veggies & herbs of 2013

Fourth vegetable garden! Wow, time flies.

This wasn't the year to add raised beds to the backyard since I'm still figuring out what I'm going to do with the back patio and some trees. So I just planned veggies and herbs for the spots I've used previously: the strip between the patio and fence, and a few pots and in-ground areas by the back door. 

In the ground this year:

• tomatoes (two varieties - Early Girl and Yellow Pear)
• salsa peppers 
• broccoli
• swiss chard
• lemon cucumbers
• lettuce
• kale
• beets
• brussels sprouts
• basil
• sage
• lemon verbena
• oregano
• thyme
• spearmint
• lavender

The big makeover, if there was one this year, is that I'm using the window boxes on the back of the garage for lettuce this year. We'll see how it goes ... it's pretty shaded over there, but at least they'll be protected from the bunnies.

before:

after:

So, the brussels sprouts and beets are new for me this year. Anyone have good tips? :)

I'm back!

Back from China. Back in house mode. And for the first time in my adult life, home for an entire Memorial Day Weekend. No weddings and no graduations ... just me and my projects. Amazing.

So during my hiatus I've been thinking about this blog and how much I love documenting the progress of my house and sharing stories with you, readers, but also how much guilt I feel when I don't write posts as often as I'd like. And I don't say "can't write posts," because I have the app on my phone and could write them on even the busiest of days. I just haven't been inspired enough to make it a priority lately. It is what it is. I'm not closing it down, but I am committing to writing more this summer. Garden updates, decorating vignettes as I finish the upstairs bedrooms, and lots of recipes. So that's what you have to look forward to, if you want to stick around :)

As for this weekend, it's now Sunday night and I've spent the better part of the last two days outside or running errands. Not in the "lounging by the lake" kind of way. We're talking sweatshirts, boots and 55-degree cloudy days for this year's holiday weekend.

Perfect for .... planting! Back in January I decided this would be a good year to invest in some new perennials for the front and back gardens. I'm not traveling as much as I have the last three summers, and I've been in the house long enough to sort of figure out what should go where. Which led to this little excursion to Bachman's (a great garden store here in Minneapolis):

My overarching goal is to fill in some bare spots in the backyard gardens, mostly in shaded areas, with low-maintenance, colorful perennials. My other priority is adding some perennials and annuals to the front yard, especially in the bed I created last summer to bring the front yard garden around the big tree.

I picked up begonias at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market again this year, which I loved having in the front yard last year. The orange and pink begonias in the side yard will help fill out that bed as the tulips fade:

And, of course, one of the most fun parts was picking out plants for the whiskey barrel by my front door:

My legs feel like rubber from all the work I've done in the yard this weekend, but I think it'll be worth it.

Coming soon: a map of varieties in the gardens, including existing plants and seeds.

and then this happened:

Ick. Get me out of here.

Sort-of signs of spring

The sun was out today, and the ice is finally melting away -- leaving pale browns and greens in its place.

This time a year ago, it had been warm for weeks and my daffodils and tulips were already blooming. Not so lucky this year! I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss all my new bulbs when I'm in China for two weeks this month. Sigh... mom will have to take pictures for me.

So, the farmhouse is surrounded by a slow creeping spring, and full of packing piles. And that's about all there is to report. More projects coming when I get home!

xoxo

3 out of 113

Tomorrow, I celebrate three years of owning the LFITBC. It feels like a long time in my little life, but it's only a heartbeat in the life of this old house. That thought humbles me. 113 years is a long time. This house has seen 20 presidents, two world wars, the first female voters, the dawn of the personal computing age, and almost every Minnesota winter recorded by the National Weather Service.

And at the end of another long winter, I'm rejuvenated just by imagining the garden in its spring and summer glory. I make lists of spring cleaning projects and the prospect of cleaning windows is more exciting (sun! warm weather!) than daunting. And cooking in my kitchen brings as much joy as ever.

One thing I couldn't have predicted three years ago was the job change I made 18 months ago, and the amount of travel it has brought. I love it for that -- I get to visit friends all over the country, went to London and Paris last fall, am going to China this spring, and more international travel likely this summer and fall. But it adds a challenging layer to maintaining a house on my own. It has forced me to be much more organized about appointments and chores, and to suck it up and ask for help from friends and family when I can't be here to shovel snow or water the garden. And it does make me more appreciative of the days I get to spend here. It's a blessing and a curse, but mostly a blessing.

So, tomorrow I'll feel a small weight off my shoulders -- the first-time homebuyer's credit required me to live in the house for at least three years, or I'd have to pay back that awesome $8,000. But other than that, it's just another day in the tens of thousands that this house has stood to shelter people from the cold, biting winds of the Minnesota plains. My mom and dad will read this and exclaim, "I can't believe it's been three years!" (hi there, miss you.) I'll hang my head a little when I look at the still-unfinished-trim in the kitchen, and promise to get to it before the fourth anniversary. And I'll look forward to many more dinners with people I love around the dining room table. Come and visit, friends!

xoxo
LG

opinions please: new curtains!

I'm 99% sold on these new curtains for my living room ... what do you think?

Official deets: Ivory/white, semi-sheer, with jute stripes that look like gold from afar. $20/panel from Cost Plus World Market.

Replacing: the ivory floral sheer curtains that came with the house.

I love the idea of stripes in that room, as well as how the curtains fit the white and gold theme in a more neutral way. I'm less than enthused about the mismatching stripes when the curtains are closed (for me, that's 50-75% of the time). But is that enough of a dealbreaker? I haven't found anything else I really love.

find your prize

Fellow home blogger and college friend Meredith and I visited Hunt & Gather (famous for "find your prize") yesterday ... to celebrate her new house!

I found a new (old) crystal drawer pull for the desk in my dining room, some Valentines's Day cards, and about a hundred other things I sadly couldn't bring home.

I also picked up some pillow forms at JoAnn's for my other new favorite things ... Pillow cases from Zara Home. I found them when I was in Paris for work last November and they've been mocking me from their folded perch on my bedroom chair ever since. It was time to put them to good use, brightening up my living room couch on this icy, snowy weekend.

Prizes found.