The Pea Tee Pees & Another Busy Weekend

When I was in kindergarten, we had a big tee pee in the classroom made from poles & covered with paper we had drawn pictures on. Only three kids could fit in it at once so we took turns. I loved being in there. A little Indian. Well, I now have my own version of the tee pee of my youth.

It was pea & pole bean planting time this weekend so we brought up some bamboo poles we had left over from a job at the shop. They were about 10 feet tall. Steve pounded them at an angle about a foot into the ground (while I held the ladder). He then tied them at the top with black plastic ties made for outdoor use.Then I started to make a netting by tying cotton string first horizontally then vertically so the plants could climb up the tee pee.Here is one tee pee done. After I finished wrapping the other two horizontally, I ran out of string. It was already around 8pm so running to the store was not an option.Here they all are. The first one is Sugar Snap Peas, next is Amish Snap Peas & last is Ideal Market Bean.What else did we do this weekend? We planted:

Another row of potatoes

Cabbage-red (9) green (6)

Brussels Sprouts (14)

Eggplant (3) Diamond & Apple Green
Parsley-curly & flat

Oregano-Greek

Dill-Grandma Einck's

Basil- Genovese

Leeks (about 75

We also intensively weeded around the blueberries, strawberries and garlic and did a pretty good job throughout the rest of the garden. We also added some peat moss and coffee grounds to the blueberries and strawberries to raise the acidity.

Some of the tomato plants didn't make it that we planted last weekend. I think the cool nights and wind did them in. They could have been hardened off a little better. So I lost nine Large Red Cherry, three Brandywine, one Wisconsin 55 & one Amish Paste. Let's hope the other 21 tomato plants left make it until next week.

We also finished putting tree protectors around the hazelnuts & seeding clover in the swales and Steve mowed.

I brought the peppers up to plant but after seeing the tomato plants, I chose not to put then in yet. I will be making the trip up sometime next week & plan to plant them then.

Saturday was a long day. We were out of bed by 6 am and stayed outside until sunset. We ended the day with by cooking soy brats over the campfire while the sun set.

Sunday we got up early again to get ready to leave. We left to go to a birthday party for my great-niece Addie who is turning four. It was a fun party with a " pet" theme. She asked for donations to the local shelter. Her mom Trisha served cake & ice cream in doggy dishes & had dog treat cookies & litter box chex mix complete with a scoop. The birthday girl Addie.

This weekend is Steve's dad's 80th birthday so we will be having a party for him on Saturday.
Two more therapy session to go (I hope) and I will have more time on my hands so I can blog more again. It's not that I don't like the therapy. It just wears me out. It's been almost a year since the accident (July 2nd) . Who knew we would still be going to the doctor.
The next few weeks will be busy ones for us. This weekend the party, next weekend Steve's brother Bill & sons will be visiting from Oregon and the weekend after that is the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Wisconsin which we will go to on Friday and then to Minnesota for a week of vacation with family. I am going to go to the farm to plant peppers & mow sometime between now and then :-)

Tomorrow I get to see our daughter Kristin & son-in-law Tim. We'll be taking them to O'Hare airport on their way to Mexico for a week. Wish I could tag along. We kidded with them about the swine flu and having mask tan lines on their faces when they get back. I know ...swine flu isn't funny..... ;-)