Sensory Garden

A Sensory Garden is fun for every child - or the child in each of us. It includes plantings that appeal to each of our senses: Sight, Smell, Touch, Taste, and with some extra planning, you can even include Hearing.

Right now is the perfect time to plan out your garden and to start any plantings you want to do from seed. I've included a list with plants for each sense - let me know if you have some favorites I may have missed.

You can plant a mini Sensory Garden using potted plants or you can go all out and plant an entire flowerbed or yard. Typically they are accessible to the disabled as well. One of my sons is in a wheelchair so we have planted everything to be at a height that is easy for him to touch.

Our vegetable garden is raised so that he can help pick the peas and tomatoes.

Involve the kids and talk about what you're planting - they will love getting their hands in the soil.

Here is a basic planting list for each of the five senses - my favorites have an asterisk next to them. Many plants can fit into more than one category.

Pictures of our Sensory Garden can be found here

Sight - This is where to include bright colors and annuals are great for this

Snapdragons*

Anemones

Gerber Daisy

Yarrow

Larkspur

Salvia

Carnations

Tulips

Pinwheels - The metallic ones are very eye catching

Petunias

Smell

Fragrant Roses (Blossom Time*, Tiffany,* Fragrant Cloud)

Lavendar* - also calming, when kids get wound up - have them pick some for you

Mock Orange

Hyacinths*

Phlox*

Mints (best grown in a container, they are invasive)

Dill (crush between fingers)

Chammomile (apple scented)

Curry plant

Chocolate Basil or Cosmos

Touch

Lamb's Ear

Fern

Moss

Succulents

Sedums

Water features
Sensitive Plant - very cool, closes when you touch it

Ornamental grasses (some of these can give you a paper cut, choose carefully)

Pebbles

Taste - be careful to plant these together or clearly mark them as edible to avoid accidents

Grape Tomatoes

Thornless Blackberries/Raspberries

Strawberries

Cilantro

Fennel (black licorice taste)

Dill
Nasturiums

Violets

Calendula

Sound

Water fountain (simple or elaborate)

Bells

Aspen trees

Chimes

Bamboo

Grasses
Birds - if you plant berries, they will come

This is a Works For Me Wednesday post. To check out other ideas visit Rocks In My Dryer.

On this, the eve of (the countdown to) my 40th year...(wherein I abuse italics)

I've been thinking. Sort of a lot. About some rather deepish things. I know, "Surprise!"

And do you know I've realized that...

I am not this blog. The voice of this place is not me, is not who I am. It's only something I slip on in order to relate more easily (or not at all) the goings on at Chez Organic. And I hope you're aware of that. That you give me more credit than this, this fluffy, slang-slinging superfluous-ness (made up words and all) that is this place.

I am not my garden. At least not this year, my heart is just not in it. I mean, the garden is there and is growing stuff and we will eat from it and enjoy it, but you know what? It's just a garden. A nothing special garden that I happen to tend (and rather begrudgingly, if you'd like to know the truth) without chemicals.

I am not my falling apart, yet coming together again body. Oh, it feels like it sometimes. Like all I am is a body breathing in air, consuming and expending fuel, taking up space, going through the motions of keeping a home, a family, a life before briefly resting and doing it all again tomorrow. But it's just a body, and an oldish one at that. A saggity, dimply, wrinkly, stretch-markity (having 5 babies and losing 80 some pounds will do that) nothing special body which, for better or worse, Mr. O is "all-in" with for the long haul.

I am not my mothering. No, I fell off that wagon long ago. I am a mother, but I am not my mothering.

Here, right here this is where words fail me.

I know it shouldn't define me. But somehow it does, and I cannot bring myself to say that I am just a mother, that I am a nothing special mother. Because being a mother is bigger than a "just". I know it. I feel it. At least I try to feel it. And even though I am incredibly bad at it more than I am ever good at it, I am a mother. I can do this because it's a part of who I am - a piece in my puzzle - and I will find a way to be at peace with it. Even if it takes me another 39 years.

When it comes down to it there are a lot of things that I am not, but most of them are not for me to share here. Partly because the little people (and the related people) have started reading this island in the Sea of Me and partly because I am trying to rewrite, to drastically edit who I am.

I hereby dub this my year to dig down, uproot, uncover, discover, recover. To find my voice. To find out who and what I am. Happy Birthday, Me.

