Our Garden Journey season 2 week 9 and 10

Our Garden Journey season 2 week 9 and 10

I’m kind of excited to update you guys on what has been happening around here in our garden this week and last week! We have got some changes going on that I think will be very beneficial in helping especially while we are away. I also will be able to update you guys on if my seedlings have survived or not because of last weeks frost and why I decided to combine weeks in this post. Also, last but not least update you all about new seedlings that I’ve planted this week and show you where I am at with my indoor plants.

So while I took that little mini break from blogging and gardening this past fall I started to do a lot of research into ways that I can improve my garden. One way that I read up on was installing a drip irrigation system. I read that installing this system is helpful in watering your plants in more ways than one. For one thing it sits on top of the soil and helps get the water right where it needs to be and that is at the base of the plant. For another thing that I read up on the drip irrigation is that it eliminates watering your plants from above which can not be a great thing to do when you have a plant where getting mildew on the leaves can literally kill it. I still have some tweaks to do to my system but I’m going to get it up and running soon. Also, on top of the system I bought a timer to water my plants so that my plants can get the water that they need while we are away.

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The second thing that I want to share with you guys are the seedlings that have survived and so far have sprouted. So I did make a mini video down below one night after work to show you all everything that has so far sprouted. I honestly didn’t think that anything would have survived other than what had already sprouted. So here is what has so far sprouted of both my vegetables and flowers from that deep frost that we had recently. So far I’ve had Danver carrots, lupine, both marigold mixed and red knight and also painted daisies emerge.

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The third thing that I wanted to update you all on is why we haven’t been able to update the blog lately and that is because we have all been sick yet again. This time with the stomach bug. It’s has not been fun getting sick with the little guy. However, I’m glad to say that we are now on the mend.

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The last thing that I wanted to update you all on the seedlings that I planted in week 9 and also give you guys an update on the plants that I already have already started indoors as well. So first off I wanted to say that I’ve already planted new seedlings for my cauliflower and cabbage outside in the same spots. Fingers crossed that they sprout and survive this time. However, inside you could say that I’m doing early trial run of growing pumpkins. Am I crazy for starting this early? Maybe?? However, if I do really well with them then I will start new seedlings in the summer. Boy oh boy do I have a lot of them too. I have jack o lantern, Halloween blend, sugar pie, little October, and Cinderella. My house will probably be known as the pumpkin house this fall. As of week 10 I have a few pumpkins that have sprouted and a few cauliflowers and cabbages too. and That’s not all that I’m growing though. I still have to update you all where I’m at with my other transplants that are growing. So far I have jalapeños, sweet Williams, Johnny jump up, sweet peppers, bell peppers, supper sweet tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, basil, sage, cantaloupe, Georgia rattlesnake watermelon, straight 8 cucumbers, garden sweet cucumbers and bush variety cucumbers. I know that is a lot and that is what I have so far. I still have more seeds to start in the next few weeks too.

Week 9 In this photo I have a lot of plants growing here. I have watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, plum pear trees and tomatoes.
I have more pear plum trees and Johnny jump ups.
I have jalapeño’s, sweet pepper, bell peppers, purple cone flowers and Johnny jump up.

I have sage and basil growing here.

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I’m so excited to have more plants growing outside. Make sure to follow and subscribe below to our latest updates on our blog! Wait until you see what I have on next weeks blog!

Our Garden Journey season 2 week 8

Our Garden Journey season 2 week 8

So this week might be a week where I don’t know if all my crops out side will survive. If your wondering why my blog this week is written a little weird then it’s because I’m trying to write it day by day at least for this week. We have had some pretty weird weather happen this week in the good old south!

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So if you guys don’t already know I live in Georgia. Not the country the state that is in the USA. If you are from Georgia then you know that the weather is bipolar. One day it’s warm and in the 60’s then the next day it’s in the 30’s and you see sleet in the forecast. Let’s just say that no farmer, homesteader or hobby gardener liked that little surprise in the forecast. Now I did do some preparation to kinda help it. I don’t think I did enough but something is better than nothing right? Well, I did put a covering on my plants outside with what I could find in my garage. I did find a thin blanket sheet that was super long and I put that on my raised garden bed outside. I also extended a ground cover that was already on the hill over to where my plants are. If I would have been more prepared then I would have bought some plastic wrap from the grocery store like this one guy did in my neighborhood. Yes he literally wrapped his whole front garden in it. Last but not least I just covered my smaller raised bed with the plastic from my garden soil. That last one flew off the bed already. As you can see from the pictures below that I got a little creative with pinning everything down. Also, I should mention that my husband and I tried moving that smaller raised bed but it is too heavy.

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Now I usually do my gardening on the weekends because I work a normal 9-5 kind of job during the week. I decided to do my gardening on Sunday this time around because on Saturday as you all know at this point we had a freeze. I decided to video document my experience of the morning after. I’ve got to say that I’m not sure that everything will survive but I’m hoping so. The top soil was fine but digging deeper into the soil it was a little bit rock hard. For this week, I planted flowers, herbs and vegetables outside. I planted red knight marigolds, mixed marigolds, winter and summer squash, and parsley. I also transplanted cauliflower and cabbage too. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will still get a good harvest this year.

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The last thing that I did was I also planted some new seedlings indoors. I’m supper excited about these because these are the fruits that we eat the most in my house during the summer. We planted Georgia rattlesnake watermelon and cantaloupe. I also planted some varieties of cucumbers as well. I know I sucked at growing them last year but I wanted to give them another chance this year.

