Gardening: Day Three

My husband had some visiting to do this morning, but he was gracious enough to till the garden for me a second time before he left. (The first time didn't go deep enough.)

I can't tell you the thrill I felt to look outside and see my garden all ready for planting!

I really need to get a picture of this because some of you would probably laugh at how I plan and plant. You see, I'm a perfectionist. I stake off perfectly-spaced 1-foot rows with perfectly-spaced 2-foot walkways between. That way, I'm certain that my rows are straight. I don't know anyone else who does this, but it would drive me crazy to have crooked rows. :)

Of course, my kids had a great time walking through my rows, tripping over the strings that marked off the planting areas, and making a general wreck of my efforts. Finally, though, I was able to convince them to occupy themselves digging (and pretending to garden) in the other end of the garden long enough to get everything staked off. Then I was able to explain that we could walk anywhere but inside the rectangles the strings made.

Since the seeds I had to plant today were so tiny, I didn't ask for any help from little fingers. I had a hard enough time not clumping them all together into one group. But the onion sets are a different story. The kids will love helping with those!

I did get the kids' little watering cans out and let them help me put some water over the newly-planted rows, though. They had so much fun with that!

I goofed and accidentally planted an entire row of radishes and an entire row of carrots, instead of the half row of each that I was going to plant. I guess that's okay, though, because I ended up with only a half row each of beets and lettuce ... and my kids can't get enough carrots. The radishes come up fast and will give me the space back quickly enough.

I need to buy my onion sets while I'm out tomorrow so I can get them in the ground, too. So far, I have three full rows planted in my garden. The onions will make the fourth row. I'm really hoping they come up well! This is my first time to try growing seeds directly in the soil.

I'm of the same opinion as my dad, though. The first time I gardened (and was obsessing over whether I did everything right), he said something like, "Let's be real. Some things will grow regardless of how bad you mess up."

I'll do my very best to get some pictures tomorrow, providing the weather cooperates. It's supposed to rain (great for my garden, but not for pictures).

Gardening: Day Two

We finished raking the garden today! While it was back-breaking work (I ended up sitting in the dirt sifting through piles of it just to relieve my back), it was refreshing, too. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed doing this as a family. We were so much more relaxed, even as we worked so hard, and were able to talk and share from the heart. I couldn't have asked for more! Even my kids got in on the action again today.

Today I also picked up most of the seeds I need for this growing season. I'm going to do a little experiment.

Have you ever wondered how those 10/$1 seed packets at the dollar store stack up to the $1.07 Burpee seeds at Wal-Mart (or wherever you buy your seeds)? I certainly have! So when I saw them today, I figured for $0.10 I could afford to make a mistake or two. So I got a packet of beet seeds from both Burpee and the cheap-o seeds. I'll keep you posted on how they turn out!

They seem to be the same exact type of seed - down to the exact name. The main difference I see right now is that the $0.10 packet doesn't seem to have as many seeds in it. Again, I'll let you know how it goes.

On a lighter note ... I was reminded again today of my shock the first year we were here and I had a garden. After a friend tilled the ground for me, and I raked all the weeds out, I couldn't believe what the soil looked like. I called my dad and told him it looked like a beach - which it did! I've been used to the dark, rich PA soil. This Eastern shore soil shocked me a bit, but it really does grow things! (Surprise, surprise.)

Gardening: Day One

Today we worked in the garden as a family. That was actually fun!

My husband tilled up the ground and then we set to work with rakes to get the weeds and clumps out.

This is my husband's first year to help much with the garden, but he commented, "This is a lot of work, isn't it?"

Yes, it is a lot of work. But it felt great to get outside with something meaningful to do. It felt great to work the ground. And it felt great to have my children volunteering to help with real work.

My children are one of the reasons I decided to garden again this year. I want them to know how to garden when they leave home. It's a useful skill to know. It's healthy. And it's hard work.

I want them to know that food doesn't originally come in the pretty packaging from the store. Someone has to work - and usually work hard - to get that food to our table. It makes me appreciate my food a lot more!

We had an interesting conversation while we were getting all those weed roots out of the garden plot today. When my husband commented that this was hard work, we were reminded that God told Adam he would get his food by the "sweat of his brow." I'm sure there were no weeds in the Garden of Eden - before Adam and Eve sinned. Wouldn't that be nice gardening?

Well, we have half the garden raked. Tomorrow is another day!

Hot Cross Buns

Have you ever eaten Hot Cross Buns? Did you know that "cross" is in the name because there are crosses cut in the top of each bun?

I was always intrigued by the seemingly English tradition of Hot Cross Buns at Easter. And once I discovered I could bake, I decided to tackle them.

This is my third year of making Hot Cross Buns for Easter, and I don't expect the tradition to die any time soon. These are delicious! I liken them to cinnamon raisin bread with a glaze, but my husband wasn't so sure he'd describe them that way (although he couldn't figure out how he would describe them, except "delicious").

