Gardening: Outside, Inside

One of the things I love this time of year, is the planting and gathering of our garden goods.  And that is exactly how we've been spending our days, gardening outdoors a bit here and a bit there and then bringing in doors some of that beautiful nature and sprinkling it through out the house.

The herbs I planted last year are coming back beautiful.  I think this year I'll actually be able to dry enough to gift during the holidays.  (To see how I dry them click here.)  The basil though (an annual) I have been watching grow patiently, since I decided to start it from seed.  It is taking its time, soon enough  we'll be enjoying the lovely flavor it gives to our food.

Do you see some Calla Lilies peaking through?  I am super excited about them.  They are one of my favorite flowers.  I had been meaning to plant some for a long time and finally this spring I did!!!  Oh I just cant wait to see how beautiful they look when they bloom!

Aside from planting lettuce in our usual veggie garden out back, we decided to plant some in planters and keep on the deck for easy access.  Well, it is doing great and we've been eating salad galore around here.  Did you know that if you cut the leaves and leave a bit on its trunk, it will continue to grow through out the season?  Indeed it does.  So don't pull that whole thing, out, leave some and you will see how you have lettuce all summer long.

My hydrangea bush is doing amazing once again this year.  It if at it's fullest.  Filled with vibrant ocean blue flowers.  I plan to clip some and use them to decorate a bit during the kids annual b-day celebration, next week.  On the mean time, I have gathered some and placed them indoors.  Aren't they just breath taking?  They make me happy just looking at them.

The kids and I have also been crafting with some of the nature we've brought indoors.  Have you tried using a leaf as a transfer?  Just place the leaf on the bottom of a blank piece of paper, then rub a crayon (laying flat) over the leaf until you see all the beautiful details on the paper.  How about drying out leaves?  Super simple to do.  You can place them in a leaf and flower press like I've done above (I bought mine on clearance several years ago from a local craft shop), or you can place it between the pages of a large book.  The hard part?  Hearing the kids ask over and over, "Mami, is it dry yet?"  No chiquitos, it is not...not for a week or so.

Hope you are enjoying the out doors and sprinkling bits of it indoors.

in our garden ♥ en nuestro jardín

(this is a small section of our garden. ♥ solo una pequeña sección de nuestro jardín.)

 We are growing:

Estamos viendo crecer: 

(for halloween ♥ para halloween)

(Which I finally planted yesterday! ♥ Que por fin plante ¡ayer!)

(the only two that made it this year. bua. ♥ los únicos dos que crecieron este año)

What is growing in your garden?

¿Que estas viendo crecer en tu jardín?

patience please and my garden:: paciencia por favor y mi jardin

As you can see there are some weird things going on with my blog. Well, the good news is that now I own my own domain. And while things get shifted from the blogger account to my new account, well, things might not work just right. They said it might take up to three days for everyone to have full access to my new address www.saboracajeta.com. So please be patient.
Como pueden ver algunas cosas raras estan pasando en mi blog. Pues resulta que compre mi propio "domain" y hasta que todo cambie de blogger a www.saboracajeta.com las cosas se verán un poco raras. Me dijeron que puede durar hasta tres días. Les pido paciencia.

On another note, I will be out of town for a couple of weeks and will not be posting for a while. (I will try, but I truly doubt it.) What can I say, spending time with my sister and her family kind of takes priority. I am so happy to see her. And just in case you didn't know, we are going to take another road trip half way across the country to see her. I'll make sure to share with you how it went when I am back home. That is if I am sane enough.
Cambiando de tema, estaré fuera de casa un par de semanas. Nos vamos a ver a mi hermana. Yey! Es que los siento pero lo mas seguro (unque tratare) es que no escribiré mucho. Que les puedo decir, mi hermana y su familia toman prioridad. Tengo tanto sin verlos. Ah si, y antes de que se me olvide, ¿pueden creer que nos vamos en carro? Por segunda vez, viajaremos por la mitad del país. Les cuento como nos fue cuando regrese. Eso es, si no me vuelvo loca antes. Jajaja.

I am also excited to tell you that I have some wonderful surprises planned for you when I'm back. Oh, I just can't wait! But will have to. Lol.
Tambien quiero contarles que estoy super emocionada de algunas sorpresas que les tengo planeadas para cuando regrese. Ay que emoción! Con ganas de ya contarles, pero no, a esperar! Jaja

Yet another note: Look at our veggy garden! We are staring to eat our first veggies of the season. Yum. Tomorrow I need to bake some zucchini bread.
Una nota mas: ¡Miren mi jardín de verduras!!! Ya hemos comenzado a comer nuestras primeras verduras. Mañana tengo que hornear un pan de calabaza verde. Que ricura!!!
We are growing about 5 different kids of tomatoes. Yup, we like them.
Estamos creciendo como cinco tipos de tomates. Si, nos encantan.

Butternut squash, zucchini squash, cucumber, two types of lettuce, cantaloupe, onions, two types of chili peppers and bell peppers are also growing in our garden. Later this month (for our late season planting) we plan to add spinach, broccoli and chives. We also just took down three huge pine trees (oh, how I miss them) and plan to plant in their place this fall, two pear trees and two apple trees.
Calabaza amarilla, calabaza verde, pepino, dos tipos de lechuga, melón, cebollas, dos tipos de chiles picoso y chile morrón también están creciendo en nuestro jardín. Mas tarde este mes planeamos añadir espinacas, brocoli y cebollino. También cortamos tres pinos grandisimos (como los extraño) y en su lugar, planeamos plantar dos arboles de manzana y dos de pera.


How about you are you growing anything?
Que tal tu, has plantado algo esta temporada?

Getting Ready :: Preparandonos

It's been just about five years of me saying I will start a veggie garden and for one reason or another I don't. Then a few weeks back, R gets home with seeds in hand. His nice way of saying- stop saying and start doing. Whatever the case maybe, I am happy he did.
:: Ya tengo mucho tiempo diciendo que voy a plantar un jardín de verduras y por alguana razon u otra, no lo he echo. Hace unas cuantas semanas atras R llego a casa con varios paquetitos de semillas (su manera de decir- ya para de pensar y empieza a hacer). Cual sea el caso, estoy contenta de que lo haya echo.

So we took advantage of the few days of perfect weather we had and started preparing for the summer. Little R and A really enjoyed planting seeds in egg cartons. Little R was really excited and took his job seriously. He wanted to see and do all that Papi did. He was great. Little A preferred playing with the soil, climbing the bench, and then climbing back down, and up again. Hijole! (phew)
:: Aprovechamos del los lindos dias calidos que tuvimos para prepararnos para este verano. Mi pequenos R y A disfrutaron mucho plantando las semillas en cajitas de huevos. Mi pequeno R tomo su trabajo muy enserio. El queria ver y hacer todo lo que Papi estaba haciendo. Lo hizo muy bien. Mi linda A prefirio jugar con la tierra, survirse y bajarse de las banca y subirse y bajarse. Hijole!

Here is a picture of some of the seeds we planted. Gotta have the chiles! What Mexican dish goes without them I ask you?!!!! Ninguno! At least not mine.
:: Aqui una foto de las semillas que plantamos. Claro que tengo que plantar chiles! Apoco hay platillo Mexicano sin chile? Ninguno! por lo menos no en mi casa. Ja.

I can't wait for the right time to transfer these to our garden and then see the veggies grow and finally enjoy, enjoy and enjoy. I'll make sure to keep you updated on my first attempt at a veggie garden. I can't wait!
:: Me muero por pasar las semillas al jardin y verlas crecer y por ultimo disfrutar de las verduras. Los tendre al tanto de mi primer intento en el jardin de verduras.