Planting Update....

The last week has been crazy and I'm a little behind on updating so please forgive me. I took pictures as we transplanted our seedlings but I am just now a week later getting the blog posted... So this happened a week ago ;)

This is what my seed tray looked like with all the little seedlings popping up. The cilantro was slow and didn't come up with the rest of the seeds so I have pictured here the snow peas on the left and the pak choi on the right.

To transplant I loosen the soil under the seedlings with the popscicle sticks and gently remove the seedling to be transplanted into it's own separate container. This was the broccoli...

This is the snow pea...

Each plant now has room to grow and I didn't waste any seeds by using the "thinning out" method...

Their new happy homes in the sunshine of my bedroom window... The snow peas grow faster so I put them in the bigger round containers. I will probably transplant some of these to my outdoor cold frames this week. Stay tuned for updates :)

More Creations With Leftovers :)

So another experiment with the left overs in my fridge has turned out to be a success! About four days ago we had soft taco's with rice and beans. After sitting in the fridge for four days the thought of reheating them to serve for dinner was not very appetizing, especially after I noticed how dried out it all looked... So here's what I did.

I put the beans, rice and taco meat into my food processor with some sour cream, velveeta cheese and a can of spicy rotel. I pulverized it to mush and scooped it into the left over home made flour tortilla's and stuck them in the freezer. We ate the rest of the filling as dip and saved the burrito's for tonight. These microwaved perfectly and my kids have enjoyed their dinner. More left overs used instead of wasted! Yay!

The 2011 Garden Season Has Officially Begun!

What better way to spend a snow day than planting seeds? I love it! I took pictures to document the event and to share tips with fellow gardeners. Enjoy!

Step #1: Gather Supplies
To start off with these are my supplies. Yes unfortunately I use Miracle Grow potting mix... When I perfect the composting process I hope to be able to make my own potting mix but that's something I'm working on. I use warm water in my spray bottle and I have a plastic shelf tuned upside down to plant in. And don't forget the seeds.

Step #2 Prepare For Potting Soil
I line my shelf with newspaper to help soak up excess water since I don't have drainage holes in this planter. I transfer my sprouts to other containers so they won't be in this long.

Step #3 Dirt Work
I put a layer of potting soil down and spray it until it's good and soaked!

I am planting a few varieties of seed in this planter so I have it sectioned off with popsicle sticks.

Step #4 Sowing Seeds
I am planting Broccoli...

Cilantro...

Snow Peas...

And Chinese Pak Choy...

Step #5 Soak & Cover...
Next I soak the seeds with more warm water...

Cover with thin layer of potting mix and soak some more. I end up using the whole bottle of water. Good soaking is a step you cannot skip or the seeds won't sprout.

Step #6 Find a warm spot.
One of the warmest rooms in our house is the laundry room. With the dryer venting into the room it's moist and warm. With six people living under one roof I run the dryer quite a bit. On top of the refrigerator is also a good warm place to sprout seeds. Just remember that seeds don't need sunshine to sprout. These will be moved to a sunny location after they sprout.

Another good reason I put these here is I will be reminded to water every time I do laundry!

Come back and visit in a few days to see results :)