So far this year I’m still hopeful that it will be a great harvest year despite the little set back of the below freezing weather we had this past weekend. I’m hoping a lot of the seeds that I’ve planted outside will pull through. My goal for this year is to not only grow as much food as I can but also eat healthier and also to save on some costs and lower our grocery bill too. Please like share and subscribe to my blog. Comment down below if you guys think I should start a YouTube channel!

Our garden journey season 2 week 7

Our garden journey season 2 week 7

I’ve got to say that I’m so excited to garden this year! I’m excited to be pushing my own boundaries and learning how to become better at it. Not only have I started some new seedlings inside and outside this week but I’ve also done a bit of research into learning companion planting. I’m so excited to you you guys what I’ve planted this week and how I’m going to use my garden beds.

So for this week I started planting one of each of my fruits and vegetables. I’ve also planted out some different types of flowers as well. Inside I planted Roma tomatoes. I’m really excited to be growing this variety so that I can make pasta sauce. However, outside I’ve planted strawberries and Danver carrots. I don’t know the variety of straw berries because they are store bought ones that started to go bad and well I just really wanted to at least not let the seeds go to waste. We go through a lot of strawberries so I really didn’t want those ones that went bad to go to waste. I’ve also started planting flowers as well too. The flower seeds that I’ve planted are echinacea, painted daisy, lupine, asylum and ornamental grass (a smaller variety). I’ve selected those flowers for two reasons. The first is that I wanted something that is a perennial and would come back year after year. The second is that they can attract pollinators (bees) and fight off unwanted pests too. I do not want to use any pesticides on my plants. I planted my perennials in two different spots and for slightly different reasons. The first is the obvious in my planter bed to help pollinate my garden and the second place is in the bed in my front yard for aesthetic reasons. Also, I wanted to make sure to tell you guys as a tip when you planting new seedlings inside or outside is to make sure you water your soil first before planting. The is so that your seedlings don’t become washed out and “misplaced”. You defiantly don’t want that to happen.

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What I did to prepare my backyard garden bed!
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This is part one of my flower bed in the front of the house
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This is part two of the flower bed in the front of the house.

Another important aspect of gardening is what is called companion planting. Companion planting can help your crops grow by not only sometimes giving it nutrients but it can help ward off unwanted pests. Take for example tomatoes and basil. The herby smell of the basil helps repel bugs and more specifically hornworms. I’ve learned how important companion planting for your garden is. In the next few weeks you guys are going to see me do a lot of companion planting with different herbs and plants.

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What I put in my backyard garden!

I can already feel that this year is going to be a big year for growing my garden. Especially with what I’ve learned on how much companion planting and having pollinators (flowers) in your garden can help in the growth of your harvest. I’m not that great with growing flowers but it is something that I’m willing to learn. I’m just hoping that all this rain that we have had this week is going to help with the seeds that are germinating outside.

Our garden journey season 2 week 6

Our garden journey season 2 week 6

This week has been a crazy week between my son being sick and my husband starting to go into the office again, thanks covid, I haven’t forgotten about you guys. So where do I start with the updates on my garden? Well, I guess I need to give you guys an update on what I’ve been growing indoors and outdoors. I also need to update you guys on some things that I’ve been doing in my garden this week! I’m so excited to be giving you guys this update! Also, I’m sorry for the lack of pictures! I suck at remembering to take pictures at times.

To start off with my plants have been growing like crazy!! Induct I’ve already had to transplant one type of flower into a bigger container. I also have so many peppers and tomatoes that I’m growing too! It is literally crazy too! My end goal for this year is to see if I can learn and grow as much food as possible to sustain my family and also create a business to sell produce at farmers markets. I want to be able to share what I’m growing with other people. Now outside I’m already seeing black seeded lettuce, sparkler rashes and Nantes carrots growing too. I see a lot more of them growing. I know that I probably mentioned about them popping up last week but since last week I’ve had a few more come up. I think that the raised garden bed that I have my radishes and carrots in was a great investment. If you guys would like a review than please comment down below!

The second thing that I have been busy doing other than taking care of a sick toddler is getting my in ground raised garden bed ready for some plants and seeds. If you read my post last week then you would have seen that I built that thing in about an hour. However, this week I’ve decided to fill it. I started off with putting down some card board (thanks Amazon) at the very bottom. I then bought the cheapest compost manure I could find at lowes. I did already have some compost of my own but it wasn’t enough to fill it so I bought 30 bags of compost. All I’m going to say is that boy oh boy that was quite a workout! I still have some left over for my grow bags too. Before I buy another bed I’m going to see just how many seedlings/plants I can fit into the one bed that I do have.

Overall, I think I’ve got off to a good start with my crops this year. Ive learn a lot in between seasons about what Ive could have done differently and I think it’s really paying off now with how much I am now growing. I’m also super excited to be growing crops in my raised garden bed this year too!

Our garden journey season 2 week 5!

Our garden journey season 2 week 5!

Here we are at week 5 and boy oh boy do I have a lot to tell you guys! I have some changes that are going on in my garden from upgrades that I’ve made and some landscaping that I’ve done. I’m so excited to tell you guys so let’s get started.

The first thing that I’ve done is worked a little bit more on the hill. I’ve cleared out a good section of it. While it is a big project to work on I know that I can get a majority of it done my summer if I work on clearing it out on the weekends. I’ve taken pictures of my progress so far of before and after. As you can see in the pictures below I’ve decided to start from the top and work my way down. My thinking is that instead of growing fruits and vegetables all over it I may put a lot of flowers and attract pollinators and put my fruits and veggies somewhere else.

