Garden Update

So as the heat really ratchets up here in Texas, I thought I'd give another update on our garden. But first, some thoughts on the overall experience.
Going into it, I sorta envisioned something fairly nostalgic. Probably along the lines of "victory gardens" and all that. I'm now understanding that, like most hobbies, the wonders of modern industry can do a far, far better job than I could. Not only can I get good quality produce from a grocery store, but it comes in far cheaper than the effort I've put in so far. Now, a lot of that was initial cost, and next year (yes, there will be a next year) probably won't be nearly as expensive. Since I've started viewing it as sort of an experiment and with less of an end state in mind it's been much more rewarding. And who knows? Maybe it's just the ridiculous Texas heat that's keeping things down. For those of you that don't know what Texas is like, the past week highs have been in the high 90's, and soon we'll consistently be hitting 100. It will stay this way, with little to no rain, until September.
But with that, onto the photos. We've got one monster cucumber that's still waiting to turn green, and another smaller fully ripe one. We had more cherry tomatoes, but I'm pretty sure the birds are eating them. We're getting a few sweet and hot peppers too, and a few onions as well. The fennel is coming in nicely.
Also, our pigeons are back. Can you find her? Note, she's not the one eating our produce. If we didn't have pigeons nesting, I'd get one of those owl statues to protect the garden.

Again, growing up

Some of you may have seen the photos on Jill's facebook page, but Nate's got himself a new bed. While the position of it in the video below is no longer accurate, it's fun to see Nate jumping around in it.



He's generally sleeping just as well in the bed as in his crib, with the added benefit that our backs no longer have to haul him out of his crib. And while we put some pillows down on the floor next to his bed, he's already woken up once when he fell out of bed. I guess the rails weren't quite big enough. Stay tuned for more updates, to include our resident pigeon and a garden update.

Cooking with Nate and Dad

Following a strong family tradition, Nate helped me cook and we made a mighty pasta sauce together. As growing proof that he's getting older, here's a nice video of him chopping up some mushrooms with a dinner knife. Note that the knife isn't sharp in any way, nor is he even holding it right. But the concentration is fantastic. We'd previously gone over the ingredients we were going to use, but man, he was just focused on those mushrooms. More proof that he's growing up soon.

Some news, and a video for one

Thought I'd go ahead and catch everyone up on the latest here at the Sparks household. The biggest news, at least in my mind, is that recently Nate has increased his credentials as a Texan. That's right friends, he has been bit* (or stung to be more precise) by fire ants.

Oh fire ants!

You may have seen the video online where they form a little raft out of themselves on the surface of a tank of water to keep from drowning. You may have cheered for the fire ants as they huddled together, saving themselves from the briny depths. You may have marveled at their ingenuity and teamwork. You are wrong to have had these emotions, specifically because you have never been bit by a fire ant. If so, you would have cursed the experimenter in the video for not killing them all outright. Fire ants are invasive, hardy, and tiny. Their bites hurt and burn and itch like crazy. There is an old hymn that goes "All things bright and beautiful / All creatures great and small / All things wise and wonderful / The Lord God made them all." This is not true. Fire ants are not from God - they are from the devil himself.

Incidentally, except for the initial bite, they haven't been giving Nate too much trouble. It must be all the jalapenos he eats.

Switching gears entirely, here's a video Nate made for his yiayia on her birthday. Enjoy!




*I know bitten is the proper usage, but for some reason the Texan in me wants to use bit. In this context it seems right.

Fun in the garden, again

Here's another video of Nate roaming our garden and backyard. Usually he goes to town on the herbs, but it seems that the throat gunk that was plaguing him curbed his appetite. Enjoy the embed.

Jumping at the Zoo

Betcha can't guess what this post is about. Here's the video, but note that it was taken close to a month ago. Just this morning Nate had his first two feet off the ground hop (other than that time on a trampoline). I took some other video of Nate at the zoo, but it honestly isn't that exciting. Mostly Nate looking at sleeping animals and telling them to "wake up", to no avail. Hope you like this one.

Digging around in the ground

So it looks like we're going to give the whole garden thing a whirl this year. Since soil in Texas is kinda lousy (hooray for clay!) we decided to try a raised bed. We got the bed in place yesterday, and today Nate helped me fill it with dirt. Here's Nate helping get the new topsoil out of the bag.


Here he is when we've got some most of the soil unloaded.


Finally, here he is watering the dirt.


His eyes were closed a surprisingly high percentage of the time I tried to take pictures. After talking with the folks at the nursery (the garden variety) we're going to hold off on most vegetables until we're less likely to get another frost. Yes, it's going to hit the 80's this week. No, that doesn't mean we're out of the woods. So far we've got some spring onions, parsley, fennel, dill, and not enough dirt and not enough room. More updates to come, later.