thoughts on pregnancy

Ahh, pregnancy: that little glow you feel when you see the positive line on the pregnancy test; those flutters when you have your first prenatal; those nights you lay awake day dreaming about holding that little one!

Cue reality.

The ‘glow’ you’re feeling is most likely heartburn. The ‘flutters’ are really a bout with nausea and you’re losing. Those nights you’re lying awake are because you have to keep going to the bathroom, and the only thing you want to hold is your head because it aches.

So, that sounds awful, and it’s not great, but this is the price set for me and my first trimester. Not bad when you think of the reward, but it’s kind of hard to remember the reward for weeks on end.

And honestly, it hasn’t been like that every day.  I’ve had some great days! These last three are clouding the memories of the good days, but serves me right for choosing to post on a bad day.

Oh yeah… I’m pregnant. Surprise! I’m the better part of 11 weeks pregnant. I realized I needed to post something about this pregnancy when at least three separate times I mentioned something about my pregnancy to friends, and each one responded with, “Wait! You’re pregnant??” I dropped the ball, but here I am picking it back up again.

I actually didn’t drop the ball, I threw it. I decided I was too flipping tired to do anything like a post or announcement. Ridiculous, I know.

But I’ll spare you the humdrum lowdown on my morning sickness. Instead, I’ll focus on the comedy of it all – or what have you.

I grew up hearing about those funny pregnancy cravings. I still think on I Love Lucy that the hot fudge sauce Lucy poured on her sardines and ice cream looked like the best hot fudge I could ever taste. But instead of strange food cravings, it has manifested itself more in the form of ‘food tolerances’. Currently, most foods sound/smell abhorrent so eating is no longer ‘for funsies’ as it was during the very first few weeks of pregnancy (ahh… those glorious days of old), so for me to be able to think fondly of any food ultimately interprets to a run to the store and an armful of said desirables. 

So… here are my “food cravings:”

-        -  cold, super  duper, as-sour-as-you-can-get green granny smith apples. I basically want to be stunned for a split second by tart overload.

-        -  carbonated lime water

-        -  cheese puffs (no surprises here… it’s always a craving of mine) but I rarely indulge :(

-        -  smoked salmonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

-        -  tater tots

-        -  applesauce

-        -  unripe watermelon

Nothing too weird, really. Now let's talk about food intolerances...

My "food hates:"

-  sugary sweetness that is not chocolate
-  garlic anything, anywhere, I can taste it in its faintest proportions...
-  most meat, almost all beef especially (except for my aunt's brisket)
-  green vegetables... I hate you, green food... except you, Apples...you're the only one who understands me.
-  onions (obviously)
-  cheese that has not been melted
-  and anything that smells weird when cooked, has a powerful odor or taste, has a weird consistency

I have been recording little video snippets of life according to me for the last 4 or 5 weeks. They will eventually be on my youtube channel. On further reflection, they’re quick little whine segments. So be warned.

The fatigue got to me in the early weeks of morning sickness. There were days where it was a debate between bathing and eating. There were times when going to the bathroom merited taking another nap. There were moments when I had every intention of ‘doing something’ and wound up asleep on the couch. If I didn’t have sense enough I’d be very angry and disappointed in myself, but I know that’s only going to make matters worse.

I had a very memorable time at Food Lion a few weeks back. This was my first time shopping alone since sickness started, and I thought I was doing all right. Grabbing a bag of corn that said “very sweet” on it seemed to tip me over the edge. I darted to the bathroom as quickly as I could, but I didn’t puke. You know that moment right before the heave? That’s where it left me for the remainder of my time out. I realized I was probably going to stay like this for a while, so I looked around for some bag to take in case I was wrong. On the way home I had a bag attached to the steering wheel so I didn’t have to pull over should the need arise. It all ended happily, except still no relief, but I will not be buying frozen corn for a loooooong time, and I give it dirty looks when I pass it in the frozen vegetable section.

Also, *drum roll please* I am starting to show... faintly.

Well, in the words of Forrest Gump: "That's all I got to say about that."

when the hounds of spring...

potato tomato, tomato potato

I've been trying to keep records of my gardening this year through pictures, texts, sketches, notes, and videos so that at the end of this year we can evaluate what works and what does not work for us. Last year I had great success with my potatoes with very little work put into it. This year we at least doubled the amount and have tilled new ground for this. I am also trenching deeper than last year and mulching with ground leaves instead of shredded branches.

On the right is my baby spinach, which I harvested a lot of recently. I also think 'baby spinach' is a misnomer if ever I've heard one. They're massive, rich green leaves, and they taste oh-so-fresh!