Before
After

Which comes to my second point. I’ve finally come to a point where I bought a huge 8 foot raised garden bed. I think I’m going to buy another one in the next few weeks. It was easy for me to put together as a woman on my own. It took me about 45 minutes with one mess up. It only took me that long because I was screwing in the screws and bolts by hand. (I was too lazy to grab a screwdriver) I’ve also took some cardboard that I was going to put in composter and I put that at the bottom of the bed. It wasn’t super hard to put together but it was very time consuming.

Lastly, I wanted to update you guys on seedlings that are started to emerge outside. I finally have two lettuce plants emerging, some radishes and a carrot coming out. I am ecstatic about it. I was a little bit nervous that my lettuce seeds that I planted on the hill had washed out from all the rain we have had but nope they did not! One tip that I’m going to give you guys and I do this with both my seeds inside and outside when first planting is that after I put the seeds in the ground is I will water them with warm water. I do this because in February the ground here is sill on the colder side so it helps the seeds germinate.

My one little carrot that is growing. This type is called Nantes half long
These are called sparkler rashes
One of my lettuce black seeds that sprouted
These are both of my lettuce black seeds that sprouted.

Overall, I’m pretty ecstatic with what I’m growing. I just hope that I have a good outcome of crops for this year. Like I’ve said that my goal for this year is to cut down on cost of our groceries and that my goal for next year is to hopefully start my own farmers market business. At least that’s what I want to do in the next two years. I think with all the supply chain issues that more and more people are going to start producing and selling locally.

Our Garden Journey week 4

Our Garden Journey week 4

So this week I’ve been having some changes in my garden that I really want to tell you guys about. I wanted to tell you guys about a few changes that I have made to the hill that I’m going to put my garden on as well as seeds that I’ve planted and also how I’m keeping track of my garden too. I’m so excited to tell you guys about some of my future plans.

My biggest project to date with my garden is prepping our hill/slope to grow fruits and vegetables. We have already cleared off a lot of the over grown weeds and kudzu. However, we still have a lot of ground weeds that are left over. So far I’ve already got a little area started for my lettuce at the bottom. This past weekend I started to hack away at some of the weeds at the top. My goal is to do it section by section until the whole slope is weed free so that I can start putting my compost soil on. This will really give me time to figure out the best spots that are flat enough on my slope to actually put some plants in. While walking on the slope I noticed that it has some parts that are curved into the slope where I could potentially put a plant or two in because apart of the curve is a little bit flat and in pushed into the hill so I don’t think those areas will have much erosion. One thing is for sure though I that clearing all the weeds out is making me work out a lot that’s for sure! Sorry that I don’t have any updated pictures of the progress that I’ve made so far but my goal is to work at it every weekend so next weekend I will make sure to take some pictures for next weeks post.

This week is also another round of seed planting! This week I planted different types of tomatoes, cabbage, two types of basil, cauliflower and more lettuce! The types of tomorrows that I have are super sweet hybrid 100, red cherry tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, tomato sweetie and cloudy day tomatoes! I think what I am the most excited to grow this year are tomatoes especially the little varieties. It brings me back many fond memories of eating tomatoes from my grandpas garden in the summer. I’m also excited about growing cabbage and cauliflower because those are new plants to me and I feel like I’m ready for a challenge to have and grow them in my garden.

So to wrap up this weeks post I hope you will join me in subscribing to my newsletter which will let you know when I post a new blog! Please let me know what you are growing in your garden down below!

Our gardening Journey week 3

Our gardening Journey week 3

So this weeks post is going to be a little bit short. We haven’t had a whole lot of changes this week other than one major one. I only made one major change with our plants this week only because 2 out of the 3 of us have been sick. My son and I both got some kind of weird cold virus. Yes I was tested and no it’s not covid.

What’s is the major change you ask? Well, I’ve finally caved in and I bought grow lights. It’s been 3 days and I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not but I have had more seeds sprouting in the last three days. When I say a lot of seeds I really do mean it. So far a lot of my pollinator flowers like my purple cone flowers, sweet William and John jump ups have sprouted. I also have some jalapeños and sweet peppers that have sprouted too. These grow lights that I bought are ones that have a timer so that it will automatically go on and off by itself. I personally like it because I don’t have to manually do it. I think I didn’t want to buy them buy them at first because of the extra costs and also the issue of where I would put them. In the end it all worked out and I managed to fix up a spot in a closet under our stairs.

Overall even though this week has been kind of a cruddy week for me physically I’m happy that I made that changed with germinating my seeds. I know I keep on saying this but I’m so excited to be starting our growing season! Also please don’t forget to follow and sign up for our news letter down below!

Our Garden Journey week 2

Our Garden Journey week 2

So for this weeks post I’m going to update you guys on what items I bought to prepare for this garden season, what I started to seed this week and what problems that I’m having with my plants that I’m trying to fix. I bought some new items that I figured out that I needed to have a successful garden season this year. I not only took pictures but I took some short video clips as well.

The first thing that I bought was more planting cells. I decided to go with a pack of 5 containers that have 72 cells each. One advice that I will give you is if you are looking on Amazon to make sure that you are looking at suppliers that are not sketchy. I’ve noticed that the quality of sellers and product is going downhill. You want planters that have good reviews. The ones that I have are so far going ok with the seeds that I planted so far. I also bought a composter this year to make my own organic soil. I buy so much stuff from Amazon that I figured that I could compost some of those boxes. I think investing in a composter was a good investment. For one thing it will help keep down the cost of soil. I also bought a soil tester too. All I’ve got to say is that I’ve had it for two days and I really do think it’s going to help. If you keep on reading I will explain why later on.

