Ring-a-ling, a-ling!

Okay, is it silly that my stomach just growled when I looked over my old blog posts and found this Dark Chocolate Muesli recipe?! Not silly if you've tried it - Well worth the growls. ANYway...

I've built it up in my head that I need to have impressive, cleaver, and totally helpful posts for you every time I blog, and thus I just haven't posted lately. My time to blog is usually between the hours of 11pm and 12am when my brain power is very low. Wit and humor aren't the first things flowing from my mind. So, let that be my excuse for my blogging. :)

I'm happy to see so many of you taking advantage of the "10 for $100" ring deal.

So many orders have come in that I ran out of labels - More on order!

Lisa in Washington recently ordered them as her go-to gift for her girl friends. She likes to have things on-hand, rather than having to run out last minute.

Erika in Texas is having her annual Girl's Weekend in San Francisco this year. They gift each other little trinkets when they get together - "It's usually treats, laughter and sunshine all weekend long!"

And Christy in Santa Barbara ordered them for a bachelorette party in Vegas. Thanks for the picture of you and your gals enjoying the rings!

They're just so simple and fun. What else is like that for you?

Well, I was feeling quite proud of my little backyard garden, and then I visited a community garden across from my children's school. WOW do they have some gardening talents!

It was quite inspiring to be there, actually. When we got home we appreciated the little things - a few broccoli leaves without worm holes...

Help! How do I make the worms go away?!

the first strawberry turning red...

new carrot sprouts...

the first blossom from our eggplant...

and our "pink banana" and butternut squash seeds breaking through...

and growing rapidly!

{They like it better out of the raised-bed than in. Por que?}

I'd still love to know if anyone has ideas on how to get rid of the little, green worms eating our broccoli and Brussel sprout leaves. Without crazy pesticides, of course. What do you do???

And a little bragging of my sweet little boy...

I got to take him to a local toy store, Whiz Kids, as a reward for going 10 days in a row of having a dry pull-up in the morning! He's been counting the days. Mommy and Daddy are so proud.

.molly

The Garden is a Go!

I'm in heaven! Well, on earth. Since April you guys have been hearing about my dreams for a raised-bed vegetable garden. Well, as you may have seen from my Facebook post... It happened!

Hunk of a Hubby Fulfilling My Gardening Dream. {Thank you, Newmans, for the truck!}

Ta daaaaaa!

What late-Summer/early-Fall goodness did I decide to plant? Brussel sprouts, red onions, year-round strawberries, sugar snap peas, broccoli, a variety of lettuce, carrots {by seed}, and two types of squash by seed: butternut and "pink banana squash" {an heirloom winter squash that weighs 10 lbs each!}.

We've enjoyed a lot of lettuce already, but we're waiting on everything else. A pesky worm is invading my Brussel sprouts and broccoli. Any organic ideas on how to get rid of them??

And what about that little garden spot that my dog was using as her daytime lounge?! Well, it's now a thriving herb garden with "Melissa" lemon balm, thyme {yum!}, parsley, "pesto perpetuo basil", and tricolor sage! 

We did find Ellie, our dog, sitting on the parsley the first day after we planted it. {"Bad dog! Bad!"} We devised a little decorative plan to deter her from lounging in our herb garden by laying our rakes in her way. 

My heart is happy and my tummy is eager to enjoy our backyard garden delights. What are you growing this season?