I started my ground cover crops so far for: alyssum, one type of sedum, hens & chicks, and irish moss. So far the alyssum is coming up the fastest, and the moss is close behind. We have the tilled soil covered in leaves to keep any weeds from sprouting and choke out any little sprouts until these crops are ready for transplanting.

My kale seems stunted. Not sure why...
I noticed there were some pests in the broccoli so I sprayed my organic 3-in-1, which took care of them almost immediately.

We just finished planting our corn yesterday (May 5). We actually tilled and amended it this year, so it should actually produce well. Although last year, we got a lot of ears for what little work we put into it.

Pictured right, I ask with much trepidation: is this fire blight? What else can it be, though? And so I must begin to remove what I can, and come winter scrape off any infected areas I know of. This may be very, very bad for my orchard. I know of at least 3 trees with signs of fire blight. And I also know that it is not easy to rid them of it.

So that's my bad news... really bad news.

On the bright side, my chamomile is doing excellently. Comparing chamomile to lemon balm is like comparing night and day. Chamomile needs no extra care. Lemon balm will wilt away if I forget about it for a day. Transplanting is an abysmal success rate for lemon balm, while chamomile will spring right back within hours of transplanting, ready to stretch its roots into its new-found home. Lemon balm looks at me as if I'm strangling it and lets its outer leaves turn darkly brown and frown at me disapprovingly. I will not be doing lemon balm in starters anymore. Direct sow, all the way! Unless of course that turns out worse... :/

I also was unimpressed with my tomato seeds germination rate. It was in the 60-70% success rate range, and that is very low from my vast two years of experience.

Above pictured is one of my dahlias. They are doing very well right now in containers, but they're quickly getting too large for them. I just have to decide on a good location for them. I am not great with visualizing landscaping.

Lowes had a bunch of flowers on clearance, so I went ahead and landscaped a little bit around my arbor. I can't quite bring myself to go full-force with any landscaping yet, as all my seeds are not planted yet, but I am approaching it little-by-little. I went ahead and slightly beautified my arbor area. It was pretty unsightly, so this just cheers it up a big. It's mostly temporary since I want vines at my of these posts' bases, but I still have yet to stain the arbor so this is as good as I can do for now.

And here we have my snap peas, doing so well I could kiss them! Still no flowers, but I'm hoping for them any day. There's nothing quite like fresh snap peas.

I have also recently planted my beans (two of three kinds) and more tomatoes. I am transplanting almost every day. I will be focusing on herbs this week, and my niece Katrina will be coming to help me garden/finish painting my fence. I love having helpers, and she makes me laugh so much!
 May the weather be ever in your favor, fellow gardeners.

a fence intended

Progress! Almost our entire fence is up. Over half of the painting has been done. And, to the immense satisfaction of us both, Fred's "free" time will no longer be directed towards this endeavor. Now he will spend it in the garden with me (and of course here and there between other projects).

He's spent almost every waking moment working, whether it be at his job, or with his jobs at home. Honestly, a lot of it doesn't feel like "work" when it's fun stuff, like planting and harvesting and planning. But this fence... it's been work. He's done an amazing job, however, and it is looking awesome!

I have to say, Fred has the vision for these projects. He can picture something in his mind and then knows how to go about completing it. I have to start with small visions here and there. I get overwhelmed with details when I take in too much. It's been good, though, to work together on these projects because I pay very close attention to detail while he keeps the big picture in focus.

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The previous paragraphs were written a few days ago. Fred has finished hanging pickets and I've finished painting the front of the fence! Our driveway cutout is not painted, and there's always a "this and that" section "here and there" but our focus is now on the garden, again! When Fred got off work, he actually was able to do work he almost enjoyed. And it was in the garden, which was awesome. That guy has been working too hard. 

Today I was able to mulch some plots that were reeeeeally bothering me. They were covered in weeds! I'm looking into whether you can mulch garlic with leaf mold or shredded leaves... so far it looks like certain types of straw are recommended, but we'll see.

Fred got my compost bin going, so we have our layers getting started - finally! Vermicomposting, bin composting, and BSF composting? What??? Ok, no BSFs yet (Black Soldier Flies). They are truly amazing insects - read about em... they're like the miracle drug for everything: plants, animals, humans...

I mulched my blueberry bushes finally with pine straw to help with the acidity, weed and moisture control. It's a 3-in-1.

I also pulled most of my flowers out of my nursery and set them out around my garden and porch, which just brightens my day. I have two lupines that made it through the winter, and they look pretty amazing and hardy compared to how they were last year at their best.