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I’ve started planting my seeds for my garden now. Mostly all of them are brand new seeds that I’ve never grown before. The seeds that I’ve started are:

Rosemary
Jalapeños
Oregano
Sweet peppers
Bell peppers
Spearmint
Snap dragon
Sweet William
Purple cone flower
Jonny jump up
Lavender
African daisy

I’m really excited to start growing flowers and food this year as you can tell. Every day when I get home one of the first things I will do is go check out the seedlings. Right now I only have one rosemary seeding that already seeded. I tried taking a picture of it for the blog but it didn’t come out too good. I also have a couple of pear plants growing too. One major problem that I’m trying to fix with the pear plants is trying to keep them from dying after I transplant them. I bought a soil tester probe to test out the soil and while I think it is a great product so far I, however, don’t think that I can save my pears from dying at this point. From the research that I’ve done is that pears love acidic soil and my PH balance in my soil is too high. I tried saving my pears from dying by putting vinegar in the soil. I think by doing that I either may have not done it right or I should have not put it in at all. If you have any suggestions on how I can save my pear transplants please let me know in the comments below! After all I think that whether your a beginner gardener or not you are constantly learning from your mistakes and learning how to improve.

Overall, I’m so excited on gardening this year! I know I have a lot to learn about gardening still but I’m hoping to somewhat sustain my family off of the food that I’m growing. Don’t forget to like share and subscribe to get weekly updates!

Our Garden Journey season 2 week 1

Our Garden Journey season 2 week 1

Hey everybody! Long time no posts! First of all I’m so excited to be gardening again and that it is a new season. I’ve been itching to start posting again but I didn’t want to start blogging to soon but I thought that this week would be a great week to start!

So to start off with I wanted to tell you guys what I’ve been doing during the winter to start preparing my garden for this year! I’ve been doing a lot of things lately. For instance, I’ve started composting in the late fall early winter. So far I’ve got a few gallons of soil composted in my composter. I have also invested in a raised garden bed this year and I’m planning on using one it as a way to attract pollinators. Speaking of garden beds I have made it my mission to fix up our hill in our backyard and transform it into my garden. which I’ve started going already. My plan is to do that in late February or early March because it’s still cold outside and I haven’t been able to do it the last few weeks because we did get some snow recently. Lastly, on what I’ve been doing is I’ve also been watching and learning from other gardeners on YouTube. So far I’ve learned so many things from MI gardener, roots and refuge farms, epic gardening, the veggie boys and ace homestead just to name a few. I kid you not they are amazing gardeners to learn from. I’ve learned new ways of making a raised garden bed to how to combat certain diseases on plants.

So what seeds have I started already? Well, I actually started a couple in December just as a tester seed and let’s just say that they aren’t doing too bad. I started strawberries and pear plums from store bought seeds. My one strawberry plant is doing alright and my pear plum trees are thriving right now. I’ve also just started lavender, rosemary and sage as well just this week. As you can tell I’ve also upgraded my green house trays to fit more seeds. I hope that one day I’ll be able to get a grow light but I think that will be later on down the line. I’ve also added a picture or two of some of the plants that I’m going to try to grow in my garden this year down below.

My one strawberry plant

Overall I’m so excited about growing my own food this year. My goal this year is to get to a point where I don’t need rely on groceries stores. I also want to hear what you are planning to put in your garden this year too!

Long time no blogging!?!?

Long time no blogging!?!?

Hey guys I wanted to jump on here to say that I’m still going to be blogging. I just wanted to give you guys an update on everything going on around here. It has defiantly been a minute from everyone in my house getting sick to me planting new seeds.

Everyone around here has been sick this last month. Tis the season for colds! No we didn’t have COViD this year even though 2 out of the three of us did have it last year. Weirdly enough since my body has had many colds in the past from teaching that ever since I had COViD I have symptoms that mimic COViD. Yes I did test negative for COViD and yes I am fully vaccinated. As a side note I believe it’s your choice to be vaccinated or not. The whole vaccination thing is not why I’m posting this update. I’m posting this update to let you know where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to!

If your asking if I’m still going to garden in the spring then the answer is yes! My son is a bit older and walking now so I hope by summer that we will get to have some fun gardening together. After all toddlers do like to play with water and dirt right now I’ve already stared to plant some seeds. Yes I know it’s early but some of these seeds are more like tester seeds for me because they all are from fruits that are store bought. I’m trying out different ways and methods to get them to grow. I should also mention that I learned to harvest the beans from the green beans so that I can grow more green beans next spring. Even though it’s the dead of winter here in Georgia I have been preparing my garden for the next growing season. I will make another post about that later on though.

Overall, I’m excited for this next growing season. I’ll have some pretty big updates to give you guys in the next couple of weeks. Right now it’s our dead season down here in Georgia so nothing is growing and everything is pretty much dead. Don’t forget to sign up to receive blog updates down below!

Our Garden Journey end of season 1

Our Garden Journey end of season 1

So it’s the end our our gardening season this year and if you have been wondering why I haven’t been posting as much then this is why. I’m going to make this post short, sweet and as simple as can be.

