Garden (and Life) Update

A bountiful final harvest!

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been really busy for the last few months and just haven't thought to communicate with anyone. I'm not trying to slight anyone; I've neglected you all equally. But since at least three of my readers (that's probably a majority) have mentioned the lack of posts, I thought I'd make a special effort to post something, and the garden is a popular topic.

I haven't really done anything to my garden for a while until today. It was unseasonably warm, so I decided to pull out the dead plants and start preparing the garden for next year. I had considered leaving the carrots and digging them up as needed this winter, but I want to clear and cover the bindweed-infested area it's planted in. So now I have several carrots, a couple of small beets, some greenish tomatoes, and some green onions to use. I left some parsley, cilantro, and snap peas to continue growing. I also had a couple tiny jelly bean tomatoes, but I ate those right off the plant instead of photographing them. And they were good, so sweet. I will definitely plant more of those next year. I'm already excited about planning next year's garden.

The cage after I rescued it from my monster tomato plant

Two little snap peas almost ready to eat

Even though I've been busy, I don't have a very long list of accomplishments for the last few months. Mostly I work and teach. I have fewer students this semester, but only one third are passing again. I was hoping that more individual attention would improve my pass rate, but the biggest problem is that most of them don't bother to turn in any work. I've tried some new and interesting things this semester. Some have worked; others haven't. They do much better when they have individual conferences with me, so I need to find a way to do more of those. My fun grammar games haven't typically been as successful as I'd like. I had hoped that hands-on learners would have a-ha moments while they played, but only one or two seemed to catch on to what we were doing. We've done worksheets together in class until all of our minds were numb, but after all that repetition, I'm seeing some improvement, which is heartening. I've tried giving them more thoughtful writing assignments the second half of the semester. Their thoughts are often disappointingly shallow or incomplete, but sometimes I get interesting ideas from one or two of them. Those occasional sparks of insight are worth giving them more thoughtful writing prompts in the future.

Snap peas in November

At this point, I'm planning to teach again in the spring. The English department chair has shown interest in my teaching adolescent literature. I've never taught it, but children's literature was my Master's concentration. I'm OK with continuing to teach English 110, but having a literature class on my resume would be good. The department chair is going to make sure the education department is OK with my teaching the class since I don't have a Ph.D.  We'll see what happens.

Matt normally teaches five classes in the fall and four in the spring, but he took on another class this fall after another professor broke her leg. He enjoys getting to teach another upper level English class, but he's extra busy this fall. We haven't even been to Elizabethtown in a couple of months because he's spent nearly every weekend grading.

Parsley still growing in the garden

Other than work, the only other thing that we regularly do is attend game night at the university. Matt and I are part of the board game club. Every Thursday night we get together with professors and students to play games like Vikings, Agricola, Dominion, and Carson City. The games aren't party games. They tend to take strategy. Some games are about combat; others are about settling the Old West or cultivating farms. Sometimes we also get together with professor friends on weekends to play.  And sometimes Matt and I clear off the dining table and play a long game like Twilight Struggle, which is about the Cold War.

Other than gaming, we watch some favorite TV programs. We read. We do at least one Sudoku puzzle before bed. Matt watches lots of football. I take lots of naps during football, but sometimes I watch, too.  That's life for us right now.

Acing Medical Tests

When I saw my nurse practitioner for a prescription refill last week, she recommended that I have blood drawn for a routine check of glucose, cholesterol, and platelets as well as liver, kidney, and thyroid function.  I had these tests run several years ago in Wisconsin, but now that I'm in my early thirties I thought it would be good to check things out again. I now have statistical proof that I'm perfect! When I had the blood drawn, I was a little worried about my cholesterol. My last meal before fasting was a cheese enchilada, a hard shell taco, refried beans, and tons of salsa and tortilla chips. But even Tuesday night at Fiesta could not raise my cholesterol. "Hurray!" I write as I munch another piece of Italian cheese bread.

Speaking of health, I've been using a site called Health Month to help me form better habits. I set up three rules to follow for August. First, I'm trying to drink 35 cups of water a week (5 a day). I'm also making a small effort at exercise, walking at least two miles a week (10 laps around a gym on work days). And I'm aiming to get in bed by 11 p.m. at least four nights a week. None of my rules are particularly difficult, but developing consistency is what is important at this point. I check in with the site every day, and it tracks my progress. There's also a place to journal about my day and to record my weight. So far I'm really liking it. I'm playing again next month. Playing three rules is free; more than three costs $5. I've got a free game next month, so for next month I've added rules about eating veggies and lifting weights to the rules I'm already playing. August has been successful, so I expect good things in September.

