now all I have to do is nail the posts straight , sand them, have my kids paint them white, and nail some stakes to the back so I can pound them into the ground. After that's all done, I have to dig out at least 6 inches deep by however big this area is and replace the packed dirt with good, nourishing, airy soil. And then plant. Obviously it's going to take a while, but I have to get it done before I need to plant which will be the beginning of October. So here are the beginning pictures:

I'll post the after pictures when I'm done.

One neighbor, when she saw these at my house, said "Oh my gosh you DID NOT! I saw them by the dumpster and then they were gone. I'd wondered who took them. I should've known it was you!" Another neighbor said that when he drove by the dumpster he thought, "Someone could take those and fix them up nice. I bet Stephanie could find something to do with them." Well, I have. :o) Is it sad that people see junk by the road and think of me? LOL

March is here!

I was cutting Matthew's hair this morning because it was looking pretty shabby. during the haircut (outside) Matthew saw a helicopter and said "AIRPLANE!" I said, "that's a helicopter, Matthew." So Matthew said his version of "Helicopter!" to which Megan replied, "Mom! That's Matthew's first hel word!" It was funny.
When you compare the before and after pictures, Matthew looks way better with longer hair, but I swear in real life, it looks good shorter.... and yes, I did eventually get around to wiping that nose..bleh.

After the haircut Megan decided Our newly blooming flowers needed one of those garden picks with the picture of the plant full in bloom, so she drew a picture and put it in the flowerpot.

Aaron found out back from the interview he had- he's been placed on the alternate list for next sememster... so here's to hoping that those accepted decide NOT to go there and they'll get down to Aaron's name! LOL He'll be sending more information to the dental school in Las Vegas (which they requested just after Aaron's interview) and also applying for podiatry school. He's just wants to get going with whatever he's going to be doing.

I've noticed after going through a few pictures recently that unless I ask Megan to stand straight, she'll do a pose every time. She calls it her fashion:

A couple weeks ago I gave in to Megan's begging for a pink bike and instead of buying a pink bike, I just repainted her bike pink. cheap, but effective. She loves it. When we were on a walk down the street we saw that someone had put out in their carport a few chairs and bikes with a huge FREE sign on them. One of the bikes was an old timey blue Schwinn so I took it home, cleaned it up, and used the rest of the pink spray paint on it. I have a new bike! I still need to get a fuzzy black seat cover for it because the original seat doesn't match, no matter how cool I think it is.