First off I would like to say that I think I had a pretty good season considering I started late in the game. I think I did pretty well for myself. I had one cucumber, tons of green beans and a few red tomatoes and many green ones of course. I know that I have a lot to improve on going into my second year next year.

Secondly, the reason why I haven’t been writing and updating as much is because well their isn’t really much to update on. Other than my garden is starting to die off. I’m trying to dry out my green bean seeds so that I can grow them next year. I also decided to pick all of my sweet tomatoes (even the green ones) because it is getting cold here in north Georgia. The only plants that are still somewhat growing but I don’t expect to last very much longer are my radishes, carrots, and lettuce. I do expect those to die soon too with the colder weather coming.

Lastly, we have been trying to prepare our garden for next year. I have been trying out composting and it seems to be working out really well so far. My husband and I have been also focusing on our front and back garden by adding mulch and taking out all the weeds. He is also trying to put tarp out on our hill to try and kill the kudzu. We don’t know if it will work or help but I will be doing updates on it. Even though I gave up on planting flowers I am going to try and do it again. I still have lots of seeds left over that I’m planning to use. I also almost forgot to mention that I’m trying out a little experiment of growing plum prunes. I originally bought them at Costco and I loved them so much that I want to see if I can grow them from a seeding. I really wish that I took pictures but I basically used a hammer to hammer the seed out of the shell and then I took the seed and put it on a damp Scott towel in a ziplock bag and I set it in a window that has lots of sun for a week until it sprouted. Then what I did was after it sprouted I put it in this small pot with soil and I sealed up the bag. I don’t know what will happen but it can’t hurt to try it.

Overall, I’m really happy with my garden. I will update soon on what is going on around here. Especially with my new seedling starting to emerge and with my compost bin currently baking. I hope to update you all soon on my composting journey.

Our gardening Journey weeks 17 and 18

Our gardening Journey weeks 17 and 18

This weeks post is going to be a little bit different. I’ve decided to combine my weekly posts because well not much is going on here in our garden. It’s almost the end of our growing season and right now I’m in sort of a planning stage of deciding what changes we want to make in our garden.

First off our plants are still doing great. Knock on wood I’m getting some great output from my tomato plant. I haven’t harvested them yet but I see lots of them growing. I recorded some short clips of my tomato plants. It’s starting to get a little bit colder here in the south. If you live in Georgia then you know that Georgia weather can be bipolar as I call it. Where it can be cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon. As a result of it turning into fall my green bean plant has slowed down with growing and my cucumber plant has completely died on me. My plan for this week is to let my beans dry out so that I can use the seeds for the next growing season.

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So what do you have planned next? Well, my husband and I already have a couple of projects planned out for this fall. The first three projects are putting up Halloween decorations, fixing up our plant bed in the front of our house and starting a compost pile. This is a brand new house so our front yard has a lot of crab grass and weeds because of the sod. It’s been kinda crazy around here with Halloween coming up. We haven’t been doing much to the garden this week because it has rained so much. As for the composter though, I found this outdoor duel one by for less than $100.00. It did take me a while to put it together but I think it will be well worth it.

Overall’ we are super excited to start planning out our garden for the spring. We hope that with adding in mulch it will give it a much cleaner look. I’m also hoping that my composting adventure will cut down on the cost of soil in our yard while also growing lots of food for us next year.

Using these tips saved me money as a new mom

Using these tips saved me money as a new mom

So I just want to put a disclaimer that everything in this article is my own opinion and that I’m not getting paid to do this. These are purely tips that have helped my family save money as a new family of three. If you are a new mom, a new dad, a single mom or a new family of three you are probably freaking out about the expenses of having a child. Well, these are the best tips that I have when it comes to saving money on baby and toddler items.

1. Don’t buy newborn sizes. Don’t do it because they will grow out of them in a week or two. Only buy them if you have a premie. Buy the 0-3 to start off with. The 0-3 size will last longer on your child than the newborn. In the end you will end up with a bunch of newborn clothes that he/she cannot wear and you could be spending money on those unused clothes towards diapers.

2. Buy clothes that are a size bigger than what the tag says they should be wearing at their age. I’m saying this because if let’s say you are buying fall clothes now those clothes will need to last them till March and these little guys grow like weeds. This tip helps if you are already on a tight budget. For example my son just turned 16 months and I just bought him 24 month clothing because I do not want to keep on buying clothes throughout the winter for him. Especially with prices of every item going up.

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3. Join baby products communities and rewards programs. Most baby products like enfamil, huggies or pampers send out coupons and have rewards when you sign up on their website. Enfamil will literally send you coupons to use. We all know that formula can get expensive. Huggies and pampers also have rewards programs too. Also, apps like Fetch is also great to use for baby products. You get points back to use on gift cards every time you upload a receipt or order anything from Amazon. Just as a side note Amazon is great to use to buy baby items on too especially during the newborn stage . You can use my promo code PDNQ27 to get 2,000 points right now when you sign up.

4. Buying baby and toddler clothes at consignment stores or using Amazon prime wardrobe. The best decision that I made was buying my son’s clothes as a newborn at a kids consignment store. I literally got many of his clothes brand new with tags at half the price that they would have been at the store. Now when they grow out of their clothes you can always sell them back to consignment stores and get some money back for them. You can also sell gently used baby toys, bouncers, pack in plays and swingers back to the consignment stores. I also use Amazon prime wardrobe to try and buy my son’s clothes. I like using it because I’m not getting charged until the 7th day and I know myself if I forget to return it then it will sit in my closet. That way if it doesn’t fit him then it’s gets sent back straight away. I also really don’t want to bring my child out at times. It feels like I’m going on a field trip with him. Also, Amazon prime wardrobe is also good to use if you are pregnant for maternity clothes. If you don’t feel comfortable going to the store then use prime wardrobe. For one it’s cheaper than many maternity stores and you won’t risk yourself going out to the stores.