Technically, I Have a Cell Phone

Actually, I have two. I needed mobile communication for an outdoor wedding by the lake that I coordinated in June, so I got an LG 420g TracFone at Dollar General for $10. It was on sale and I had a coupon. I bought that model because you can read texts on the external screen without opening the phone and, more importantly, without being charged for incoming texts. It come with double minutes for life, so if I pay for 60 minutes, I get 120.  It's a flip phone, which keeps my pocket or purse from calling people without my knowledge, and it has a camera for picture messages and (slow) web access. It's a nice phone, but I don't use it often. I forget I have it and only remember to charge it every couple weeks. And I keep it set on vibrate so that it doesn't go off at inappropriate times. I haven't really given anyone my number, but I've set up my Google number (which most family members have) to forward message to my cell phone(s). I've also set up Facebook to forward direct messages as texts to my phone. So I can be reached a little more readily than I used to be as long I'm near my phone and it's charged.

So the first cheap phone was supposed to let me know if I want to be a regular cell phone user, which I obviously am not. So why did I get a second cell phone? Because it has a full qwerty keyboard and can install some apps. I got it as a toy. I worked about 100 hours this summer on an extra project and got a big check (to get new tires for our car). I figured I deserved a little something just for me (not tires), so I spent $20 on an LG 500g at Dollar General. I like it, especially the keyboard. It makes texting, web searching, and note taking so much easier. The LG 500g also has a built in MP3 player. I need to get a data cord to be able to use the MP3 player. I haven't bought extra minutes for it yet, so I'm mostly using it to take notes. I've got a grocery list saved on there. I've got a Research list and an Ideas list. I can also make voice recordings if I'm really brainstorming. I'm full of ideas sometimes. It can also do tasks and calendar, but I haven't played with those yet. That little cell phone could save all sorts of space in my purse and keep life organized. HA! :) Like the other phone, this phone is attached to my Google number. And like the other phone, I've got it set to vibrate and forget to charge it.

So technically I have cell phones, but actually I'm not much easier to get ahold of than I was before I had cell phones. So good luck, people! Call my Google number and maybe you'll reach me at home or on a cell phone. If I don't answer, leave a message, and it will be forwarded to my email, which I check at least once a day. Or send me a message on Facebook, which I check all the time and which will be forwarded to my cell phones.

An apology to those who are mostly interested in my garden. It's been so hot that I've been gardening at or after dusk, which is not a good time to take pictures. I will post a garden update soon.

"What Not to Do Next Year" Gardening

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting cousin-in-law Carrie at the family reunion two weekends ago. It was good to finally meet after being Facebook friends for about a year. We talked about gardening and both agreed that part (or most) of our gardening experiences are learning experiences so that we don't make the same mistakes next year. I have been very fortunate that most of my garden has grown well for two summers, but I've learned a few things from my failures:

1. Cage tomatoes when they're small. They're hard to corral when they get to be teenagers (nearing fruitful maturity).
2. Not all green peas have edible pods. Well, they're edible like cardboard is edible. I now have seeds for snap pea varieties that I'll plant in late summer for fall harvest.
3. Cilantro bolts quickly, so plant smallish batches regularly. I did realize that cilantro and coriander come from the same plant, so I let the plants flower. I've looked up directions for when and how to harvest the seeds. I'll see if the coriander is worth the effort of getting the seeds out of the pods--another learning experience.
4. Lettuce turns bitter in the heat. I'm going to try starting and keeping some lettuce in the house. As long as growing lettuce indoors doesn't stunt it, keeping plants in the window should keep the lettuce yummy.
5. Green caterpillars eat corn!  I don't know how to fix that one yet, but it's infuriating.
6. Tomato plants and squash plants are like puppies; they always get bigger than you think they will.
7. Laying newspaper between rows to prevent weeds is more difficult than you imagine. I have yet to master it.
8. Planting herbs in soil bags works really well. Carrie told me about research that agrees with my own experience. I'm considering using soil bags to combat my bindweed problem. If I cover the current garden so that bindweed can get through it, maybe it will die. And while it's dying, I'll put bags of soil on top and grow herbs. Take that, bindweed!
9. Throwing bindweed on the lawn is a bad idea. Matt mowed over it, and the clippings blew onto my garden. And each clipping can start its own plant. 

I'm sure there are other things I've learned and many, many more things that I will learn as my garden continues to grow. 

