Meal Moths AGAIN!!!

So a few years ago,(probably 2) we had these little moths in our pantry. I don't know how they got there. But I had to take everything out of the pantry and clean it out. Not only that but you also have to throw away practically everything that is in either a box or a plastic bag. Why? Because they can eat through that stuff, and then they nest in there. Its so gross! Anyway, after I did that about 2 years ago I threw 2 cedar balls in the bottom of the pantry and they were gone. Now.... they're back! AAGGGGHHHH!!!! So frustrating. Every time I would open the pantry 2 or 3 would fly out at me. (Big J finds that part humorous) I guess my cedar balls weren't strong enough anymore or something. So anyway I cleaned it all out again and I hope they are gone. If anyone else has ever had this and has been successful in getting rid of them let me know. My sister said that at least they weren't tics, which my Sister-In-Law had at her house a while ago. I said I don't know.... at least tics don't get into your food.

Garden Area

Well I have finished taking the stumps out of my garden and it has been tilled. So now I need to come up with a plan for my garden. I have a pretty good list of the foods that i would like to grow so now i need to figure out where in my garden they should go and when I can plant them. Probably half of my list would be a winter crop. Big J tells me that we could probably grow some of the winter stuff still. We'll see....

Anyway, I was grateful to be able to go and see my friends garden and see what works best for her and get some ideas. She also gave me some of her lettuce. Which we ate with dinner that night. I liked the watering set up and got me wondering how other people water theirs. I have another friend that has a garden and thought that I would pick her brain one of these days.

So I wanted to do a before and after picture of the garden area, just to show you what I was dealing with. I found some before pictures that we had taken when we bought the house. Then I realized that some of my friends never saw the craziness that was this yard. But don't you worry I found some pictures.

This first before and after is of the front of our house.
I have no idea what the previous owners were thinking.

The next pictures are of our back yard. There were weird fruit trees everywhere. I don't have after pictures but all the trees are gone.
And these are of the area where the Garden will be. My dad cut down all the trees when he was here last, and they were cut up and put into piles and had been sitting there waiting to be thrown out for like 4 months. The second picture is of it all finished and ready.

Picnic in the Park

So on Friday it was such a nice day that I decided to take the Kids to the Park for a Picnic. It was sunny and clear and a perfect day. It was really fun. The kids rode their bikes there and back. They didn't complain one time about being tired. Poor Little A has such a small trike that she had to pedal twice as fast too. I think that we will have to see about getting her a big girl bike. I pushed Little C in the stroller. One man commented on our way by where my bike was and I was like I wish I had one. But then I would need one of those trailers or seats on the back for Little C.

Once the Kids got to the park we put a blanket down and had our picnic of sandwiches, strawberries, pineapple, celery and peanut butter.

Later the kids played at the park and rode their bikes around. Little D thought that it was fun to get the other kids to chase him on his bike. He liked showing me his new trick on his bike that was to stand up and pedal. He thinks that its fun, but not as fun as making skid marks on the sidewalk.

While the Kids were playing Little C was so excited and you could tell that he wanted to go play with them. He would get up on his knees and raise his arms and yell. He was practicaly pacing the blanket. It was so funny. He wouldn't crawl off the blanket because he didn't want to touch the grass. He did one time when he wanted to check out Little A's bike and imediatly retreated. It was like his own little play pen.

Along the way we saw a lot of "popcorn" trees and had to sing the song. Here is a picture of one that I took on the way back.

It was a lot of fun and the kids are already begging to do it again.

Garden Groundbreaking!

So yesterday Big J and I work all day in the yard trying to get the Garden spot ready to plant. Man! It was hard work and its still not done. I got all the dead leaves and grass raked up while he removed a few tree stumps. We have piles of cut down tree branches and stumps and bags and bags of grass and leaves. Which poses the question of how do we rid ourselves of this mess we made by cleaning up the other mess. Too bad we cant have a bon fire!!! We would have the biggest one! If this were Montana we probably would just drag it out to the back and light 'er up.

I told Big J that after we get all the stump up we would need a Rototiller. Big J thought that I could be the tiller. He said I'll just call you Shawntiller! I insisted that even though that was cleaver and funny we needed an actual Rototiller this time since the ground is full of roots and has never been tilled before. Then after arguing whether or not we needed to find and borrow a rototiller or rent one. Big J ended up buying one! I know so now Big J expects me to have Rototiller parties! Ha Ha! Hopefully we wont break it on some huge hidden root.

So after all that Big J thinks that we should make a bigger garden and insists that the area I had designated is too small. (I think that he just wants an excuse to use his new tiller more.) But I guess I need to plan what I am going to plant in order to know how much room I will need. I didn't think about how some plants would need more room than others. I know, I told you I had no idea what I was doing!

Some Valentines Day huh, fighting and hard labor! I did get flowers though. Well, we will see what happens next weekend. In the meantime I need to find a way to get rid of all my yard trash.

Help From a Green Thumb, Please!

So I have wanted a Garden for a few years now but have never had the right spot to plant one or enough motivation to do one. This year I WILL HAVE A GARDEN! I have a spot and everything. But here is the catch... I have no idea what to do after I take the stumps out and get the soil tilled. I know that there are certain times that you can plant here and certain vegetables grow at certain times. But I have no idea what they are or how to do it.

So I am in need of a Green Thumb. Someone that can help me, more like tell me what do to and how to do it and where. Or maybe there is a great book out there that can help me. The only problem with the book thing is that how will I know if what it says is right for Bakersfield? I have been needing to get started on this for some time but with the cold and the rain that we have been enjoying lately I can't seem to make myself do it.

So if any of you know anything about this Vegetable garden thing and would like to help or know of a place where I can find someone who does. Please let me know. I would be glad to enlist your help.