5. If you are buying clothes or any items from a big name brand store then check out their clearance items first because you might be able to buy 0-3 months baby clothes for really cheap. For instance, I really liked Macy’s backstage when they first started because I could get a pack of 2-3 rompers for like $3.00. Also, TJ max also has a lot of cute baby items for 3 to 4 dollars. You can buy clothes, bath toys and toys from TJ max.

Please share this list with every new mom or soon to be new mom you know! Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter for more parenting tips!

Our gardening Journey week 16

Our gardening Journey week 16

So this week has been a good week for our garden. It starting to cool down just a tiny bit here down south. I’m trying to let what I have grow and harvest until the end of October. Just a warning for you that this weeks post is going to be a bit short.

So let’s start off with the good. I’ve grown a ton of green beans that now my son and I eat it at lunch. My husband, however, likes them raw as a snack. He is weird I know. I literally thought this plant was going to die weeks ago and then all of a sudden it came back to life. The next awesome thing that is happening is that my tomatoes are growing and sprouting. I don’t have any to eat yet but I’m excited! Even if it doesn’t get ripe I won’t be mad. I just wish that I had planted them earlier However, despite the good things I think I’m going to let my cucumber plant die. I took off the mesh covering because the rope that was keeping it together broke. While I’m glad that it sprouted one good cucumber I think I’m going to let this plant die out and just replant it next season.

Over all I think I did okay for my first season of gardening. I’ve learned a lot of tips and tricks. I’m already starting to plan out our garden for next spring.

Our gardening Journey week 15

Our gardening Journey week 15

So this post this week is going to be sort of a reflection post. In the past few weeks I’ve come across a YouTuber named James prigioni. You could say that I’ve been inspired by the knowledge of his food Forrest. Well, this past week he inspired me in showing that even he can make mistakes or have problems as someone that has been growing his own food for years. We are all human and constantly learning.

Over the course of this past summer I’ve learned a lot about what I can improve on with growing my garden. For one thing don’t keep on transplanting plants or fertilizing them too early cause they may die faster. That’s a mistake that I did twice and my basil suffered because of that. I’ve also learned to properly trim my cucumber plant so that I can get a good harvest. I learned that one this past week. I’ve also learned that even though it looks half dead that it can still have a comeback like my green bean plant. I’m still getting a good harvest out of my green beans. I love growing my own vegetables and I love blogging about it. One thing that James prigioni taught me is that no matter if you are an amateur gardener like me or have lots of experience like him that mistakes and disappointment happens.

This is what my green bean plant looks like now. now is really pumping out green beans!
This is what my cucumber plant looked like a few weeks ago. Since then I have really trimmed back my plant.

Overall, I really do enjoy it. It’s something that I take pride in and I hope to someday to inspire people to garden themselves. If you don’t know who James is and have not seen any of his videos then please go to his channel on YouTube.

Why I’ve decided to put my toddler in school during a pandemic.

Why I’ve decided to put my toddler in school during a pandemic.

So before the pandemic, actually, long before the pandemic I used to be a certified lead Montessori guide. I had to stop teaching due to some health issues and make a career shift. However, that’s a story for another day though. Anyways my husband and I always talked about putting our son in school from a young age way before he was born and this pandemic hit. I’ve always wanted him to go to school at a young age because of the benefits of social interactions at a young age.

You might say that he is too young or that you should have someone watch him. Or that you don’t think that he should be in school because of the pandemic. Well, right now we do have someone watching him but because he hasn’t been around many kids we still decided to put him in school. For us we had to weigh out the pros and cons.

For a lot of mommas like me this isn’t a easy decision. For some it maybe because they have no childcare while they work. For others it might be the one time of day where they can have time to themselves. You might also say that you shouldn’t put him in school cause of the new variants. Well, news flash you can’t predict where a virus will be and you certainly can’t shelter kids for the rest of their lives. I know that he will thrive in school because of this pandemic he has had to live a chunk of his life a tad bit sheltered. This pandemic has taken away from him meeting many family members and interacting with friends his age. I know that him being in school will have a huge impact on his learning. He will learn many new things and I know that he will make many new friends. As a past Montessori guide I know that a huge benefit to having him in school this young is that it will make him more socially mature.

All throughout this pandemic I’ve worried what will this do to his learning and mental health of staying sheltered. I’m worried what kind of toll this pandemic will take on him in the future. I’ve listed out the pros and cons of having him start school so young. Both my husband and I know that starting him this early as a toddler in school is the best for him. We didn’t make this decision lightly but at the same time we have seen how he interacts with people and we don’t want him to have social anxiety because of this pandemic. I feel that it is important that every parent should make the best decision for their child and not be shamed for it.

I know that this post seems like it’s all over the place with my thoughts about putting my child in school. I just wanted to get my thoughts out their and say that it’s ok to put your child in school or do virtual. You have to do what is best for your child and your family. Like many others I’m so tired of this pandemic and I’m ready to go back to some sense of normalcy.

How to harvest and properly store basil?

How to harvest and properly store basil?