Squash in the Annex

My weird (but wonderful) cardboard and plastic garden annex now has squash and zucchini planted in two cheap 7-quart plastic bowls.  I cut holes in the bottom of the bowls for drainage and so that roots can grow through if they need to.  I'm not sure how deep squash roots grow. I can use the bowls as planters again next year, and I can just put some garden fabric in the bottom to keep the soil in if the holes are too big for future use.  The bowls hold about as much soil as I would pile into a normal squash hill, so I thought they'd work.  They're at the far end of the annex, and when they get bigger they'll help hide the cardboard and plastic soil bags.

I had so much soil left over from the little bag I bought for the squash bowls that I started seeds for cucumber, butternut squash, acorn squash, and pumpkin, which I will transplant to more cheap plastic bowls that I plan to buy if the seeds sprout.  Those cucumber and winter squash bowls will go around the corner of the house by the trash can and water hose.  But because the hills are in plastic bowls, I can move them elsewhere if I need to.

Because today was cooler and partly cloudy, I let my indoor herbs and tomato seedlings stay outside all day.  The tomatoes loved it, but the herbs need to stay inside a bit longer. I'm hoping to eventually transplant some of my indoor herbs into the unopened soil bag in the annex.  I also have at least half a planter that I haven't planted yet. I like to keep my options open should I get the urge to plant something else.  Eventually, I'll plant a few turnips, probably in the long planter with the few beets that are already sprouting. I never need tons of any vegetable, but I like a wide variety.

Oh, the Gardens I Grow!

I love gardening!  I love it so much that I have three gardens this year: two at home (plus some seedlings inside) and one at the farm.  The farm garden (see slideshow) is doing well. I didn't plant carefully, so the growth is a little spotty in some places; and I haven't kept up with the weeds, so I'm just now putting down newspaper to keep weeds from growing between rows.  But I'm most excited about my home gardens (see slideshow): both the original front garden that I added last year and my new odd and creative garden annex.

THE ANNEX:  I had wanted to dig up an additional garden on the other side of the porch, but it got hot.  I didn't feel like digging up a 4x10 foot garden plot in 90+ degree heat, so I looked for other options. First, I bought a couple of long planters from Big Lots (they're on sale for $6 now).  I thought I might just cover the area with planters, but that many planters plus potting soil was going to get expensive.  Then I did some research online and found someone who had planted in bags of potting soil without putting the soil in planters, so I decided to try it. I still wanted to cover the entire area with something that would kill the grass/weeds, so I got some moldering bookcase boxes from the basement (which probably weren't helping Matt's allergy cough) and put them out. I put the soil bags and the planters on the cardboard and put a plastic white picket fence around it.  It looks kind of janky (to use an Ashley term) from the porch, but it doesn't look bad from the road.  The fence isn't properly installed because the ground is so hard. I hoed up the grass along the fence line to make it easier to sink the plastic spikes in the dirt, but I'm going to have to wait for a good rain to soften up the ground before the spikes will go far enough in the yard to hold it up securely.  It will also look better when more is growing in the planters and bags.  I've already got herbs sprouting in one of the bags. And I'm looking forward to seeing how the lavender and chamomile I planted in the bags comes up. They sound very pretty and calming.

I love my hoe, which I have named Hoedun after Ghengis Khan's mother. I read a biography of how Genghis Khan's progressive ideas of warfare, commerce, and diplomacy were way ahead of his time and am now a big Genghis Kahn fan.  And now my hoe is Mongolian like my sister. :)  As I said, I love my hoe, which has led to many jokes from my friends; however, I took a quarter-sized chunk out of my palm trying to hoe a fence line for the annex. I didn't realize I had made a blister until it had broken open and gotten dirt in the wound.  When I saw the hole in my hand, my first thought after ouch was "Hoedun bit me!" And it made me smile despite the stinging pain.  My hand is healing well.  I've had to keep it wrapped like a boxer to keep the wound clean, which made me look way more formidable than your average home gardener.

Marigolds, lettuce, peas, cilantro, and carrots at home

I've previously shown photos of my little front garden between the house and the stone path.  It's doing really well.  I probably won't have to buy lettuce for the rest of the summer.  I eat a few raw peas every now and then. The tomato plant is growing like crazy and has its first flower, so I'm looking forward to tomatoes soon.  The whole garden grows visibly by the next time I water it 12 hours later.

I've also got tomato seedlings and herbs inside as well as a planter on the porch with a few herbs and tons of marigolds.

My garden research has also turned up a possible solution for the bindweed problems that won't require digging up my entire garden and replacing the soil. I've read that Mexican marigolds may kill bindweed.  I will definitely be planting Mexican marigolds next year, and I may sow some mint around bindweed strongholds. I've heard mint is invasive, so it will at least fight with the bindweed, and any mint that grows will be great in my summer iced tea.

I'd Rather Be Planting!

