From all of us here....

Casey...


Lila...


Baby Boy...


Peepers...


And Kuroi...

We hope you had a great Christmas holiday, and a wonderful 2011! Here's to a new year, with new hopes and new opportunities!

Veseys Catalogue Arrival: Awesome new stuff for the new season

Like many people, money is tight with us these days.  And since we rent, and our landlord has the house on the market, we never know if we're going to be here during an entire summer (hence last season's semi-portable bag garden).  BUT, if we had a bit more $$ and guaranteed lawn, Vesey's has some AWESOME stuff in the catalogue this year (just in time for Christmas, folks!) 

Just a note: I'm not affiliated with Veseys in any way, I really do just love their stuff! :)


Birdfeeders (always popular):

The Blue Moon feeder is made out of sparkling crackle glass, with built in protection to shelter the birds during storms, looks lovely!  My second choice is the iron and aluminum Acorn Bird feeder, very elegant looking! 

For assistance in gardening/seed starting, etc:
The Canadian designed Root Training Propagator looks way cool!  It trains roots to be long and thin in a straight line. The product opens like a book, so you can inspect the roots, and there's minimal disruption to the plant during transplanting.  COOL!

Having not done such a hot job of supporting my snap peas this past summer, this lovely contraption looks like it would be a big help!  The Wire Cucumber Trellis folds flat for storage, but when in use provides a lovely diagonal growing surface for all your climbing veggies like peas, but more suited for heavier produce like cucumbers and squash.  They even say you can grow lettuce underneath which will mature before your cukes get too big and block out the sun.

Connecticut dairy farmers developed these great plant pots leftover from cow manure after they've extracted the methane to use to power their farm.  Cow Pots will dissolve a few weeks after insertion in the ground, providing fertilizer to boot!  A great idea!

Perfect for people who are stiff and have trouble doing all the bending over required in gardening,  it's a Stand Up Garden (and it's self-watering, too!).  A garden on stilts basically, it lets you have the fun of gardening without bending - and you get to start your soil off right by buying it (and compost) in bags! ;)

Some cool new and new-to-me flowers and veg:
Chocolate Tomato - a gorgeous looking velvety chocolate/red colored tomato, an heirloom that they say has tremendous flavor.

Broom corn - grows like corn, but instead of a husk it grows these gorgeous seed heads.  Great for crafting projects - and you can even make a broom from them, if you like!

If you love squash, you'll love their Wild Bunch combo of many varieties of strong vining squash.  For eating and for crafts & fall displays, you'll get a little bit of everything!

Gorgeous flowers: the Zahara Starlight Zinnia (blooms the whole season!) and always a fave of mine, the Gerbera Daisy.  And a funky green sunflower, would really stand out!

And a couple of books, to boot!                                                      
The Backyard Homestead - an "indespensible guide to self-sufficiency". Talks about everything from raising chickens to pickling the results from your veg garden!  (*Ann dreams...*)
Four Season Harvest - a great guide to growing veggies and herbs year-round in colder climates like mine!  Sounds a little challenging, but very rewarding!

So that's what's on my gardening wish list for this year!  If you have any you'd like to add, mention it in the comments section! :)