June 29th

OK, yes, I am a horrible blogger.
But in the interest of maintaining this as something of a journal that I can refer to in future years...

This has been a very chilly, very wet spring, and as a consequence, the cold-weather stuff is doing great (peas, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, broccoli, potatoes), and the warm weather stuff is faring miserably (peppers, tomatoes, squash, cukes, beans).

The first sighting of striped cucumber beetles was today, on the pumpkins.

This was to be the first year of successful mulching to maintain weed control. I scored some mulch hay (it took 18 square bales to do the whole garden), and did it up. Unfortunately, the wet conditions and the mulch have created a slug paradise, and there are tons.

I picked the first peas last weekend, so I guess the rule about planting on Patriot's Day for harvest by Independence Day is right. However, one full row is still not enough. And I really need to do better about succession planting with peas and lettuce, so it doesn't all come at once.

I noticed the first potato blossoms today.

The lettuce is also being picked now.

The beets failed again. Don't bother next year.

Don't ever try putting tomatoes in the back, wet part of the garden again.

I ended up using bush beans (Jacob's Cattle) for the 3 sisters mounds in the garden. I used all the cranberry pole beans in the tires. I think the bush beans might work better, since my corn doesn't want to grow tall enough to support pole beans, but the bush beans will still add nitrogen to the soil. It's hard to tell if the 3 sisters would work better in a warmer, drier year, but I'd imagine so. The tire gardens are doing much better than the mounds in the garden. I planted melons and meal corn in those, and squashes and sweet corn in the garden.  Lots of failures this year will be attributable to the weather this May and June.

I guess that's all for now. I keep meaning to take pictures that show the hay mulch, but everything looks so dismal and anemic.

Also, in the last week, James (at 20 months old) has started saying Mummy and No (adamantly).
Stella is registered for preschool, and is very tall. They are starting to really play together well; they both especially love blocks, and Stella has asked for more blocks for her birthday. Stella has become quite a picky eater over the last year, but she seems to be getting a little better about it. At least there are still plenty of healthy things she likes. She will eat cucumbers every day (and usually does), and yogurt and fruit. But she would still probably rather eat goldfish crackers than just about anything. James loves fruit and graham crackers. I think blueberries are probably his favorite.
They are both developing a lot right now, and as a result, they both switch back and forth between lovable and terrible. I find it challenging to be alone with them all day (I just got done with my one-week vacation when daycare was closed), and missing them quite a bit when I'm away from them during the day. Right now Jamey is right beside me yelling "MumMEE! MuMEE!, and trying to take off his diaper. Stella wants to cuddle, but just fought about going to bed.
I do love them, so much. They will be old and gone before I know it, and I will look back at these days now and wish I had paid attention more, documented more, been more in the moment. But I am who I am, and I constantly strive for the next thing, whatever that may be. I'm willing them to grow up without even meaning to.
So, I guess that wasn't all, huh? I should make more of an effort to document my thoughts and the kids' lives. Maybe I'll be able to make better use of this blog in that way, going forward.