So as a new gardener I came to this bump in the road and questioning what is the right way to harvest basil? So I’ve scoured the internet and also asked my father on what’s the proper way to harvest and store basil. These are the steps that I’ve learned on how to do just that.

Materials:

Paper towels

Ice water in a bowl or plastic container is fine

Scissors

Gallon size bag

Basil plants

Step 1: Go through your plant and take out all the dead leaves that have fallen on the soil.

Step 2: Start cutting the stems right after the first node of the mature basil. The mature basil will have two big leaves and two small leaves on it like the one in this picture. You want to make sure you harvest the basil before those two little leaves form seeds. Once it starts forming seeds it will die. Doing this will also help encourage new and more growth. You will see more stems growing and sprouting.

The node is right above my thumb. So you want to cut between where my thumb and where the two stems shoot off of the main stem.

Step 3: once you have harvested your basil go through them and take out any leaves that are starting to become diseased. You don’t want to eat those.

Step 4: cut off and discard the stems of your basil.

Step 5: take your leaves and run them under water to take off any soil or critters that may still be on them. Pat them as dry as you can get them with paper towels

After I harvested one of my two basil pots

Step 6: Put them in the ice cold water for 15 seconds. This will shock them and help stop them from going bad.

Step 7 pat them dry with a paper towel and fold the paper towel with the basil in it and store in a gallon sized bag.

The ones on the left is right after the ice bath and the ones on the right are about to be put into ziplock bags.

Step 8: repeat steps 6 and 7 if necessary.

Step 9 date and freeze your bags for future use.

Don’t forget to sign up and subscribe for more updates with our garden journey!

Our Gardening Journey week 10

Our Gardening Journey week 10

So this week I’ve made some changes in my garden that have both were positives and negatives. You can say that I’m still learning from my mistakes. I do have a lot to tell you guys so let get on to it.

The first thing is that I’ve made a few changes. The first thing that I did was I fertilized my plants so much so that some of the are dying. I know now that I over fertilized them. I literally killed my smallest basil plants. I also repotted my bell pepper and tomotes. I have two types of tomotes growing. One of them is a small type of tomato and the other is a larger type of tomato. I had one small tomato plant left inside and so I added that one to the black container outside that I already had of the same kind. However, the larger tomato I put in a pot that I had outside. I also bought these nettings to put over them. You can buy these nettings here. I love them so much I have already seen a difference in my other plants outside and the amount of vegetables that are coming in. The best part about these netting is that they keep out those pesky bugs. They aren’t just good to keep out pesky bugs but also animals like birds, squirrels and dogs too. The best part is that you get a set of 3 for under $10.00. I also have so many green beans that are growing now it’s insane. I’ve also cleaned up my cucumbers and green bean plants from the dead leaves.

My small tomato plant.
My large tomato plant that I transplanted outside. These were getting too big for this container.

The second thing that my husband and I are working on is getting rid of the vines that are growing on our hill. Ok so it’s just my husband working on it. In Georgia we have what is called kudzo that grows here. If you know what kudzo is then you know that it grows back fast. Like really insanely fast. That is what is mostly growing on our hill. We have cut down a lot of the shrubs that were growing but now he is tackling killing the roots. We have found a solution mixture that has been killing it. So make sure you sign up for my email news letter and watch out for a new post on that.

The last thing that I did was I cut back some of the dead leaves on my green bean and cucumber plants. I saw a lot more green beans budding out and I didn’t want any more of my green bean plants to get sick. My cucumbers plant had a lot of dead leaves so I wanted to clean that up as well. I also tied some of the vines to the trellises with some special wiring that I got with the purchase of the trellises.

My green bean plant
My cucumber plant.

Overall, this week has been a crazy week over in our garden. I’m excited to be expanding our garden. I still cannot decide whether I want to grow my vegetables above ground or make a in ground garden. I do know that I really am enjoying doing this. Make sure you subscribe to our email for more weekly updates!

Is lovevery subscription service worth it?

Is lovevery subscription service worth it?

So your a new mom or maybe this is your second or third child and you keep on seeing ads for a subscription service called lovevery everywhere. You see it on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. You may have heard about it from a friend, family member or neighbor. As mom to mom or parent to parent I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t think that this was and is a great product. You probably have heard of the Montessori Philosophy by now and that lovevery is started by Montessori parents and lead guides. Well, I am a certified Montessori infant and toddler guide and a parent to a 1 year old and this subscription service is awesome!

I know you probably are thinking that this thing is really expensive or that Montessori lessons are really expensive. While yes this will set you back $40 a month, however, it is well worth it. For one thing it is not as expensive as buying Montessori materials on your own. Which is way more expensive then buying this subscription service. For another thing is that these materials that loverevery uses are really durable. They have literally survived a dog accidentally chewing on them. The Montessori guide in me also loves that it has a book that teaches parents how to use the materials with their child and what activities they can do to help shape their child’s mind and body.

My son loved going after the wobble ball!

Another reason that I love this subscription service is that it breaks up your child’s monthly milestone ages. This is partly so that parents don’t get overwhelmed with each of the products and that they can learn where their child is at developmentally. This really benefits first time parents. They will send you a new box with the next level of materials every 2 months for your child’s first year of life. You may think that the first box isn’t worth it but it really is. My son loved looking at the back and white cards and the back and white ring and ball set. The black and white cards in the first box helps the child with their focus the first few weeks of life as their eyes are adjusting to their environment. It may not seem like a big deal to first time parents but it is a lot of work to learn to focus to a small infant.

My son is focusing on a black and white spiral image.

