PJ's and the Toad

Catching a Toad in Your PJ's

After Mollie was out watering this morning she came in and told the kids that she had seen a big toad among some plants we had not yet planted. Owen "hopped" up and said, "where?" and was on the hunt. The best part of the toad hunt, was Owen deciding to put on his flip flops and keep his PJ's on. So the great toad hunter headed out into the wild. He finally caught the toad and put it in a bushel basket, but wanted to put it in his new critter catcher he got for his birthday. The toad is good indicator that we are making changes to our yard to support local critters. 

We love catching critters with our kids and make them aware of all the cool things that live right here in their back yard. Don't get me wrong..... a poison dart frog of the rainforest is cool, but not many kids are going to get the chance to see one, and probably shouldn't catch one. Little kids should be able to identify the animals that live around them. This will lead to future stewardship, they will want to take action to protect the toads in their backyard. 

Spring time reward when grades are done... or when fresh mint is around

The Spring Goddess

You know when summertime is here when grades and exams are finished and you walk out to your garden for a fresh stalk of mint for a fresh mojito. This is one of my seasonal favorites, but it is a labor of love. I was taught this special treat in South FL at my mom's where we were sharing my Mom's house with my oldest brother from NYC. (yes my oldest brother lives in NYC, diversity is good in a family and everywhere!!) Michael is a very successful crew coach and is the head crew coach of Columbia University. GO Fast Columbia. (http://www.gocolumbialions.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9600&SPID=4051&SPSID=45289) So my story begins with my brother in the kitchen making the first mojito; after several minutes and alot of work my Mom (Geezee) is delivered the first one. (It's good to be the queen) Mom raves and of course now we all want one. NOW, one would think that my brother would TEACH someone else how to make a NYC mojito so he wouldn't have to make one for every person every time someone wanted one...... but "we didn't know what we were doing"! Sweet sometimes ignorance is bliss. I had a blast knocking back mojitos and watching Tom Cruise from cocktails slave away making not only tons of mojitos, but risotto as well. Lesson learned teach your friends out of the gate how to make their own. Love ya Mike, Go fast Columbia!!!!!
Mojito!!!me ASAP
1. several leaves of mint down in the middle of your favorite glass (mine is an old bottle turned into a glass given to me by my mom, GeeZee)
2. Squeeze two whole limes down on top of the mint leaves
3. One Tablespoon of sugar
4. Mix and crush everything together, careful not to crush the mint too much it makes it a bit bitter.
5. Fill the glass full of ice
6. Fill the glass half full of white rum, Cruzan is awesome but Bicardi is perfect
7. Fill the rest of the glass with club soda
8. Mix aggressively!!! I use another larger cup to pour the drink back and fourth
9. Be careful when you give your NYC brother fresh patch of mint!! Love it Hope he visits more, and we hope to visit NYC soon for some concrete jungle love!!!

Slip and Slide Surprise

I love setting up backyard activities for the kids. They cannot get enough of the water. I think they would have done the slip and slide in March. I love keeping the kids surprised and laughing by doing silly things with them.

FOOD!

All of our salad greens with broccoli on the right

The end of the chard with basil in the middle

carrots

Garlic!!

Sugar Snap Peas in the middle of the yard

Chard growing around the base of the peas

Beans starting to climb

We have lots of food growing everywhere. The garden is really looking great. All of our hard work is paying us back tenfold.  The kids love being in the garden when we are collecting things for dinner. It is great having the sugar snap peas in the middle of the yard. Abigail and Owen walk by all the time and pull one off and eat one. Edible Landscape!

Covering the Cucumbers and Squash

I am a lucky mom. My Mother's Day gifts were flexible garden hoops and "super hoops", along with summer weight row cover cloth. Today we covered the hills planted with zucchini, patty pan squash, and two types of cucumbers. They are planted in the bed in the center of the garden which was until a last weekend beautifully overrun with joe-pye weed, bee balm, and 7 foot tall yellow cone flowers. All of these beauties have found new homes in our yard or in gardens of friends. We hope that the heat of this week doesn't lead to any problems with germination under the cloth. I will be out there again at 6:15 tomorrow morning to water (rain passes through the cloth). Wishing for thunderstorms and the cooler temperatures of last week, but grateful for feeling of summer at our fingertips. I hope that we aren't over-thinking the garden! How 'bout those onions?

Spring Time Bassin

She just couldn't resist the froggy

Cola!!!

The Bass Bite has been on for quite some time and Cola and I have been out several times. I will try to get a picture of one of the Bass Cola caught with Eric Shephard it was a Beast. There is nothing better than watching a big bass hit top water. One night Scott, Cola, and I went out and we decided it would be more fun if we all went together. So I said I would be happy to ride in the middle. Well, scratch "happy". It was a tough spot between two close friends. It is not easy to fish from the middle of a canoe! I think next time I will opt for paddling myself. After graduation the 2011 Bassmaster classic is gonna happen. I'll  send an update with winning pounds and measurements. 

Strawberry Picking and Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Picking With Abigail and Owen

OK..Note to self.. When berry picking with your children be sure you ask the farm how many pounds the boxes will hold! After we went to pick up the Blueberry bushes we visited Mount Olympus Farm where they had pick your own ...... everything! It was great! Abigail filled her box and Owen filled his belly. When we got home we gave some strawberries to the Cola's, the Longests, tried to eat as many as we could and then started the jam making process. 

The Blueberries

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!!

With the Nasty old holly bushes gone, we went to VA Berry Farm and picked up 8 blueberry bushes to plant in the area. Eat your Yard!!! I dream that our yard will be like Willy Wonka's factory and you can walk around and eat things. 

The Garden 5/23/11

So far the garden is doing well!! We have produced a lot of greens for salad and a lot of sugar peas. We are mulching a lot to add organic matter and fight weeds. We have removed all of the flowers out of the center bed and added cucumbers and squash.

Back Fence Line Makeover

From Bad Bushes to Beneficial Blueberries

The back fence line before the project

I'm sure Dad and I could have done this with a shovel (hard to type sarcasm)

Owen catching a ride..Oh course

I just love a job that begins with an excavator. A longtime neighborhood friend helped us begin our project by digging up these bad holly bush plants out of our back fence. They provided no benefits to our property, the river, or critters. They were so over grown that birds couldn't even build nests in them. So..gotta go! Mollie and I believe that our yard should be a place to provide food for either us or other animals or provide much needed pollinating benefits. This was the first step to planting Blueberry Bushes and native wildflowers on Snuggle Acres. Its really a half an acre, but sometimes it feels like there are many acres and this is the "back 40"

After the destruction My Dad and Dorie were here for their annual yard makeover weekend. Dad and I hauled three loads to the local brush pile where the brush is grinded up for future use somewhere else. I ended up hauling three more loads on Sunday. I will publish the plantings in the next post.

Heading out for a Canoe

Owen had his fourth birthday in April. We took him and his friends out for a canoe on Urbanna creek. We ate snacks on the beach and caught critters with seine nets. We held our first soft crab of the season. Most of all it was the first swim session of the summer. Here is Jackson and Owen heading out.

Getting off of the Bus

Abigail is happy summer is approaching and there will only be a few more times that she will have to get off of the bus. I love picking her up at the bus stop. She always has the biggest grin when the door opens and she sees me. I try to do something funny, like hide in the bushes, the other kids on the bus laugh and Abigail tries not to giggle. Then she gives me a huge hug.