I enjoyed gardening so much last summer that I got an early start this year. In February, I bought supplies to start seeds so that I could plant seedlings as soon as the last frost passed. Some of my seedlings were doing well, so I put them outside for hours at a time to toughen them up before planting them.  They didn't like outside so much, and all wilted. I think I tried exposing them too soon. So I started more seeds, and I finally have some tomato plants that got big enough to be transplanted to bigger pots. I've put them outside one time, and most of them are still OK. I'll keep trying it occasionally until they get bigger and I'm sure they'll be OK in the ground. I'll start a little earlier next year and be more patient. I want produce early next year.

Spinach, carrots and green peas in late April

Spinach, carrots, peas and lettuce yesterday

I made peas in the garden!

I started planting in my front yard garden in March and have already enjoyed arugula, lettuce, spinach, peas, and cilantro. I made some salsa with the cilantro. I'm so excited about growing things in my yard that I plan to dig up a plot on the other side of our front porch. Matt is in favor of having less lawn to mow.

I've also started planting in the community garden out at the farm. Corn, green beans, and purple hull peas are already making good progress. And we've got several other things planted out there and room for a little more.

And I've got a bit of container gardening going. I've got about 15 little pots of herbs started. And some of the tomatoes I've got started as seedlings will go in one of those upside-down hanging tomato planters. I'm looking forward to fresh produce this summer. But I love planting things just to watch them grow.

Spring Semester Complete!

I just turned in grades for my class, so I am officially done for the semester.  I tried some new things and some of them worked.  I still wasn't satisfied with their overall progress, and despite my generous grading, only a third passed again this semester.  I asked my students what worked and didn't work this semester. Overwhelmingly, they thought I should have given more homework. So since only a third are going to pass whether I'm hard or easy on them and since students have told me they want more homework, I'm going to push my students harder in the future.  At least the third who pass will be well prepared.

And now that the semester is over, I have a bad cold.  This time Matt gave me the cold instead of the other way around. He had an allergy cough for a few weeks that turned into a cold cough a few days ago.  I wish he had kept it to himself.  It went from throat tickle to full blown chest congestion in less than 36 hours. I'm feeling a little better today than I felt yesterday, but better is still really bad.

I've started some gardening and will have pictures soon.  Matt will teach summer school in June.  I've got all sorts of ideas for teaching in the fall and a whole summer to make plans.

A New Semester, A Fresh Start

By the end of the first month of the fall semester, I knew things were not going as well as I wanted them to, and they never improved significantly.  So I've done a lot of thinking and a lot of research to make the spring semester better.

First, I went in to the room with incredibly low expectations. I'm naturally a pessimist, so I'm not sure why I got my hopes up last semester. I used to feel pressure to be an optimist--though it's hard to change your inclinations--until someone pointed out that being a pessimist means you are more often pleasantly surprised when things go well. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised this semester.  

Second, I'm starting small and easy and working my way to more complexity. Instead of starting with finding subjects and verbs as I did last semester, we started with separating subjects and predicates. They did reasonably well with that in class. I'm hoping that knowing which half of the sentence the simple, single word subject is will help them find it. It felt like small metaphorical stabs at my heart every time someone chose the next-to-last word of the sentence as the subject, double stabs if the word was "the." We may not cover everything I want to cover as thoroughly as I want to cover it this semester, but they will write complete sentences with subjects and verbs that agree.

Third, I'm structuring things to give less choice in classroom procedures and more choice in their writing. I put them in assigned seating. One person complained that it felt like kindergarten, and I later heard from another teacher that they thought I didn't like them because of the seating chart.  Oh well. When a short young woman walks into a classroom of 12 men (I've got only one female student), I'm in support of demonstrations of power to establish who is in charge. So the seating chart was my "big stick" that will allow me to "walk softly" in the future. In addition to being a power play and messing with my students' heads (of which I'm in favor as I previously mentioned), the seating chart will help me take attendance more quickly and will also keep them from choosing to sit by friends who may tempt them to talk. However, I want to stress that writing is about choices. You choose what to say, what not to say, how to say it with sentence rhythms and word choices. So I'm they're doing a portfolio for the first half of the semester. I and their classmates are giving them feedback on the daily writing they're doing. They will pick three papers to talk to me about when we meet for conferences, and they will turn those three in for me to grade over spring break. In addition, I'm scaling back my grammar grading for the first half of the semester so that they will focus on what they're saying more than commas. I'll set a couple of basic things that I'll always grade for, writing in complete sentences, for example. Then they will tell me what other grammar concern they focused on when editing each paper, and I will grade only for that additional thing. We'll see how it goes.