Hello everyone!

It is that time of year where I switch from #teacherlife to #coonsmithsutlery !

While I adore my job it is EXTREMELY FUN to get to be a kid again during summers. I try to keep up with my passions even during the school year, but that is not an easy task…especially as a new teacher (just finished up my FIRST year woo-hoo) who is taking lateral entry classes. I am DOING fun stuff, I’m just not as good at sharing it with y’all.

I uploaded a new video to YouTube a couple of days ago — it’s a pretty in depth tour of my little garden. If you are interested in a blow-by-blow, please go check it out. Let me know how you feel about the content, length of video, information, etc. My mom ( ❤ ahem ❤ ) felt like it was too long. Let me know what you think.

ANYWAY!

I’ve done a couple of things in the ol Victory Garden since I posted the video.

GARLIC HARVEST!

 

This was my first attempt at growing any sort of bulb crop and I’m not really sure how I feel about the results. I’m a little bummed. I did grow SOMETHING and I do think in the end I will have learned some things, so it’s not a total failure. Let me back up and tell you a little background info.

This past fall I planted three types of seed plants, 52 garlic, 30 shallots, 30 onions. For the garlic, I soaked them in water with baking soda over night before planting. I planted each clove tip up, about 3 inches apart in rows about 6 inches apart. I then covered the plants with about 6 inches of straw. Honestly, about a month ago, as the tops began to brown and fall over, there were still about 20 grassy tops still visible in the garlic area. I decided to harvest them today because there were so few tops left. I was able to pull FIVE bulbs. 😦 Two were an okay size, three were very small. I don’t know what happened to the ones that were there only a couple of weeks ago 😦

Early this season, I discovered the onions that I planted had completely disappeared. There was no trace that I ever planted them. When the green shoots started appearing from the garlic and shallots, there was nothing coming up in the onion area. I dug through the dirt and could find nothing there. I guess they just decomposed because there was never any evidence of digging (from dogs or other critters). I went ahead and planted other plants in that bed.

The shallots are still very green and their flowers bloomed about a week ago.  I’m planning to wait and let those tops turn brown before I do anything with them. You can see more details of all of this in the garden tour video. If you have any insight please leave comments either here or on the video. I obviously need all the help I can get!

Garden Tour Video!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT NOW!

STARTING BASIL FROM CUTTINGS!

I feel like most everyone already knows this, but on the off chance that YOU don’t already know this trick I am here today to blow your mind.

 

All you have to do to get FREE basil plants is this:

1. Cut several stems of basil.
(NOTE: You can even use fresh basil that you bought at the grocery store!)
2. Put stems in a glass of water just like you would a pretty flower.
3. Leave stems in water for about 2 weeks, making sure that the water level stays high.
4. Plant your basil starts!

How cute is the teacup I used?! Mr. Smith’s little brother got married a few weeks back and these teacups were the wedding favors we got to take home. I love the idea, the teacups, and the NEWLYWEDS!!! Feel free to share both the teacup idea AND the basil cuttings idea with anyone you think might be interested!

That’s all for now!

Be sure to check out the video and let me know what you think!

Stay tuned for more fun–the summer has only just begun!!!