Many Moons Later...

I've found that there is a dearth of St. Louis urban garden blogs. Or, I've found that I can't find them. So, just like when you skid in snow, you know you should steer into the skid, I see that this blog became a garden blog without me realizing it. I'm steering it that way, then.

It is almost painful to read the last posts as I sit here, trapped inside the house because it is 7 degrees outside. I've been trapped inside for the past 4 days, due to 2 snow days, Saturday and today being Sunday. The couple inches of snow have not melted. The dog still demands a walk each day, even though she gets snow between her toes and then limps the rest of the way home.

But how could I resist that grizzled face?

How did Rabbitt Gardens turn out?
1. I made 5 bags of marinara sauce.
2. I roasted and mashed and froze 2 bags of mystery winter squash.
3. The potato/tire planter suffered too much water and did not work. I have hopes for this year, though.
4. Squash has to go somewhere else next year. It grew into the alley and became a nuisance.
5. Watermelon wants more sun.

6. I will never plant corn again. Sure, it looks neat and orderly, but what the squirrels didn't eat during the day, the raccoons or possums ate at night.
7. Cleome has tiny little painful spikes on it.
8. Money plant reseeds like crazy.
9. I will pull up all dill I see next year.

10. Tomatoes are going in a different place this summer.
11. The front yard is a fine place to grow peppers.

Pictures, you say? Sure, I've got lots!

There were 3 pairs of goldfinches that hung out most of the summer, working on the 3 varieties of sunflowers I grew. The one in the top right is not deformed; he's just itching.


Monarch caterpillars on dill:


Giant yellow and black garden spider. She had made a huge web conveniently across the top of the compost bin. I almost walked into it, and am glad I didn't, for that would have taken years off my life. Here, she is eating a grasshopper, which I am very thankful for. Where do these things come from?!


The last picture of the garden.




Then we look forward to orchid blooms and Christmas cactus blooms:

So, stay tuned as I plan for Garden 2010!

Self Explanatory

First tomato of the year and new favorite shirt. I feel 20 years old again, with a powerful-statement-shirt. Believe it or not, this was taken on the first shot. Skillz.

More green beans than I thought:


I've been sewing for this show for the past two weeks. Won't you come shop? I will have some of my mother's crocheted bags made from plastic shopping bags, too.

Progress

I love seeing this when Maggie and I come down the alley at the end of our daily walk. Zinnias, chianti sunflowers, some other type of pale yellow sunflower, four o'clocks, and a marauding squash.
Upon looking at this, I didn't even notice the baby robin sitting on the fence (on the left hand side) when I took the picture! He or she has been kicking it in the yard for several days now, following its parent around and chirping for food. Love the little speckles on its belly!


Cantaloupes are getting big. I've already bartered several of them away, so I hope there's more where this fuzzy guy came from.


Praying mantises are also getting big. This lady was hanging out on my corn, which is a few weeks behind last year's harvest date.

First tomatoes!

I found this fabric in a hunt for yellows. I made a pair of Jams out of it in 1986 or 1987. I am slightly embarrassed ....A. because I wore shorts out of this fabric and B. because I've had the hideous scraps for 22 years. But, it works perfectly with the tropical blue, red and yellow placemats I cut out.

Monarda and daisies from my garden make a nice bouquet in the bathroom.

Okay, so the tomato was on the plant when I bought it, but it took a while to get nice and yellow!


In other news, I will be taking a fresh shipment of man whore kitchen goods to Paste today. There apparently is quite a demand for man whores in St. Louis, which I am happy to fulfill.

Cranky Yellow on Cherokee Street will also be selling my "men" this week. I'll pop by there tomorrow to drop some off. Cherokee Street has experienced quite a renaissance in the past year or so. It's not the scary neighborhood it used to be. Go get some good coffee at Mississippi Mud, walk a few blocks west to Cranky Yellow and get some tacos on your way.

Don't Mess With My Kids!

I am all up in arms about this news article. This woman is so out of touch with reality, it's frightening.

Sure, I might complain about how annoying my students get by April, and yeah, there's a lot who I honestly cannot stand, but even the worst ones deserve a decent meal. How often have I been asked for a pass to the nurse because she gives out crackers and the asking child hasn't eaten that day? I know how much of a motivator food is. But 7th graders can't work at freakin' McDonald's! In fact, they can't legally work anywhere!
It just riles me when people do or say things that are negative towards or about the students I work with. The "dreaded" inner-city (sort of), poverty-line living kids who know how to do all the latest dances and can text faster than I can blink.

Robin gives several ways to help out with this, if you're as riled as I am.

