It's Easy Being Green

The so-called “Dog Days of Summer” are paying off in the veggie garden this week. My wife and I have spent quite a bit of time outside pulling weeds, smashing squash beetles, plucking Tomato Hornworms and giving our little 10×4 foot plot of wholesome paradise some good ‘ol TLC. Mother nature has been a big help too, squeezing some much needed rain out of a passing cloud or two at least once a week. That’s apparently a rarity out here in southwestern Indiana during... (more...)

I’m not sure whether it’s the hot summer nights or the copious amounts of backyard barbecues happening about now but I sure have noticed both possums and raccoons out on the prowl late at night. In fact, I almost ran over two raccoons who were fully engaged in trash can debauchery when I was coming home the other night. If you’re experiencing nightly raids on your trash cans, you can tell what kind of thief your dealing with by looking at the leftovers. Dogs knock cans over and... (more...)

It’s already coming up on mid-August but there is still plenty to do out in the yard. This week my Mammoth Sunflowers started blooming, so there is now an array of happy faces greeting us all around the back of the house. Many of them have reached 8 feet or taller and continue to grow even taller with each passing day. One of our many Mammoth Sunflowers that started blooming this week has a special resident. If you look closely at the bottom of the bloom, you'll see a Praying Mantis... (more...)

This weekend my wife and I were looking for some free things to do with the baby where perhaps, a little fussiness on her part would be allowed.  We made some stops on our errand list and then headed over to the open house put on by the Southwest Indiana Master Gardeners at their demonstration gardens. Looking through the historical kitchen garden at the gazebo taking center focus in the Southwest Indiana Master Gardeners Demonstration Gardens. It's located in Evansville, IN at the former site... (more...)

We’ve had a lot of rain here in the Midwest this summer.  Because of that, there have been some continuously standing pools of stagnant water which of course, breed those pesky mosquitoes we so fondly hate when we’re outdoors.  Getting rid of the pests is very simple though and doesn’t require the harmful spraying of chemicals. First, take a survey of your property.  Look for any type of container that could hold water (either from your sprinklers or from rainfall) and make sure... (more...)

My two zuchinni plants have grown to encompass probably about four square feet of garden space a piece now and are popping out some whoppers!  The zuchinni plants really seem to suck up all the rain water they get which in turn produces some that look like they’re vying for world domination. This week's harvest from the backyard zuchinni plants This picture shows this week’s total take.  We’ve been eating a lot zuchinni and are skulking around for some more recipes.  Usually... (more...)

Picking up where I left off on my last post: Pamela checked in about every hour to see how things were going and to give support about what was going on at that time.  Around 6:15 my wife said she was feeling like she should start pushing. With that announcement, Pamela began to assemble her birth kit in the living room and kitchen of the cabin and called two other midwives to witness and help out with the birthing process.  I helped T labor in the shower on about 5 separate occasions throughout... (more...)