Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Gardening and Scones

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here lately! A while back I saw that Stephanie was putting in a lasagna garden and was intrigued by the idea. I went to our local library and checked out Lasagna Gardening to find out more information on the idea.


The basic idea is that you start with a layer of newspaper or cardboard and then add layers of peat moss, compost, manure, hay, grass clippings or other organic materials into a bed of 18-24". Since the only thing we have laying around our backyard is newspaper to recycle, we bought compost, steer manure, and peat moss from Lowe's for this round.



It is pretty neat how it all comes together. The size is approximately 4' x 10'.


It looks pretty empty right now, but there are two tomatoe plants, two yellow straightneck squash, a black beauty squash, and an eggplant. I want to add two bell pepper plants as well. The squash are supposed to be 3' from each other so I am hoping that it will fill out some more throughout the summer.



Back in May I planted three tomato plants in containers and there are baby tomatoes starting to grow! These two are a regular tomato plant and a cherry tomato.

Some baking has occurred around here as well. I have made these blueberry scones twice and they are so delicious! I found the recipe in the June Martha Stewart Living. The recipe is also online here.



I have been sewing but need to take pictures, so that will be up soon. Other than gardening, baking, and sewing, I have been reading! The seven books I have read in the past two weeks are:
  1. The Naming by Alison Croggon (good Tolkienesque fantasy for young adults; the library only had the first one in the series so I am going to have to track down the rest)
  2. Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey NIffenegger (love, love, love this book!)
  3. Body Surfing by Anita Shreve (good!)
  4. Testimony by Anita Shreve (good)
  5. Blindness by Jose Saramoga (I have not seen the movie but the book was fantastic. It is very, very dark. It is interesting how none of the characters have names; they are only referred to as the doctor, the doctor's wife, the girl with the sunglasses, etc. Definitely recommend this one but it is not a light read.)
  6. Lock and Key by Sarah Dressen (enjoyed this one/ young adult)
  7. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (I started this way back in February and finally finished. Interesting book but not my favorite.)
Happy Monday everyone!

7 comments:

QuiltedSimple said...

Love your garden and those scones look so yummy!!! How are you feeling? Have a great day
Kris

jovaliquilts said...

When I saw "lasagna garden," I thought you meant you were growing everything you needed to make lasagna!! Looks like a great garden plan.

Dionne said...

Those scones look SO YUMMY! I'm inspired by your garden, I'll have to check out that book! I hope you're feeling well... Take care of yourself and really enjoy the summer~!
Cheers,
Dionne

isolada. by design said...

Was so good to get the heads up to a new entry from fb. :)

Love the lasagna gardening concept. I think your plants will do REALLY well for the magnificent bedding.

Glad you finished Sister Carrie and that you've given a good review to Blindness. I've had the book for quite some time, but not yet read it (and I won't see the movie beforehand, if at all). I think it's now on the short list!

Loving the connection cyberworld gives us!

Good summer days to you. :)

Karen said...

I heard about the newspapers on the bottom thing and we tried that a few years ago. That is definitely the most weed-free part of the yard!

Our squash always take up a ton of space, and we live in the same USDA zone so I'm sure you'll have a big green spot in your yard before you know it!

Chris {frecklemama} said...

Time Traveler's Wife was also one of my favorites. The movie has been made and is coming out later this year.

Ritapizza said...

lasagna garden! that's so awesome! can't wait to see what you grow! someday, I hope to have a garden too!