Results are in...

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August 3

So it's been two months since I put most of the garden in and the plants are BOOMING!!!  

I definitely underestimated how much space these puppies needed... see for yourself...

First tomatoes!

But it looks like there are going to be many more where those came from... can you say pasta sauce?

I mean look at those tomato plants - THEY'RE HUGE!!!  Dwarfing the pepper plants in front of them.

The beans are making headway - climbing climbing climbing but no beans yet... hopefully they'll come soon :)

Ear of corn coming right along - they were "knee high on the 4th of July" as planned

Another plant that has completely exploded - the ZUCCHINI!!!  We're going to have zucchini coming out our ears!

Sadly the spinach did not fair so well... it shot in the heat wave and hasn't quite recovered...

We've been eating lots of lettuce though :)

More details to come...

Moving On...

gardening update from the front lines...

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June 4

Quick update - In an attempt to de-bitter my attitude and rectify the whole "cats destroyed my carrots" issue, I planted more :P  I extended my rows in to the empty space I had left for future plantings and moved on with my life.  I also extended my row of beans (and I found two bean sprouts from my first planting eeek!) to the end of the bed - bring on the green beans :) 

Coffee grounds have now been strategically placed around the garden to be followed by cayenne pepper if needed - who says escalation can't win a war!?!

Still no flowers or pumpkin sprouts... may have to re-seed those too and I don't think I can blame the cats :P

Ben was right...

So for those of you who don't know, I've been gardening... or rather putzing around in the dirt with the hope that things will grow :S  I've been chronicling it on my MT Garden Journal - 2011 page so that it's all in one place/ easy to keep track of.  BUT my husband came home today and informed me that he thought I should make the "garden entries" as part of my normal blog as well.  And as much as it pains me to say it, I think he might be right.

So here I go :)  From now on updates will be on both my Home page and my 

MT Garden Journal - 2011 page.  Here's what all you Home-page-onlys have missed thus far...

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June 2

Zucchini!

... I'm getting impatient... I know... I'm ridiculous.  

I just want to be able to eat the "fruits" of my labor :P  Soon...ish.  

Despite the message my downer-impatience is sending, the garden really is making great strides!  In light of my current sleep-deprived mood (thanks for that one Baby, Mommy really appreciates it...), I'm thinking a pro's and con's list is the way to go update-wise.  Enjoy.

Lettuce!

Pros...
- Lettuce and spinach are coming along BEAUTIFULLY :)
- Some of my onion sprouts are already 4 in. tall
- My tomatoes and peppers have thus far survived the icky weather we've been having - brrrrrrr (I covered the tomatoes with black trash bags and also put supports around them to make them easier to cover)
- I have green berries on my strawberries!
- Corn sprouts are poking through and growing fast.
- My rhubarb is going to town!
- AND one of my zucchini plants is already flowering - woo hoo!

Spinach!

Tomatoes!

Rhubarb!

 Cons...

- My pumpkin sprouts have yet to peek out of their mounds and I'm getting a little worried :(

- But really, the only HUGE con is my on-going war with the cats.  Truly, they will be lucky if they survive the summer with the way they're going.  I've been told that sprinkling coffee grounds around the plants will keep them away - we'll see how it goes because so far, they have destroyed most of my carrot sprouts, dug holes in my pumpkin and zucchini mounds, made "deposits" in my lettuce box and would-be-compost-pile-hiding sunflower patch, and reeked general havoc that is threatening-letter-worthy...

Dear Cinderella and Violet, 

We feed you, clean up after you, and give you a warm place to sleep.  If you value that AT ALL you will cease and desist your current bombardments against my plants.  Let it be known, if I had to choose between my garden and you, it'd be the garden (... yes, I am a dog person who married a cat guy... he soooo owes me).  

Ladies, you've been warned.

Hallie

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May 23

And we have SPROUTING!!!  

We have one corn sprout and a few onion and carrot sprouts that I can see.  They started showing up over the weekend but it wasn't until today that I knew FOR SURE they were what I hoped they were :)

The last few days have been rainy with pretty intense sun yesterday and today.  I was glad to be able to fill up my water barrel (and then some - holy moly lots of water!) but my beds were looking pretty dry today.  Someone suggested I lightly mulch pretty much everything I planted since my beds get so much sun.  Luckily Ben had mowed over the weekend so there was plenty of cut grass to go around - we'll see if the mulching helps keep things from drying out...

