14 days till SPRING!!

Not that I think we won’t still have snow on the ground by then… but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! And SPRING FORWARD clock change this weekend, which means more daylight after work. WOO HOO!

Live countdown here

For instance… you can put in your city / state here and it will give you the dates when you should sprout/plant common garden vegetables based on your last frost date. Neat! I put in my town — and I should probably get moving this weekend with ramping up supplies. The early plants need to go in soon.  Growing plants from seeds really helps to instill a strong feeling of ownership over my ‘crops’.

A  MOSS SHOWER MAT! Not my idea, of course… I f*ing love science highlighted it here.

It sounds like a really cool concept. I’m not sure if I will actually like it in reality. Or if it will really work.  It’s on my list of things to try at some point though when I have the time. I will definitely highlight it on here if I do.

If anyone out there is reading this — curious on your thoughts. Is this gross, or cool, in a natural sort of way?

Let’s get everyone up to speed, shall we? So last post I had was tracking Hurricane Sandy (well, I guess it was technically Halloween, but I’m pretty sure I actually wrote that one a few weeks ahead of time) and although we lucked out with no damage to our property or surrounding area, we lost power for 7 days, and internet for about 10. Then, it got cold. We had just about wrapped up for the year anyway — as made apparent by my lack of posts. To be fair, too, I was also in Germany for 10 days prior to the hurricane, pretty much leaving most of the month of October unaccounted for, and November was shot with the power outrage, then there was Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc., and then it was full out winter. My husband was awesome enough to clean up our community garden plot without me, too, to close out the season.

A couple things I missed..

• Happy 2013 – this is going to be a fabulous year! Had a rough start but ready for it to turn around.
• Happy 1st Birthday to Herbthis.com!  March 1st 2012 was my first post. At this point last year, we already had a ton of really nice days that made me ready for planting. This year, the cold weather has kept me a bit in hibernation.
• First day of spring equinox 2013… YAY!  We had a decent enough winter this year that I hope will bring the bugs back in check for the upcoming planting season (because seriously, last year was just ridiculous). I’m seriously ready for some nice weather though. Really hope all the snow is behind us now.

At the beginning of the month, I was in Germany again for work, and my hotel had these awesome samples that just kept staring me in the face reminding me of what was ahead (and it was gorgeous weather, too)!  ”Pure Herbs” smelled so good. I took a few bottles home with me!

And finally, for the big reveal… I’m finding out first hand (or belly) just how much fun it is to ‘grow stuff’.. my husband and I are expecting our first child over the summer!  So, that explains why my husband did the clean up himself this fall — I was newly pregnant and utterly exhausted just from existing.

This year, we are still planning on community gardening– we’ll probably go a little simpler with the tried and true veggies, but might be light on the posts and creative thinking at times.  Also, nothing crazy in the yard, just clean up & maintain, maybe a couple minor improvements.

Before the winter break, I did discover the fabulous world of Pinterest where I have an “herbthis.com ideas” board, which I am hoping to be able to test out over the summer — at least the simpler ones!

Alright, now that I have kicked off the planting season for 2013, I should get some of my seedlings started (I”m already behind — I need to get the tomatoes & peppers in THIS WEEK!!!). Unfortunately, that is going to have to wait until tomorrow — time for sleep.

Happy spring & happy planting!

Q: What is a pumpkin’s favorite sport?

WOOT WOOT!! We still had a pumpkin at the garden!

A: Squash!

 Hahaha… and of course, so appropriate, because look what else popped up again… one of the ones from last year must have escaped and the seeds crept into the ground.  We harvested two along the ground and will be cooking them for dinner soon.

ACORN SQUASH!

Sitting here with the generator pumping and the internet hanging by a thread, my husband and I are sleeping in the dining room tonight because there is a giant evergreen that is looming in our backyard over our bedroom. It is a healthy tree, but after Hurricane Irene took out one of our other large, also healthy, trees last year, I’m not taking any chances.

It’s a nice tree though, hopefully it will be OK! (plus, ya know, hopefully the house will be OK). I’m not believing all the flooding going on in NYC and the coast areas… luckily the Rockaway River isn’t expecting record levels this time.

From the weather channel!

Q.  Why did the Golden Delicious go to jail?

A.  He was a rotten apple.

Q: What do you get when you mix a relative and a fruit?

A: A Granny Smith

Ok, I think these are a little weak, but they are both about apples, and you pick apples in the fall, and it’s fall now. So there.

Happy Fall! Happy October! I know gardening season is just about wrapping up, but I love this weather and it makes me happy.  That is all for today.

I was perusing and found a ‘Top 30 Weed Identifier’ – WOW! I have seen just about all of them at the garden this summer! There is one, the bane of my existence, that grows through the weedblock, and sticks you even through garden gloves. I’m constantly removing it, and I had no idea what is was. UNTIL NOW!

the DEVIL

This is Canadian Thistle. It is terrible. It’s a perennial herb, and the root system gets everywhere, which explains why it keeps coming back after pulling, and even through the weedblock. We need to dig a little deeper for those roots, and maybe next year we will see the end of them!

Also, how awesome is the weather in NJ the last two days? PERFECT “fall is coming” weather. Last two nights we were perfect for open window sleeping, and the AC finally got a break.