Father's Day, baby plants, and roses

Today was a very long and exciting day for our family.  It started like any other: with breakfast.  Soon, though, we were well on our way to entertaining our daughter and tidying up outside for our big Father's Day grill out.  It was our first time inviting the family over for a grill out and we were nervous to say the least.  But we had veggies and burgers, and you can't go wrong with that!

The first big task that we set to do today was to plant the beautiful yellow and pink rose that I had gotten my fiance for Father's Day in honor of his dad.  It had a tiny little bud on it, which ended up opening up completely after the rainstorm that we had through the early afternoon.  It is now our 3rd rosebush in our yard, and I am more than tempted to plant a generous amount of chives around it (because chives and garlic are good for roses, I've read).

The biggest plus to my day is that all of my seeds seemed to sprout at the same time!  I have waited 3 or 4 weeks now for my hot peppers to sprout and they're finally popping out of the soil.  The cucumbers took no time at all in the plastic berry containers that I started them in, and all of my herbs (cilantro, dill, and basil) have come up, too.  I'm going to have to get more dirt!

Instead of doing internet research this week, I have been reading books from the library.  Eat More Dirt by Ellen Sandbeck is almost like reading a journal.  It is very informative while not overwhelming.  The author and her husband are both landscapers who deal with organic gardening, composting, mulching, and respect the soil as well as the ability for nature to control itself.  I learned a lot about pests in this book, including how to deal with slugs (my biggest opponent at the moment), who are taken care of by laying down wood ash (cool!).  Less squishing for me.

I have also started Organic Gardening for the 21st Century by John Fedor.  This book includes some beautiful pictures that I find inspiring to look at and pretend that are my own garden.  I have not gotten far in the book, but I've gotten far enough to take a few ideas from it.  I want to plant beans or peas in a pot, connect the pot to something higher with the string, and allow the beans or peas to climb up the string.  The image here is not the one from the book, but you get the idea.  I have just the spot for some peas to do some climbing!