P.S. - May 25 - LETTUCE SPROUTING :)

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May 19

YAY! I think I've gotten in all my seeds/ plants for a while aka until I decide to do my next "batch" - my plan is to plant a few of my carrots, onions, lettuce, spinach, and beans at a time so I'm not overloaded with more crops than we can eat :P

Today I finished everything off by planting my....

1) Beans - Blue Lake Pole Stringless FMI
- Planted in a row in front of my "bed/" pole-bean-holder-upper, full sun
- One seed every 3 in, 1 in depth, watered in hole before covering
- Matures in 65 days (July 24ish)

- Plan to plant another line in ~ 2 weeks (June 2) to spread out harvests

Also, I planted a sprinkling of Nasturtium's (Peach Melba Superior) randomly around my bed and at the back of my salad beds to add some color (AND they are edible so I'm thinking they'll be pretty in salads AND you can grind the seeds and use them like pepper - can't go wrong there eh?). They claim to be low maintenance... time will tell.

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May 18

Mommy's little helper :)

With the sun shining, rain clouds looming on the horizon, and a supposed forecast of moderate temperatures for the next week or so, I chanced fate and planted my lettuce, spinach, tomato, pepper, and zucchini plants today…  hoping I won't regret it :S

1)    Tomatoes – Early Girl (2) and Celebrity (1) 

- Mulched, watered in hole before planting

- Planted up against the house ~ 1.5 feet apart  - will get plenty of sun!

- Staked

2) Peppers – Green Bell (1), Mohawk (1), Red Beauty (4), and Early Red (1) 

- Mulched

- Planted most in sunny spot in a row ~ 8 in apart between tomatoes and onions with the Early Red at the front of the bed in the unseeded onion row... there just wasn't room :P

- Staked the Early Red and Green Bell... will probably have to stake them all as the get bigger!

3) Zucchini
- Mounds, watered in hole before planting
- Planted three mounds with a plant a piece ~ 1.5 ft apart between rhubarb and chives, full sun

4) Spinach - Bloomsdale Long-Standing
- Sprinkled seed in three rows 1/2 in deep in planter box, sun/shade mix
- Germination in 7-10 days (Memorial Day Weekend)
- Maturity in 48 days (July 5)
- Plan to plant another crop in ~2 weeks (June 2) to spread out harvest

5) Lettuce - Grand Rapids TBR (Leaf) and Select Salad Blend (Crimson Butter, Red Salad Bowl, Iceberg, Bibb, Lolla Rosa)
- Sprinkled seen in four rows (alternating types) 1/4 in deep in planter box, sun/shade mix
- Germination in 7-10 days (Memorial Day Weekend)
- Maturity in 45-50 days (first week in July)

... really hope my cats stay out of my salad boxes :S  Might have to go "Hulk" on them if they don't!

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May 17

... I love rocks because they are low-maintenance - you don't have to mow it, water it, weed it (often).  Easy -peasy.  However, for those of you you are not aware of this, most rocks are gray... I am not a gray person.  And thus I decided to make a bed along the border of my rocks and plant some Johnny Jump-ups!  Supposedly they will re-seed and we will see their cheery faces again next year... time will tell.

On the veggie front - I've left my tomato, zucchini, and pepper plants outside a few times now and am hoping to get them in the ground today as it is supposed to rain and have fairly moderately temperatures for the next week or so... please God don't kill my plants!

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May 7/8 – first weekend in May 

It had rained for three days straight and I was itching to get to work!  I prepped the beds (mixed top soil with some local potting soil), killed some ants (boiling water... no joke), and began planting my more "cold resistant" crops...