So, a few photos to relax us all:

1. Current state of the garden. That would be a fence of dill.
2. Current state of cantaloupe/ladder experiment. Need another few ladders, but will mess around with fencing tomorrow.
3. Red monarda (bee balm). I have not seen one damn hummingbird, even though this plant is supposedly hummingbird crack.

4. Watermelon patch. Why, oh WHY didn't I space them out once they got big?

Metro East Pride Fest Tomorrow!

You know you want some male pinup oven mitts, or maybe an apron, right? Half-naked firemen? Half-naked cowboys?
Come find me with the St. Louis Craft Mafia in booth 14 tomorrow at the Metro East Pride Fest in Belleville. It's not that far from St. Louis; don't let the river freak you out. Just look for the banner above!

First Sunflower!

Ahoy, mateys! I'm 5' 2", which makes the volunteer dill behind me..... super freakin' tall!
Please to see the crib, pink monarda and futon/bean trellis in the background.

Pink monarda! I think I planted it last year, after a visit to Walker Gardens (my parents' house) in Pennsylvania. It is deliciously candy pink and I want to eat it.

And here is the first sunflower of the year. It was a volunteer, natch, and may be a Chianti type. Either way, it's wondrous.

Good things: 1. Senora Muertos' bad-idea-having dog made it through the night after eating spoiled dog food. Thank you, St. Francis of Assisi.

2. Matt had a peaceful birthday last night with his scooter buddies. We sat in the backyard drinking beer, visiting with the neighbor's cat Ginny, and watching possums scoot through the hoosier neighbor's yard. I experimented with some nighttime photography, as evidenced by the Monster Dill below.
3. Anyone have a window AC unit they need a new home for?

4. I am up to my eyeballs in man whore fabric. It's being sewn into sassy oven mitts and pot holders, just in time for Pride. I'll be at the Metro East Pride Fest in Belleville, IL on June 20th with some other Mafia girls.

Everyone wants a half-naked fireman in their kitchen, right? For a mere $10, he can be yours. I accept cash, checks and credit cards.

5. Superchick and I put the Chinese coin quilt in the frame this morning. If you need me, I can be found in the freshly-cleaned basement, with Matt's iPod radio thing perched on the washer, playing all my faves.

6. I will be at the Big Ass Indie Art and Craft Show on July 31 to August 2. I promise you kickass placemats and whatever man whore oven mitts don't sell at Pride.

7. Senora Muertos and I engaged in some plant thievery Thursday night. If a house is vacant, it's okay to dig up the wine-red lilies, right?
It took the dark of night and a pint of Schlafly hefeweizen for me to get up the courage. Plus, we were rockin' out to some Beastie Boys' "License to Ill". What a stellar album that is/was. When it came out, I was in seventh grade, and had never heard anything like it.

8. Visits with garden and former work friends this week, plus an invitation to Remains on Morganford. A used clothing/textile processing plant? Hells yeah!

9. I have pretty much convinced myself that I would be happier without children. I'm up to 90% now. If it happens, that's cool, but damn if I don't look forward to reading in the backyard with an iced coffee each afternoon.

10. My oldest friend in the world is coming to visit in July and I am panting with excitement. I will remove the Obama sticker from my car before driving down to Elephant Rocks, though. Mustn't upset the rednecks! The sticker is fading, anyway, but I really want to avoid smashed windows :(

Man whores! Get your man whores!

So, I made these oven mitts.
You like?
I ordered $50 more of the same woodsmen (heh heh) and some other varieties of man whore fabric today.
Amy at St. Theresa's Textile Trove was super helpful and dug through their fat quarter bin to find some hot man fabric. She even found some surfer boys for me. What a peach she was! If you are ever in Cincinnati, you must get thee to the trove. It is a mind-boggling explosion of beads and fabrics and wonderment.

I'll be selling these at the Metro East Pride Festival on June 20th, in Belleville. Also, there will be matching aprons, which may or may not have come from the disgruntled art teacher's room at school. She was cleaning out as much as she could, in a "stick it to the man" moment.

I myself had that same moment last Monday, when I was told I would be moving to another classroom. Do non-teachers understand how much stuff we have in our rooms? It's almost like moving the contents of an apartment! Luckily, we had students, so we put them to work carrying boxes and hundreds of books.
A little advance warning would have been nice, but I guess it's better than the last time I moved classrooms---at that time, I came BACK after summer vacation to be told that my team would be moving. We had a week of teacher work days before school actually started to move and get our rooms in order.