Speaking of my nursery flowers, it is my understanding that bachelor buttons are an annual. However, perhaps because they were well mulched, or for whatever the reason may be... these beauties came back, fuller than ever. And I love that to freaking death. I feel like I am learning sooooo much more this year than last year, and yet things like this just pop up to show me it doesn't matter how much I learn - I can always learn more. That's why cosmetology interested me so much - there were no limits, it could always evolve and change, and I am definitely anything but a creature of habit. So, gardening is medicine to my aching soul for an ever-changing life.



And I know this is very random, but since Fred and I have put ourselves on a tight budget to get these projects fast-tracked and to be wise about our expenses, we've been cutting back on a lot of things that I surprisingly almost haven't missed (except meat.... I craaaaaaave meat all hours of the day. I could eat any meat any time... and almost any portion). But that's not the point! The point is, we always find the fun in situations that could otherwise bring us down, and with that in mind I've basically adopted this song as "our song" for these tighter-budgeted months.

more gardening and a little funsies

Here was the start of our arbor. We have lots of plans for the staining and decorating of it: hammocks, flowering vines, hanging strawberry plants, wind chimes... We finishing construction of it, but there is much to do before we can stain it... mostly regarding the fence you see in the background of this picture. There's the frame, and by now we have painted it and we are in the process of painting and hanging the pickets.
............. there are over 600 pickets.

 Anyway, one morning when I rose early, which did not happen often this past week, I was pouring my coffee and found this beautiful sight staring at me. These purple flowering trees are all over the area.

Anyway, gardening has been going well, but I am overrun with weeds. The problem is, three beds that were direct sown are overrun with weeds, and the seedlings are too young for me to poke around pulling the weeds out... I decided to mulch around the

 larger plants - spinach and mesclun, but my carrots are much too young for mulching or weeding at the moment.

And here are my tulips. I had some white and pink tulips, as well. I finally moved some of my nursery flowers into landscaping and pots. Below are a bunch of grape mascari, oregano, and tulips.

Unfortunately it's been very rainy so I have been limited as to what I can 

 do outside, but I have had lots of indoor starters going. I started Nasturtiums, Salvia, Bachelor Buttons, and something else I can't remember at the moment.

Our potatoes arrived, as well as some more chives and (for the first time ever in the Bowman garden) artichokes!

We still have much to do, but everything in it's time...

These are the first ever blooms from my lilac bush. This is their third year, and these two little blooms are very likely the only blooms I will get this year.

Also, there is a bee pollinating it in the picture! I looooove these bees. There's a large bee that has been chasing off wasps from our porch (which was swarming with wasps). So, between the wasp-chasing, the pollinating, and the amazing honey...

I love bees.

And here's a strawberry plant that's looking quite sturdy this second year. I planted 10 bare roots this last week, and have ten more to pot.

Speaking of strawberry plants, the picture below shows a leaf I snipped off a plant - if any of you know what these spots and discolorations mean, let me know. I took it to mean red stele, but I checked the roots and

 they were fine. I went ahead and worked in some pete moss into the soil to help improve drainage, and so far no more discolored leaves. We are getting a ton of rain lately, though, so I will be watching.

After we finish with mulching, planting and painting, I am going full throttle with ground cover crops.

I have so much sedum I am going to

 start with. This sedum here is stonecrop. It has purple flowers and can withstand light foot traffic. I'm going to place walking stones (like flagstone or something) in between the ground cover crops. All in good time....

The cucumbers have been planted and we have our tomatoes out, but I think when the heavy rains hit last week it washed up a lot of the seeds. I am planting some starters today or tomorrow to have a backup going.

 Our broccoli and lettuce has been growing really well. Let's just hope my broccoli actually flowers this time. Perhaps too much nitrogen last year?

Anyway, this last weekend we decided to go to a play in South Boston one of our friends was in. The absolute best part was when they decided to throw candy and snacks at the audience... Amazing!






We have had a busy week of work, and there's no end in sight... but we will work together, work hard, and get it done. Eventually...

Regardless, I am thankful for the ability to do the work required of me.

special date and home decorating

Sometimes Fred and I get in ruts:

"What do you wanna do?"
"I dunno. What do you wanna do?"

I think most people do. But whatever, it happens and I can recognize it pretty quickly when it does. Fred likes repetition more than I do (except with movies because I cannot count how often I've seen The Lorax or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 1 and 2), so he doesn't tire of 'same old' as quickly as I do. It's a constant struggle that keeps both of us from resorting to negative traits, and keeps us striving for better.

One thing I like to change is our home decor. I get tired of that chair there, or that lamp there, or that coat of paint. In this case, it was a loud color for our walls. I also was wanting a separation from our dining area to our den.

