Car accidents, dead cucumbers, and blossoms...oh my!

Since moving into our home in January, I've been paranoid about the fast moving traffic on the road behind our house. Our backyard meets up with a curve in the road, making our home a potential target for runaway cars. It's been something I think about several times a week.

While working on the computer a week and a half ago, I heard the fence snap and knew that a car had come off the road. My babies were all downstairs watching a movie...I was terrified that a car was going to come through the living room. When there was no impact, I threw myself out the back door to see a car with it's front end in the neighbors house! I won't get into the details of their attempted drive away, my screaming at them, or the attempt to switch drivers, but it was an experience. I'm glad that my house and family were unharmed, sad for the neighbors, and hope the unlicensed driver learned her lesson.

Here's the aftermath:





On a sad note: My cucumbers died....all of them :(
I replanted this week.

Now for my blossoms...we have strawberry blossoms! This is very exciting. The Gurney's strawberry bare root plants are really taking off. I'm quite impressed.



As for my front yard, I got rid of that hideous red mulch and replaced it with black, and evened out the brick enclosure. I'm not sure what is growing, but it's looking pretty fantastic.





I've planted all of my seeds, either indoors or out, except my beans. I'm giving it another week and a half before I take it all outside.

Brandywine Tomatoes

My tomatoes arrived today. They look and smell delightful!

Here are my tomatoes and my starts, well what is left of the starts after my kids dumped them over this week.



There are a few plants that never came to be....the peppermint, spearmint, lemon basil, and some cucumbers. I will start them again and hope for the best.

So here we are. I hope to start some early planting...I can't wait to see purple carrots!

Strawberries, Raspberries, and finished boxes!

My lovely family helped me put the rest of the boxes together, then filled them with Mel's Mix and planted the strawberries and raspberries. It was a lot of fun work. The kids enjoy playing around in the dirt.



I received my bare root strawberries and raspberries from Gurneys.com last week and needed to get them in. We completed the first grow box and have dedicated it entirely to everbearing strawberries. I did 1 strawberry plant per square foot instead of 3 plants for every 4 squares. I'm sure it will come back to bite me but I had 25 bare root plants and I didn't want to waste them.



I planted the 2 heritage raspberry plants in gorgeous pots. I hope they thrive.




I was so lucky to find vermiculite in Ann Arbor. I called all over and was convinced I would have to drive all the way to Detroit and spend $40 per bag. Luckily, I came across Lodi Farms and scored 3 bags for $14.88 a piece. That's right, 3 bags of 4 cubic feet of vermiculite for $14.88 a piece!!

Anywho....I have a lot of planting to do in the next few weeks, as well as try and revive this terrible lawn. Wish us luck! The previous owners weren't very kind to their yard.

I will leave you with a picture of my youngest, wanting to help me in the garden, but having a hard time opening the door.