But, I digress...In other news, please check out my friend's website, Senora Muertos. She has taken the brave step of quitting her day job and is crafting for a livin'. She'll also be at the Pride Festival with me in a few weeks.

Not much else to report. The garden continues to grow. Very soon, I will be training melons and squash to climb fences and a wooden ladder. Go, watermelons, go!

19 days' difference

I have super short hair now! God bless Erin at Bouffant Daddy in Maplewood!

In this picture, I was squinting due to itchy contacts and bright overcast sky and blinding white garage and Matt taking his time getting the perfect shot. Although, since it's the end of school, I do usually look like this lately!

My gorgeous roses that bloomed like mad for a week and are now just a memory.
Green peas! I never have enough to eat as a side dish, so I just eat them in the garden. They are sandwiched between a butternut squash and green beans. The frame in the background is from our old futon. Very Asian, no?


Red hot poker (tritoma) that I got from my mom 2 years ago. I somehow planted all the yellow variety in front of the house. Hopefully some of what is in the backyard is the red kind.
Black-eyed susans or yellow coneflowers that so DID NOT bloom last year or the year before, if I remember correctly. They come up to my elbows.


The garden yesterday, after 6 days of rain. Think I have enough dill? The potato/tire experiment seems to have failed. It hasn't sprouted through the last layer of dirt and leaves I put in the stack. I will have to do some investigative surgery this weekend to see what's what. If all else fails, I can always dig up some potatoes that are growing INSIDE the compost bin.

I need to find some clever way to grow the cantaloupe and watermelons up a trellis. First, I need said trellis. Anyone have an old wooden ladder?

One-half more day of school. Four long hours and then I am free! Teachers have to report for a half day on Tuesday, so I set aside a stack of crap to laminate that morning.

It has been a really tough year, with the death of my former student, family issues, the 2.5 month convalescence of my team's leader, all the infertility crap and the just rotten group of students we have. Sure, some of them have turned around, but the truly obnoxious ones have gotten worse as the year went on. I can only tell myself that they will be their mothers' problems for life, whereas they are my problem for 9 months.

I had a mother come up to school this morning because I wrote a referral on her daughter, who, freshly back from suspension, chased a boy down the hallway, grabbed the stapler off my desk and started shooting staples at him. The mother actually asked for the stapler to see how far the staples would shoot, which wasn't far at all. She was annoyed that I hadn't "investigated" why her spawn was chasing The Boy and that I made a big deal out of the stapler thing. She stomped out...this was all in front of MY CLASS.
I decided not to tell her that current rumor lists her house as The Party House ;)

So when you want to sit back and gripe about how unfair it is that teachers only work 9 months and get to loaf all summer, just remember the bullshit that I have to deal with on an almost daily basis. Just remember the stapler story.
And if I hear one more person say "you suck for having all summer off", I will punch them.

No More Words

Nothing like a Berlin (band, not the city) reference, eh?

Matt, Maggie, meat and the new smoker.

These irises close up each night. I didn't think they did that.


My gorgeous rose bush from the neighbor's yard. It is 35 years old, but survived the move across the alley a few years ago. Notice I managed to get a fly in the picture too. There are at least 25 blooms open right now. *sigh*

Help Chester Lose a Leg!

Sometimes life craps all over you. It's been crapping on me since last summer, and I am tired of it. In an effort to bring more positivity into my crappy life, I tried giving up snarkiness as my New Year's Resolution. It lasted a good 2 months, but then something happened at school and I just couldn't restrain myself.
I am not a bad person: I recycle, I pick up trash that blows down my street, and I'm even growing tons of food this summer to donate to food pantries. Hence, my watermelon patch....

I am a 7th grade teacher, for chrissakes....that should earn me my wings, right? I talked Angry Boy out of punching the lockers today! I broke up a girl fight! I made a grandmother cry when she read her granddaughter's heartbreaking poetry----all this in a week!
I thought the universe had smiled upon me last night, when I saw a gorgeous indigo bunting at my feeders! Look how amazing he is!

Well, the bunting must have been a fluke, because I just received more crappy news today that for once, has nothing to do with the reproductive organs of me or my husband. I'm not sharing it here, but trust me it is sucky and frustrating and scary.

To try to counteract this recent shittiness of the universe, I am having a sort of benefit for my friend Elizabeth. She is part of Tenth Life Cat Rescue and has an adorable kitty, Chester, who needs a leg amputated. I offered the use of my hedge clippers, but would be unable to stomach stitching him back up.
Soooo...tomorrow at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market, I hope to make lots of money, because I'm donating 20% of them to help with the amputation costs. We only need $200 more!

