Creative...gardening? Yes!

Well, I have been busy with my garden this spring/summer.  My sons and husband have helped me to make some raised beds this year and I LOVE  them!

Here are my beauties all in a nice neat line.  My first bed has a trellis down the middle.  We planted peas in the middle, then on the left side we planted two rows of carrots and on the right, a row of radishes and butter lettuce.  I pulled all the peas and butter lettuce this morning.  They were done.  I want to try some winter crops and see how they do.  I'm thinking kale, chard, maybe some more radishes.  I will have to play with it a bit.  

This is my potato bed.  I'm going to have so many potatoes!  Yum!  We planted Yukon golds.  Can't wait to dig them up.

And here are some of my beautiful tomatoes!  I can't wait until they turn red.  I have had no problems with disfigured tomatoes this year and no blossom end rot.  They are just lovely.
I have one more bed of strawberries.  The runners are taking over, so that is my next project.  How to move them somewhere else (Oh boys!  Mama needs another bed....).  I have 6 plants that are ever bearing, so I can go out and have a strawberry every now and then through the season.  The other 12-18 plants are June bearing, so next year I will get large harvests all within a window of time, for putting away.
The weeding has been almost non-exsistant with this type of gardening.  We put newspaper on the bottom of two of the beds and nothing on the others, I can't really tell the difference.  We filled the beds with peat moss, composted manure, and just some dirt (high clay concentration) from my dad's farm.  The soil is absolutely beautiful now!
I love my raised beds... have I told you that already?  :)  They are amazing and a great way to garden if you are short on space or don't have the power tools to use.  Give it a try!  Nothing beats fresh!

A Valentine's Preview

Hello Friends!  Seems like forever since we have chatted.  One of my favorite holidays is coming up!  I just LOVE (tee hee) Valentine's Day!  I think it is a totally under-celebrated holiday.  What cultural holdiday could be more important than the one where we tell others how much we love them?  There just isn't enough of that in the world today! 
I want to share a Valentine's card with you.  I am calling this a masculine card!  I made this with my dear husband in mind.  He is such a sweetie and does so much for me and our 4 kiddos! 

 

 

Here's the "recipe"!  All products are Stampin' Up! unless noted. 

Card base is Pink Pirouette.  The designer series paper I used is called Love Impressions.  It is a few years old, but I am trying to use up old stock (so I can buy more!).  The colors of ink and card stock used are Real Red, Basic Gray, and Whisper White.  I used Whisper White satin ribbon.  I just love working with this satin ribbon.  It is so nice to work with.   I use a textured embossing folder, I'm not real sure if it was from SU or from a craft store.  I used a Bigz die to cut the gray hearts and then I just fussy cut around the stamped heart in Real Red.  I used the stamp set Filled with Love and a random red brad to set off the little banner. 

Well, I hope you enjoy this card.  I hope to spend more time with you this year!  Enjoy your Valentine's day and remember to tell your loved ones that they mean the world to you.