We went with a shabby chic motif which really seems to fit our home. It's not new, and many things about it are imperfect, but we kind of like messy life... weird.

We also would like to repaint our den eventually, and I keep going back and forth with two colors. One day I will make up my mind. Honestly, I probably won't get to it until after harvest season, but it may take me that long to make up my mind anyway!

But back to the subject of ruts, recently I decided to spice up our evenings one night by cooking Fred dinner.

"Haha, very funny."

No, seriously. In our marriage, and especially over the past two years Fred and I make supper together (which is amazing fun) well over 60% of the time. And when I do make it all by myself *puts on big girl pants*, it's not a showpiece like this dinner was here.

I was inspired with an idea from my cousin, so I decided to make our at-home dinner date have a real restaurant-feel. I had Louis Armstrong playing (umm... yeah he was kind of the best), mood lighting, newly decorated dining room, homemade sourdough bread with dipping oil already on the table, and I served him like a waiter (which, by the way, was super fun).

It was a surprise, so I told him to dress up, and I wore heels, which made it 'for serious'.


We had pink champagne, homemade bread, shrimp and grits with asparagus, poached eggs (actually I boiled them since I didn't have a way to poach) and a roux to top it off.

For dessert? Chocolate fondue. If you're going all-out, might as well gain a few pounds, right?

And after dinner he took me by the hand and we danced. It was all very romantic.

P.S. Lemon pound cake is the best. I could probably eat the whole thing myself.

Anyway, there's a little glimpse of our life - however uncommon (because no, sadly we do not eat like this all the time...). Dance, be merry, eat chocolate, and redecorate!

 I love you, Fred! Life with you is awesome. <3

gardening journal

I'm gardening a fair amount these days, and Spring is just bursting forth in my neck of the woods. This late Winter I learned a pretty fair amount about starting in flats. Last year's success rate was abysmal, and this year things are shaping up to be... different. Better... but not amazing. Either way, I'm learning.

Here's some progress on gardening so far:

a) Last year's garlic seems to be flourishing. Needed some nitrogen (no surprise here), but so far so good. Planted some early Spring as well and you can just see how over-wintering gives them such a head start, but we will see if bulb size differs at harvest.

b) Kind of went crazy with the onions. Last year I had one 4' X 8' and we used them up in roughly two months. This year, I think we have more than 4x that. I had so many left over bulbs that I just threw them in with my cole crops here and there... and with a few muscari, too. Anyway, we have red, yellow, and white onions all over.

c) Kale seems to be doing better than last year. So far no pests, but they are just waking up, so I have an organic pesticide handy. I bought my Kale from Lowes instead of starting from seed.

d) Broccoli, cauliflower, collards from seed are doing OK. Broccoli from Lowes doing well, but showed signs of root distress from being in starters too long. Almost all have new blue-green leaves producing from the center, so it seems to be bouncing back.

e) Peppers... oh boy. We have 30+ varieties and 3 different flats we have started them in. First flat was horrible, second was better, and third is sprouting now and looking way better due to even moisture and loamy soil (previous soil was unevenly moistened and had too much clay-like consistency).

f) I have some cute little herbs (chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, chives) and such I started mostly for landscaping (and of course drying) and the soil was awful. I transplanted them when they stopped showing progress and, although they were a little young for that, most of them seem to be taking to the new soil very well. I had a bunch of tomatoes in there, too, and am keeping them in these little pots until after the last frost.

g) My fruit trees.... oh boy. Every time I think of them I get a knot in my stomach. So much depends on how much knowledge I absorb and how well I train/treat them these next three years. I feel like I've already done some wrong things, but I've also done some right things by sheer and happy accident (woo!). I pruned in late Autumn/early Winter. I was unsure of which tree to train which way, so I kept to basic rules of pruning. I sprayed what they call an organic dormant oil spray, which prevents a number of potential problems. I now need to stake some trunks and train some branches and they grow. I am fairly certain of which tree to train what way now and this Autumn/Winter I will prune as such. I am keeping a photo and documentation record of every tree as well. Here's hoping for great produce in three years...

h) My landscaping is coming along and we've had several bursts of inspiration. I'm embracing lots and lots of sedum and moss. Our goal is to have almost our entire lawn seeded with ground cover crops, but everything in it's time. I am fairly certain I am planting clover in the orchard hoping to encourage bee pollination, but I need to research more.

When all is said and done, I feel very blessed to be able to get out and do this gardening. Beautifying our home is something Fred and I enjoy doing together, and we have the same vision (most of the time) so it's very harmonious. I love our life and I'm so grateful for what we have.