So here's the recipe I use (from Light & Tasty magazine), adapted to a bread machine:

4-5 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 pkg active dry yeast (2-1/4 tsp)
1-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine, melted
2 eggs
3/4 cup raisins
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp cold water
Icing
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tsp cold water

In a bread machine pan, add the first nine ingredients in the order recommended by the manufacturer. (I used 4-1/2 cups of flour to start.) Select the Dough cycle and switch on. Check after 5 minutes. If necessary, add more flour.

When Dough cycle is complete, punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 16 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place in two 9" round baking pans coated with nonstick cooking spray. Using a sharp knife (or kitchen scissors), cut a cross on top of each roll. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Beat egg yolk and water; brush over buns. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Combine icing ingredients; drizzle over top of rolls.

Yield: 16 rolls

Egg Hunt and Coloring Eggs 2008

Even though it was freezing cold and windy today, we had our egg hunt since tomorrow is busy with a baby shower in the afternoon. The kids had a blast. My daughter was right with me when I hid the eggs, but you never would have guessed it when it came time to find them! My son managed to quickly get his half of the eggs and then helped my daughter find the rest of hers. (Any that they found after that were hers and went into her basket.)

Kids' perspectives on things are sometimes amusing. I put a dollar bill in two of the smallest eggs, hoping they would each find one. However, my daughter managed to find both of those. So when they were opening the eggs, I suggested that my son swap a piece of candy for the second dollar bill. My daughter was fine with that. But my son would have none of it. To him, that fun-sized candy bar was worth more than the dollar bill.


Then this evening we colored eggs from a kit I got on clearance last year for $0.10. I'm either brave or stupid trying to color eggs with a 2- and 4-year-old, but everything went well and no eggs got broken. My 2-year-old spilled the dye all over the table and herself a few times, but it all washed up easily. They were so proud of these eggs! Next year I'll show them the magic of a crayon. I wasn't ready for that yet. I kept envisioning a dozen cracked eggs and my kids' demands to boil more.

Frugal Fridays: Frugal Easter baskets

This is my first time to participate in Frugal Fridays, although I have often read everyone's ideas. I haven't yet read through all of the links, so I apologize if this is a little bit of a repeat, but here's my great frugal idea for this week: frugal Easter baskets.

I never realized until recently that some people don't save their Easter baskets from year to year. As a child, we always had the same Easter basket. In the same tradition, we have reused the same Easter baskets each year so far. And of course you know that I bought my daughter's on clearance the year before she needed it and my son's at a thrift store ($0.50).

First of all, here is my son's:



It's one of those soft ones that's shaped like a vehicle. I forget which year these were so wildly popular ($8 each), but I found two of them later that same year at a thrift store. My son prefers this format for the moment, so I don't argue.

Notice the lack of loads of candy? I hope the kids won't notice. Or, if they do, I hope they won't mind. (I doubt they will. I have great kids.) His basket has a few candy items: a 2-oz chocolate cross (Dollar Tree had the cheapest), a small bag of Kissables someone donated to the cause, a lollipop, a pack of sugar-free gum (wildly popular in our house) and a plastic shaped egg filled with a few Hershey's Kisses. The non-candy items that I know he's going to flip over include: a John Deere tractor clock ($4 at Goodwill), washable markers ($0.50 back-to-school sale), and a notebook I decorated especially for him. For instructions on the notebook, see this post.



My daughter's is filled similarly. The candy items: a 2-oz chocolate cross , a small bag of Kissables, a lollipop, a pack of sugar-free gum and a plastic egg filled with a few Hershey's Kisses. Her non-candy items include: a "Leap Pad" toy ($0.25 at a local thrift store), washable markers (she's been wanting my son's regular markers for a month), and a notebook I decorated especially for her.

The candy is courtesy of post-holiday sales where I managed to get huge bags of candy for $1 each.

Of course, this wouldn't be a frugal post without a cost analysis. For both baskets together (not including baskets), I paid $9.51. That averages out to roughly $4.75 per basket. Not too bad, compared to those baskets filled with junk at Wal-Mart that go for a minimum of $10.

For more Frugal Friday posts, visit Biblical Womanhood Online.

Photography: Pets

A friend asked if I'd be willing to photograph her poodle, so I got the chance to do that tonight. This was my first pet photography session ... And I thought it was hard to get kids to stand still! Oh well. These pictures were cute and worth the hassle.



The lighting conditions were less than ideal. The first photo was taken under flourescent lighting and the other two were taken in a room lit with one small lamp. I had to take what I could get because it was too late at night to be going outside (or to get wonderful natural lighting from the window) and the dog was obviously more comfortable in the lamp-lit room.

I got a picture of my friend with her dog, but I'm not posting it for privacy reasons. (Some people prefer not to have their picture online.) I wish I could, though, because it was on par with any of the "you with your pet" portraits I've seen offered at retail establishments.

So what do you think? If this were your dog, which photo would you pick as a favorite, if you absolutely had to pick just one? I'd appreciate any thoughts!