Bustin' chops

Friday and Saturday were spent breaking up the ground a further 8 inches in the bottom of the garden beds (a week ago we removed 8 inches of clay in each bed and redistributed it around the yard) and then mixed in a garden blend of compost, topsoil, and some other amazing ingredient I don't recall at the moment.

It was a nice day to be outside, not too cold but with a bit of a breeze to cool you off just when you needed it (until the gale force winds kicked in around dinner time). We built four grow boxes and topped them all off with soil. Nothing else got done that day, not even picture taking, because our arms were too tired to lift the camera. Maybe today I'll venture out and snap some photos of our progress.

All we have left to do is to figure out our watering system. I would like to use a soaker hose or drip irrigation, but am still undecided. In all of our digging we uncovered a sprinkler head 6 inches under the soil. We have no idea if the pipe it's attached to is still connected to the sprinkler system. We'd test it, but we have 2 or 3 geysers to repair first (one of them might just be the neighbor's, because how is it possible that we have 5 sprinklers in 10 square feet?)

Also, we have so much garden soil left over, we may just have to haul off the dirt clods left behind by the clay and use the beautiful dirt instead.

In other gardening news, the Sensory Garden is coming back to life. Summer is really my favorite time in the yard because everything is in full bloom, but Spring runs a close second - nothing beats a good birth.

Garden Goodness

Talk about the garden. A little progress is good for the soul. In the triangle we have zucchini, sugar baby watermelons, butternut squash, goldbar squash and sugar snap peas

Summer squash (already have a few on this one)

Sequoia Strawberries (we're getting a bowlful every morning and making smoothies with our homemade yogurt - yum!)

Roma tomatoes

Bell peppers

Peas, glorious peas

Zucchini (got smart and only planted one this year)

Sensory garden addition - cosmos

and Sarah Bernhardt peonies

heavenly to smell

and behold


What's in your garden? Stop by The Lazy Organizer for tips on packing vegan lunches.

Presto Change-O. Or, more accurately, the weekend I found out I was OLD

Today, we're talking about garden projects. Stop by the Lazy Organizer to see her yummy Sour Dough Pitas.

I've been wanting to do this project ever since we married and moved into a home of our own. Every time we moved I drew up elaborate plans for our yard complete with labels for different plants, trees, and the perfect spot for a waterfall.

But most of all, I wanted a garden with paths, and I pictured myself tending that garden while wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat (perhaps with a wide gros-grain ribbon tied under my chin), flowery gloves and even a long flowing skirt. Okay so now I'd never be able to pull off the gardening attire, but the PATHS - those I could manage. It's taken over 18 years, but the paths are a done deal.

First, we (and by we I mean Mr. O) made the grow boxes narrower to make it easier to weed and harvest. Here's how they looked last year.

Then we covered the paths with weed barrier (which trust me, I know, is an exercise in futility - the weeds will still come, the little rascals). We also installed a garden edge, driving it down four inches, all the way around where the sod butts up to the paths. (Please do not notice those yellow spots in the grass. So NOT where the dog pees).

Then Mr. O wheel-barrowed in load after load of pea gravel (completely inspired by Alicia at Posie gets Cozy) while I raked it and leveled it out to a depth of two inches.

And then it rained. But we persevered (mostly because once I start a project I fear that I won't finish it if I take a break). We had flagstones left over from our deconstructed waterfall and we used those for stepping stones. Yes, we had a waterfall at one time, but it became a haven for wasps and algae, and then when Ellie came along we decided it would be safer to demo it.

I'd really like to try a waterfall again one day, but the next time (when we win the lottery) it will be done by someone who knows what they're doing and who can make the waterfall look like the one in my mind. The previous "landscaper,"and I use that term loosely, did not. But enough about the defunct waterfall.

Don't the paths look lovely? We just need to sink some of the stones into the gravel and we're done! I love it when a plan comes together! (Name that show) I just have some tomatoes, squash and potatoes left to plant and who knows? Maybe, just maybe, I'll break out the big straw hat and flowery gloves.

40 Before 40

1. Renew passport and get one for Mr. Organic - this is important because of #2

2. See New Zealand or Europe - will be hard for me because when we travel something usually goes wrong back home and we will be so far away.