1) Rhubarb
- Mulched lightly
- Planted in far western corner of bed by house - it's a perennial so wanted to put it some where out of the way where it can grow in plenty of sunshine :)

2) Onions – Evergreen Bunching
- Scattered seeds in 1/2 inch deep "trench" and covered lightly with soil
- Planted two rows in front of bed (east of chives) - plenty of sun
- Germination in 10-14 days (May 22)
- Maturity in 60-75 days (July 17ish)
- Plan to plant a new crop in ~ 3 weeks (Memorial Day Weekend)

3) Carrots – Carrots, Rainbow and Little Finger
- Mixed the seeds with sand and scattered seeds in two rows
- Planted one row of each type in front of bed, east of onions... we'll see how each does :P
- Germination in 7-21/ 10-14 days (end of May)
- Maturity in 75-80/ 60-65 days (July 24/ July 10)
- Plan to plant another crop in ~ 3 weeks (Memorial Day Weekend)

4) Pumpkins – Small Sweet Sugar/ Pie
- Planted four seeds per mound about a foot in to mound
- Two mounds in back bed - lots of sun
- Germination in 7-14 days (May 22)
- Maturity in 100 days (Aug 19ish)

5) Corn – Early Sunglow
- Planted one seed every foot-ish, one finger depth
- One row along the back of the bed by the house – rhubarb to mid-garden
- Maturity in 65 days (July 10)

Thus far, I've been watering once daily in the late evening... no rain so have been using water from my make-shift rain barrel aka big plastic tub with a lid so we don't get mosquitoes :S  So far, so good!

EEEEK GARDENING!

Wanted to let you know that I've been making EPIC strides in my garden this week - check out my progress by clicking on my "MT Garden Journal - 2011" page above :)

I'm such a nerd - I'm WAY more pumped about gardening than I should be haha

Amid tangled pillows

A single soft infant soundly sleeps.

From half-buried face peak fluttering lids -

Oh to know those thoughts!

Oh to know those dreams!

To see sparkling fresh images of an innocent world unstained;

Pristine vistas of good assumed painless...

Blessed little one - Eve's remorse.

But with Montana, it is love...

"Three friends married women from different parts of the country. 

The first man married a woman from California. He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man married a woman from New Jersey. He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done, and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man married a girl from Montana. He ordered her to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day, some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye. And his arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher. He still has some difficulty when he pees. "

They say, "You don't mess with Texas." But I've got news for you Texas - 

you've got NOTHING on Montana ;)  

For some people, where they're from isn't a part of who they are... I've met Washingtonians who could care less about being from the Emerald City and Floridians with no special connection to oranges.  Yes, New Yorkers love their Big Apple and if you diss the Red Sox in Boston, BEWARE.  But being a native (or token native) Montanan means something special.  Montanans have a unity that goes beyond values and livestock.  Montanans share a connection with each other and the natural world around them that is binding.  

In studying political science, one of the most significant areas of work is determining what it is it that motivates people to form groups.  Especially in the America of today where patriotism is too meek to compete with individualism to inspire national unity, figuring out what it is that triggers people's "Come Together" impulse is more open to doubt than ever before.  Some say it's race.  Others say religion.  Still others cite sexual orientation, age, gender, financial interests, etc..  But I believe what makes MT unique is that, despite differing lifestyles, political opinions, and religious preferences, Montanans share their surroundings!  Montanans are unified but a foundational sense of place wonderfully described in the preamble of the State Constitution...

"We the people of Montana grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of our mountains, the vastness of our rolling plains, and desiring to improve the quality of life, equality of opportunity and to secure the blessings of liberty for this and future generations..."

Montanans are visually reminded every day of the annoying amount of snow awesomeness of where we live.  And whether you're a fan or not, one can't help but participate in the communal realities of Montana's environment.  This is what I believe unifies Montanans, what brings us together: a unique, strong, mutual experience of place Montanans can't help but share.

God Bless Montana!  And bless all those lucky enough to call this great State home :)

I wondered as I wandered...

By our house, there is a park. And in that park, there's a path, a path that my son Will and I try to meander down daily so Mommy doesn't have one of those bikini-fail kind of summers...ugh. This morning was a particularly awe-inspiring, spring in Montana, sunny day; the type one endures the seemingly-endless winters here just to catch a whiff of. As William snoozed snugly in his Ergo pouch, I walked and "mused" over the winding path supporting my feet.

