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Monday, May 11, 2009

Growing plants and baby

Pregnancy-wise, everything is going well. Last Monday, at 17 weeks, 0 days, I felt the little guy move for the first time. I could only feel baby in the evening when I had a chance to sit still, but now I am feeling the little one sporadically throughout the day. I was just reading my "Week 18" info on this pregnancy tracker website, and this week, my baby can recognize my voice. That's totally crazy to me. Does that mean I should stop cussing?
Coming up, we have The Ultrasound on the 21st, so my darling spouse has until then to decide if we're finding out the baby's sex. I ultimately left it up to him. My reasoning: I have lots of ways to bond with the baby because it is in me, so if finding out the sex will help him feel more connected with his daughter or son, then I say let's go for it. He's still mulling it over.

In non-baby news, this weekend included my second annual trip to the Friends School Plant Sale at the State Fairgrounds. Unlike last year, I knew what would (and wouldn't) be appearing in my garden this year, so I had a plan. Also unlike last year, I didn't have my dad to come with me, so I had to bring the husband who got to be my "cart boy."
First priority: Food
Second priority: Perennials for the mulched garden patch that has (almost) nothing in it.
So my food crops include:

  • Tomatoes (Celebrity, Pineapple Black - accidentally grabbed those instead of the Persimmons that I enjoyed last year, and Mexico Midgets - the most delicious tiny tomatoes you've ever had)
  • Shallots
  • Leeks - first time trying these out
  • Bell peppers
  • Zucchini
  • Basil (mine kind of keeled over last year)
  • A bay laurel tree (to keep potted outdoors for the summer, and indoors in the winter)
  • Rosemary
  • Watermelon
  • Cantaloupe
  • Strawberries
  • A grapevine (we'll see how this experiment goes)
  • A raspberry bush
  • A blueberry bush
  • And left from last year: thyme, scallions, asparagus, chives, sage, and oregano
I feel like an urban farmer.
And in the flower category:
  • Hollyhocks to help cover unsightly fences and walls
  • Delphinium (which died last year - let's hope they stick this time!)
  • Munstead lavender
  • Bee balm
  • Chamomile
  • Coreopsis
  • Astilbe
  • Irish moss to fill in a flagstone path on the side of our house
  • Marigolds to keep the bugs off my tomatoes and Russian sage
I still have plenty of space in my once-empty garden patch out back, but slowly, I am filling it in. Last year's perennials that I LOVE this spring are
  • my clematis, which no longer looks anorexic
  • my digitalis "Husker Red" (my favorite - the photo below does not do it justice)
  • my creeping phlox which didn't bloom last year but is quite perky so far
  • my weigela , so cute and bushy
  • bulbs I planted last fall - allium, tulips, daffodils, etc.
There are a million other plants that the previous homeowner grew on all sides of our house. I'm so glad that I got to inherit such a mature garden space when we bought the house. Still, though, I don't know what some of the plants are! Sometime in the next couple weeks, I'll stock up on annuals for my patio pots. This year I'm going to be a bit more ambitious. Partly because I got a little sick of having 4 pots of purple and pink petunias. Oh well.

I just have four weeks of school left and then I can engage in all sorts of garden fun. And baby prep.

1 comments:

Sarah L. said...

Yeah, it is tough to imagine myself as the slow-moving Mac Truck pregnant lady (insert back-up beeping). I expect to be hiring some semi-slave labor (aka 15-year-old brother) to help me out come July or August.