3. Finish all 'in progress' quilting projects (6 done, 4 to go)

4. Go without soda for 40 straight days - it is one of my major weaknesses and I've nearly done it 5 or 6 times

5. Read Bible cover to cover and compile favorite scriptures - I've always wanted to do this rather than read it in snatches

6. Lose 10 lbs 3/10/09 (20 so far)

7. Lose 30 lbs - these are pounds picked up from RAI and scans

8. (Private) - involves more fitness

9. Write a children's story - Nicole has given me an imaginative plot line that I'd like to turn into a story and have my mom illustrate

10. Go without chocolate/candy 40 straight days

11. Visit sister in Maryland - she's come out here plenty and there is so much to see and do out there

12. Take kids on an airplane 5/08 - by the time I was 10, I'd been on several flights

13. Go to Hawaii with Mr. Organic - because he's never been and it's beautiful and we need to learn to relax again

14. Repaint Great Room ceiling and trim white! - right now they are painted an off-white pink, but a bright white would really lighten the place up

15. Sew a dress for Ellie - I must be crazy because sewing clothing does not bring out the best in me

16. Learn to do Russian Punch needle (kit is purchased)

17. Design the Ultimate House plan to accommodate Ty (and us in our old age) - I've made 3 revisions so far and I can feel that I'm getting closer

18. Climb a mountain - I just want to stand on top of something really high up, see the big picture and say I did it, I got this far. Then I want a helicopter to pick me up, because this goal does not say Descend a mountain ;)

19. (Private) - concerns religion

20. Make soap - the real kind without losing an appendage or my vision

21. Write in journal daily for 12 consecutive months 1/1/07-12/31/07 It still isn't a regular habit even though I did it every single day for a year

22. Grow thornless raspberries and blackberries (2007) - I want Ty to be able to pick these from his wheelchair and make jam with me

23. Learn to play a song on the guitar - tricky for a lefty like me but life isn't complete unless you can strum Kumbaya around the campfire

24. Make paper and use it for stationery - I have always been a stationery nut

25. Publish TIP book -this is secrety and not what it looks like

26. Practice piano 40 straight days - I've come really close to completing this one a few times and I'm pretty mediocre at piano, but I love playing simplified hymns

27. Enter a quilt in a show - I would like to create an original quilt and then be gutsy enough to enter it. This is more about getting over my social anxiety than it is about quilting

28. Get fitted for running shoes 8/07 - maybe my goal should have been to use them

29. Private11/07

30. Plant a rosebush - I have two sitting on my patio, ready to be planted tomorrow. Roses are one of my favorite flowers, but I didn't put them in Ty's Sensory Garden because of the thorns. I would really like to plant 5. In fact, if it were up to me I'd rip out the front lawn and put in a cottage garden - too bad the kids (and Mr. O) won't go for that.

31. Try sushi - this is the extent of my being adventurous (any recommendations?)

32. Attend and participate in 3 book groups - more about social issues here. I have a hard time in group settings because when I'm nervous I tend to run off at the mouth. The whole time I am thinking in my head - how come I can't stop talking? and I'm afraid of making a fool of myself, or saying something offensive, or dominating the conversation, or, or, or....you get the idea

33. Sponsor a project/student through Rafikis - this is a great charity that provides a school for the deaf in Kenya. Families raise half the money for a child to attend the school and the rest comes from sponsorships. I know one of the women involved - it is a reputable non-profit and one that makes a big difference in the lives of those who receive services. They also support an orphanage.

34. Take the children to see a play - I need to culture them up a bit

35. Visit Mesa Verde with the kids - My parents took us as kids, and the Mr and I went before we had kids. I'd love to take them, then visit Arches, 4 corners, and Shiprock, NM.

36. Sew pajama pants for the kids 12/07 - baby steps towards that dress for Ellie

37. Take each child on an overnight trip for one-on-one time - In a big family, it's nice to be able to get away and just bond

38. Grow a respectable garden - this just might be the year of the garden, it's starting to look good

39. Find the perfect lot on which to build #17 - we might not build it yet, but at least we will have the land on which to build our super energy-efficient geeky, yet beautiful house

40. Finally make up my mind and commit to a new adapted vehicle to get Ty around in - this is going to be one of the hardest things to do, adapted vehicles are not known for their fuel-efficiency or attractiveness, but Ty is getting so big I'm afraid we're going to end up with a monstrosity in order to fit all of us. There are about 3-4 options, none of them are that great. Big price, gas hogs, U.G.L.Y., just plain big (too big to fit in the garage) or driving everywhere in 2 vehicles which will cost even more in gas.