One of my younger sister's favorite sayings wouldn't stay out of my head - "Not all those who wander are lost." Although semi-cliche these days, for her, it is a reassurance; a reminder that although some life decisions are made on faith, it does not mean that a misstep or tangent journey is fruitless or lacks purpose.

As we wandered over our trail this morning, I couldn't help but ruminate on the idea that America is surprisingly anti-wander. Whether that wandering be mental, emotional, or physical changes in locale, the sentiment remains: for all the high and mighty talk about purpose-seeking, non-traditional career/ life choices, and mobile citizenry, the American bias still rests with those who pretend to know exactly what they want and how they are going to get it. As any recent college graduate knows, our parents, mentors, potential loan-lenders, grad schools, or would-be employers don't value wandering. Why take the risk on someone society tells us is "unstable," "unreliable," or "un_____ (please insert any other valuable-trait-adjective here)?" They believe it's just not worth it to invest in someone without a track record of anti-wandering impulses. Now for some endeavors, this bias makes sense - why offer wander-prone "X" a job, spend the time and money training them, only to have them leave for a new kick a month later?

HOWEVER, what this "go for stable" attitude fails to recognize is the distinction between those wanderers who abuse society's trust and act out of selfish, premeditated, vagrant-dom, versus those for whom wandering is more of a "wriggling in to that new pair of jeans that don't quite fit right yet" phase. I know, I know, I'm sounding much more postmodern than usual today (... maybe it's because I watched my first episode of Glee last night and all I can say is, "Holy Nietzsche Batman!"... ANY WAY... ironic that this post is on wandering eh?), but I feel there is something to be said for responsible wandering. For example:

Exhibit A/ Enlightening Metaphor...

Outside of Deer Lodge, MT, there's a tributary of the Clark Fork that I swear is the most twisty-turning river I've ever seen! Every time I'm there, I always marvel at it's switch-backing roundabouts and man-made looping rolls. Why would anyone force a river in to such an unlikely path you ask? TO CLEAN IT! By allowing a river to wind instead of forcing it to be linear, the rivers sediment/pollutant/bad things in general, scrubbers kick in and naturally keep the flowing water clean! Because of this, wandering rivers are cleaner, healthier, and more stable than their "straight and narrow" counterparts.  With rivers, wandering is a good thing.

Just as the twists and turns in a river help remove unwanted babble, human wandering also has the potential to refine; to force self-reflection and growth that would never otherwise be inspired. Wandering by definition admits a lack of will concerning one's direction; a giving over of control; a surrendering to our inability to predict or mandate our futures. Wandering admits the truth that we are not the ones in charge of our destinies.

So to all you anti-wanderers out there, today I encourage you to explore. To let go and give wandering a try.

You might be surprised where you end up...

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

So what's with the name of this blog? It sounds like Plato got trashed, forgot how to spell, and decided to announce said inebriated-entitling on the voice box of modern society - a blog.

Contrary to first appearances, this blog is not a compilation of drunken self-reflections by some dude named Drew. Truth be told, I came up with the blog and title almost two years ago on a spur of the moment, not too flattering "Why do other people get to have witty blogs with you-can-tell-I-have-a-college-degree titles?" impulse (that I often try to ignore) to have a means of sharing my thoughts because, of course, the world would be a better a place if everyone were told exactly what I think... right Hallie, keep telling yourself that.  In terms of the title...

* I've always jived with my middle name, Drew.

* Apparently I drooled an inordinate amount as a baby and thus acquired the extreme-confidence-building nickname "Drewly."

* Muse seemed like a good verb at the time...

In hindsight, however, I really think the title works for this endeavor...

* It reflects a whimsical-ness of childhood that I hope is never lost in my day-to-day, adult life (as semi-chronicled here).

* "Drooling" actually corresponds well with at least SOME of my expected topics of discussion... drooling over food, clothes, vacation spots, my impending garden or other generically good ideas... drooling because my now seven month old son is sanity trying/rabid-rage provoking... drooling out of utter relaxation and happiness (cat owners, unfortunately you know what I mean)...

* I've always loved the Muse-concept -

"to consciously put something inspiring in your life to prompt creativity and motivate artistic outlet"

I'm game.

And thus - "DREWLY MUSINGS"
For your viewing pleasure - enjoy.