You should stop by the market! I have baby jade plants, boxed and ready for Mother's Day. I have 2 mini-quilts, maybe 3 if I stop crying and get to the fabric. Also, I have some rad lunch bags with fused plastic bag linings, regular fabric market bags, and whatever else I can scrounge up. Oh, I'll bring my Star of Bethelehem baby quilts too!
Come on out, get a Kuva coffee, an apple tart from Companion Bakery, and help lil' Chester!

It's officially spring.

You know it's spring in South St. Louis when Ted Drewes on South Grand is open for business. True, they sell Christmas trees and pine garland, but the real fun starts when you've got a belly full of hot fudge sundae with pecans.
Normally, I go for a blueberry milkshake or the chocolate Copernicus, but I wanted to start slowly. Plus, there was half of a Cuban sandwich from City Diner already taking up real estate in my stomach.
Garden progress: 2 watermelon seeds have sprouted. What I think is a forgotten moonflower seed has sprouted, thankfully, by my leaf bin at the edge of the garage. Moonflower's first leaves are never symmetrical or neat. They always look like they've been through a blender and then munched on by squirrels. The seed coat of the moonflower is ridiculously hard, so you have to nip off the end and then soak the seeds in water for a day or so.

Yesterday, I found 2 volunteer green bean sprouts. I have a nagging feeling that I just haven't' planted enough. Everyone keeps asking me, "oh, if you have any extra produce, can I have some?" and so forth. Perhaps I should become a gardener for hire. It'd be like hiring someone to raise your horses. You don't want to get your hands dirty, so you have "help". I could be referred to as "the girl" or "the help". Perhaps I can even get scraps from the kitchen!

Good things today: nuzzling with Scooter the friendly pit bull, getting scooter tires from Bobby for my tater pile, and of course, eating the finest foods South Grand can offer.
Oh, and peas.

Garden doings

This is where I've been spending most of my free time. Observe, if you will, the tree line of dill. That's lettuce and spinach and red and yellow onions behind it. A pot of peppermint is on the right. There's a volunteer tomato in a protective soda bottle cloche and a pot of chocolate peppermint.
And in the scooter tires? Why, a potato plant, of course! I don't even care if I harvest any potatoes; I just think it's a cool idea.
Each time the plant grows above the leaves and dirt, I stack on another tire (thanks, Bobby!) and add more leaves/dirt. It must be 2 1/2 feet tall by now. Luckily, I have a tire source.


Here are my delicious irises which decided to bloom this year. I cannot explain how wonderful they smell and look. I thought lilies were my favorite flowers, but now irises have usurped them. Would Iris be a weird name for a girl? NOT THAT IT'S A POSSIBILITY, but I think it would be nice.
On the other side of the porch is the 35-year-old rosebush from my old neighbor Brenda. When she moved, she invited me to dig them up. I only took one, as I don't like fussy plants. I dug a hole, threw in some coffee grounds and said "Mazel tov" to the plant. It must have 25 buds on it this year!

Other garden news: part of my ground cover for the paths is an old quilt from Poppymom. It was so shredded and beyond any sort of repair. It sat in my basement for a year, and last weekend, I realized it would be a fitting tribute to use it as a ground cover/weed blocker in my garden. I've been all emotional about quilts since seeing the Gee's Bend quilt exhibit at the Missouri History Museum. It's free on Tuesdays to city and county dwellers!

I digress....this year, Rabbitt Gardens is growing: ancho, jalapeno, habanero, red chili, and banana peppers--in the front yard! It took me 4 years, but I finally convinced my husband that it wouldn't look hoosier-ish.

In the back, we will have: corn, butternut squash, acorn squash (hopefully), peas, green beans, lettuce, spinach, carrots, 2 types of tomatoes, red onions, yellow onions, watermelon, cantaloupe, basil and....I think that's it. There's only so much room and only so many trellises my husband will put up with.
I also have a ton of flower seeds planted that may or may not be growing. They're still in their 2-leaf stage and so blend in with what I know to be weeds.

Again, today, someone asked me to help them start a garden. I have to tell you, it is a fantasy of mine to become a garden consultant. I can help folks get their yard dug up, start composting, and share enough seeds with them to get them started growing. Wouldn't that be fun? What would I charge? I'm so into people growing their own damn food and being self-sufficient.

It's also a fantasy to sell plants and seeds-oh wait! I WILL be doing that at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market this Saturday, May 9th! I have baby jade plants that are packaged in Chinese takeout containers, ready to go.
I also will have a few sets of magenta hollyhock plants (see below), and maybe some mini quilts if I can tear my hands away from the computer.