![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Angry Birds in the Garden
May. 26th, 2014 07:38 amYesterday, I spent the entire day shopping for plants and planting plants.
Once a year, my family and I take the trip out to Shady Acres to buy herbs and some annual vegetables. You'd think that once I planned a perennial, I'd have it again next year.
Uh... no.
The only thing I seem to be able to do that with is our parsley, which is actually a biannual. But, the parsley comes back consistently AT LEAST ONE MORE TIME. Things that should live forever, die. I think partly because I'm a crap-a$$ gardener, but also because the light of our yard is constantly changing. Things that were sunny one year, are partially-shaded the next because we have so many trees.
Plus my gardening skills can be summed up thusly: dig a hole, jam the plant in, water it, and hope for the best.
I realize that this often works for other gardeners (with occasional weeding, which I do, too,) but for whatever reason, my plant magic is nil. It doesn't help that kids tear through both yard and garden with no regard for anything. We tell the neighbor kids to stay out of the clearly marked gardens, but that's like shouting into the wind. Though it might be better now that one of next-door-neighbor boys managed to jam his foot nearly all the way THROUGH the sundial in the back. (The dial was not that sharp, the force he landed on it was JUST THAT GREAT, a launch off the picnic table might have been involved, but I didn't ask. I just drove him and his moms to the hospital.)
So, when I was at FleetFarm yesterday, I talked Shawn and Mason into some garden whimsey. We now have Angry Birds in the garden:
Complete with hiding piggie:
The next purchase should be this, I think:
The Plants vs. Zombies lawn ornament.
It would actually be kind of a blast to fill Mason's garden with lawn ornaments related to iPad games. Because: screw pumpkins, what I really need is plastic crap!
Okay, no.
But, so beyond the silly stuff, we bought: parsley (for more edging, though lots came back), basil, thyme (which had died, and is now in a sunnier spot), oregano (again, same), marjoram (that Shawn is going to try growing on our kitchen/pantry windowsill), eggplants, bell peppers, pumpkins and cucumbers (for the container gardens). And... I'm sure I've forgotten the other herbs we got, but we managed not to (for once) go too far overboard, I think.
We also bought some paint at Menards. One of the other projects Shawn wants to tackle over Memorial day is to paint the second bookcase we bought for Mason, put it in the TV room, and then switch out the bookshelves from there to his room... because right now, he's got books on the floor in boxes---many, many boxes. I told her that what she really needs is for me to pilfer a couple of the book trucks from work, but this is a more legal solution (though she actually did look up purchasing book trucks, because: wheels!)
Happy Memorial Day, btw! We intend to actually grill out steak tonight, so wish me luck (I mostly do chicken on the grill and the occasional hamburger.)
Once a year, my family and I take the trip out to Shady Acres to buy herbs and some annual vegetables. You'd think that once I planned a perennial, I'd have it again next year.
Uh... no.
The only thing I seem to be able to do that with is our parsley, which is actually a biannual. But, the parsley comes back consistently AT LEAST ONE MORE TIME. Things that should live forever, die. I think partly because I'm a crap-a$$ gardener, but also because the light of our yard is constantly changing. Things that were sunny one year, are partially-shaded the next because we have so many trees.
Plus my gardening skills can be summed up thusly: dig a hole, jam the plant in, water it, and hope for the best.
I realize that this often works for other gardeners (with occasional weeding, which I do, too,) but for whatever reason, my plant magic is nil. It doesn't help that kids tear through both yard and garden with no regard for anything. We tell the neighbor kids to stay out of the clearly marked gardens, but that's like shouting into the wind. Though it might be better now that one of next-door-neighbor boys managed to jam his foot nearly all the way THROUGH the sundial in the back. (The dial was not that sharp, the force he landed on it was JUST THAT GREAT, a launch off the picnic table might have been involved, but I didn't ask. I just drove him and his moms to the hospital.)
So, when I was at FleetFarm yesterday, I talked Shawn and Mason into some garden whimsey. We now have Angry Birds in the garden:
Complete with hiding piggie:
The next purchase should be this, I think:
The Plants vs. Zombies lawn ornament.
It would actually be kind of a blast to fill Mason's garden with lawn ornaments related to iPad games. Because: screw pumpkins, what I really need is plastic crap!
Okay, no.
But, so beyond the silly stuff, we bought: parsley (for more edging, though lots came back), basil, thyme (which had died, and is now in a sunnier spot), oregano (again, same), marjoram (that Shawn is going to try growing on our kitchen/pantry windowsill), eggplants, bell peppers, pumpkins and cucumbers (for the container gardens). And... I'm sure I've forgotten the other herbs we got, but we managed not to (for once) go too far overboard, I think.
We also bought some paint at Menards. One of the other projects Shawn wants to tackle over Memorial day is to paint the second bookcase we bought for Mason, put it in the TV room, and then switch out the bookshelves from there to his room... because right now, he's got books on the floor in boxes---many, many boxes. I told her that what she really needs is for me to pilfer a couple of the book trucks from work, but this is a more legal solution (though she actually did look up purchasing book trucks, because: wheels!)
Happy Memorial Day, btw! We intend to actually grill out steak tonight, so wish me luck (I mostly do chicken on the grill and the occasional hamburger.)
