Gardening & Sewing Update

I haven't written much about sewing or gardening for a while for a very good reason.  We moved!  We knew for a long time that our teeny townhouse was not big enough, so we spent a good part of 2013 & 2014 trying to de-clutter and get rid of things that we didn't want to move.  Then, the past year has been spent looking at houses, putting in offers, and finally buying a house!  Then it was packing, moving, contractors painting and carpeting, and selling the old house. 

WHEW!!!!

Needless to say, my sewing machine was one of the first things to be packed up.  Since I have known for a long time that a tiny backyard with bare spots (from my container garden pots sitting on the grass all summer) isn't so great, I didn't have any kind of garden in 2014 or 2015.

However!  We now have a giant bonus room that contains (among other things) all of my sewing equipment including a brand new desk/table that will be sewing central!!  (Thank you, office store, for going out of business and getting me a deal on the desk!) 

I have also picked out the perfect place for my 2016 garden.  Well, first we had to get our neighbors help to cut down the massive holly bushes that were planted there first.  Then we got the company who pruned our crepe myrtles to grind up the holly stumps.  The area is on the south side of the house (yay, sun!) but it does get some shade in the afternoon since the sunlight hits the trees as it goes over that part of the yard.  Since our backyard has so many trees, this spot is probably the one spot that gets the most constant sun during the day.  I don't want the garden in the front yard.  The spot is on the side of our house, but I don't think our neighbors will mind since it will be very close to our house and our houses aren't on top of each other.

When I start the garden, I am going to plant some wildflower seeds that I got from our local extension office.  It's a flower blend for honeybees.  Hopefully, this will work in attracting the bees and they will pollenate my garden when the blooms start.

This past fall, I did attempt to try scallions and spinach again, but they just did not grow.  I guess my dad was right; the cool weather growing season around here is really just too short to grow anything.  Although, I do see local farmers with greens (not just collards).  I wonder what they're doing.

I do have basil growing in the house, though!  I'm going to let them grow some more before I start picking off leaves to use in cooking.