I know these aren't big, change-the-world sorts of things on my list - but that's okay, I've got to start somewhere. How about you? Anything you'd like to get done before you hit a certain milestone?

A little peek

This post brought to you by our one week emergency supply of toilet paper

Please disregard the weeds, they are soon to be history and under a bunch of rock.
The Sensory Garden - empty big gulp cups are an important part of the sensory experience STRAWBERRIES! (June and ever bearing)
Hedge - all trimmed and swept up (note the broom and also the holes in the hedge where Superdog tried to avoid becoming 'it' in a game of tag)



Who knew chives could be so beautiful?

A little something I like to call "The Claw" - you wouldn't think I'd pruned the tar out off this thing 2 weeks ago, but I did (if only Edward Scissorhands lived here)

Another view of the Sensory Garden, see how much it's changed?

Everything is just about to burst with color, in another 3 weeks, it will look like a whole new garden. I can't wait.

There's more than one way to skin a cat, plant a garden, whatever

Of course the sun came out after I took these. Here is our attempt at spring gardening. In the second to last bed are the Sequoia strawberries and in the last bed are red, yellow and sweet onions, cauliflower, cabbage, and a lettuce leaf medley. In the back, if you squint, you can see sweet peas trying to make their way up the trellis.

The triangle bed on the left will be a vertical garden and house our butternut squash, cukes, baby pumpkins, cantaloupe, and sugar baby watermelons. Next to that we have the peach tree in blossom. The next to go in will be the carrots (in 2 weeks), we'll plant a square every two weeks and hope that it keeps us in carrots. We also want to plant some spinach, but it's so late already, that I'm sure we'll be picking it when it's still 'baby' spinach. The third bed over from the house will house potatoes, beans, marigolds, peppers and some herbs.

The fourth bed is still undecided, but might contain a zucchini, a summer squash, or maybe raspberries if I can figure out how to keep them from straying beyond the grow box.

As you might be able to tell from the photo, we're using the square foot garden method (sorta - no facial hair for Mr. Organic, and definitely not the straw hat).

We're going to try growing tomatoes up the trellis in the strawberry box, but there are so many varieties I like, that it's impossible to choose only three. There will definitely be a roma, a sweet 100 cherry, and a Brandywine. Or maybe a Beefsteak. Or an Early Girl. or......

Anyone have a favorite tomato or any guidance for us? We're rookies at this gardening thing. I'm so excited for this stuff to start growing and fill in!

It's garden time again

This year we decided to make the garden boxes smaller and the paths wider. It will make the boxes more accessible for weeding and harvesting.

Before:

There's that half-smile again. If I didn't know better, I'd say she has Bell's Palsy.

We moved a lot of dirt, downsized the trellises, and transplanted several strawberry plants. The next step is to put down decorative gravel and some stepping stones.
After:

This is how we felt when we were done:

It was the good kind of tired. Are you planting a garden this year? What will you put in it?

I meant to think about the garden. Really, I did.

It's good to be back, but now that garden really needs my attention. If only it would plant AND weed itself. The same goes for laundry.

This was a last minute trip (and an amazing deal) - due to Ty's medical conditions, that's the only kind of trip we take. When he was really sick, we didn't go anywhere together for a couple of years--one of us was always home with him. I think we've travelled more this year than we have in the past 18 years combined.

My side of the family (my parents, brother and sisters and spouses) is trying to plan a trip to New Zealand this Fall, and it would be really nice to go - especially since it's where my dad grew up. But it's so far away, it's hard to plan on it. I keep thinking something will come up with Ty and jinx the whole deal (and then I will have to watch him go through more pain and heartache). I hate that I'm superstitious that way.

Anyway, I was a little distracted (from thinking about the garden).

And for that matter, so was Mr. O.

Both by the scenery above

and below the surface of the ocean

The shoreline -

The volcanoes

The sunsets-

The aquatic life!

And all the color - EVERY where

Can you believe the scenery?

I love this shot.

Note the crew lifeboat drill

Hands down - the most beautiful part of our trip

Rain forest (those vines are actually roots from plants attached to the tree branches - who knew?)



Did I mention the sunsets?




And the food was to. die. for.
Anyone care to hazard a guess as to where we were?