The one thing that I really love is that it feels like I can bring a part of my classroom materials home. I have used many of these items in my own classroom. So if you can’t afford to have your child in a Montessori class then this is the next best thing. Seriously as a Montessori guide this is a awesome product. Their are specific lessons that give your child the sensory experience of feeling different textures and doing different tasks that use their hand/ eye and hand to hand coordination. One lesson that I love that they have and that I’ve always loved having in my own classroom is the object permanence box. It not only teaches them cause and effect but that an object will continue to exist even when it can no longer be seen. Another lesson that my son really loved when we got our first suscription box was the crinkle paper book. He absolutely loved looking at all the colored fabrics and feeling and hearing the crinkle paper.

The last reason that I love this subscription service is that many parents including myself don’t always really like loud plastic toys. My son is more so engaged with the lessons that lovevery provides than with the electronic toys that he received at his first birthday party. In fact he has a bunny that sings songs when you press its hands or feet that he absolutely hates. Montessori and the lovevery lessons provide opportunities where the child can play and learn independently.

I really do think that this is a great company! This is my honest review of this company. I and many other of my fellow Montessori teacher friends love this product. Montessori should be available to everyone. In fact the children that Maria Montessori first taught were children that came from the poorest parts of Italy. Also, if you still find that this subscription service is expensive for you then you can always put this on your baby registry.

Our Gardening Journey week 9 This is what I used to keep pesky bugs away.

Our Gardening Journey week 9 This is what I used to keep pesky bugs away.

Disclaimer: Their are affiliate links that I may or may not receive commission on at no cost to you.

So this week is going to be a short but exciting post. I’ve made a few changes that have helped the growth of my plants. Keep on reading to find out what is new around here.

The first thing that has changed is that I bought more self watering plants. I ended up finding these pots that are below. I think they are a great value. You can get a lot more pots for the price. The total number of pots that I received is 6. It’s been a couple of days since I’ve transplanted my tomatoes into them and I can tell that they are making a difference. I can see more growth and my plants look more livelier. I didn’t want to buy pots that were expensive. I wanted something where I don’t have to worry about watering them everyday. A plus side to these compared to the other ones that I have is that if you place them near a window you can see through them and see how much water the plant has.

The light part of the pot in this picture is the water.

The second thing that I’ve done was Ive transplanted my small cherry tomatoes from a white pot to my trellis pots outside. I’ve also added these netting’s as well. All I can say is that wow I’ve seen a huge difference in the over all health of my vegetables outside. It has kept a lot of bugs off the plants. So much so that a green bean popped out! I’m so excited that I’ve already had a vegetable come out. My cucumbers are also flowering like crazy too. In fact I had to tie more of the stems onto the trellis because they were hanging over each other. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get these any earlier. I 100% recommend these to anyone that has trellises outside.

Look at that little great bean!
I actually had two green beans pop out this week! Can you spot the green bean in this picture?

The last thing that I did was I harvested my basil. I had to do this because I have a ton that is over growing in my pots. So much so that the roots are coming out the bottom of my self watering pot. Make sure you subscribe to my email list and watch out for a post in the near future of how I saved my basil harvest.

My cucumbers
My cucumbers are flowering!

Overall, I’m really ecstatic about how far my plants have come along. The next thing that my husband and I are going to try and tackle are the flies because we have a bunch of them that we’re trying to eat my plants outside and they are coming inside as well.

Our Gardening Journey week 7 & 8

Our Gardening Journey week 7 & 8

This week I’ve decided to combine week 7 and 8 because of a few different reasons. One of them is because every day for the last 2 to 3 weeks it has been raining. So we do have a lot of growth but also parts of my plants are dying. The other reason is that I wasn’t feeling too well after my second covid shot. My body is still recovering from that. Overall, I’m excited to show and tell you some things that I have done this week.

Gardening is very calm and exciting to me. I love knowing that I can grow something that started off from a seed. These past few weeks I have transplanted my tomatoes into a bigger pot. I think I’m actually starting to run out of pots. I found an old pot that I had from our last house and transplanted tomatoes into because I noticed that it needed room to grow.

The second thing that I noticed was that I had some growth and my plants are somewhat dying outside. I know you are asking yourself how can your plants be growing and dying at the same time? Well, I think my plants are dying because of the insects eating it. I know is not from a lack of water because we have had rain for the past 3 weeks every afternoon. I’m trying to find the best netting that will keep out the bugs. I also have a lot of new growth as well. My cucumbers and green beans are starting to flower. I also may have accidentally not watered my indoor plants because I was sick these past couple of days. I hope the they will revive though.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how my plants are doing. I was pretty sure I was going to kill them all when I first started doing this a few weeks ago. So far I think I’m doing okay. If you have gotten down this far then make sure to subscribe to my email list for more updates!

How to make a flower vase under $13.00

How to make a flower vase under $13.00

As a disclaimer I may also receive compensation at no extra cost to you.

One thing about me is that I love to make crafts myself. For one thing it is cheaper and for another I love creating things. In this post I’m going to show you how to make a flower vase under $20.00. This is a fun project to do if you are a college student on a budget, a mom on a budget or someone whom loves to brighten up their space!

The next thing that I did was I grabbed and bought my items. I found these two tea light jars and this tin vase. As a tip you can use the tea light jars for Halloween because they are kind of see though. The next item that I bought was the foam insert for the tin vase. This will help you with having the flowers stay in place. The next items that I bought were the fake flowers of course. I bought a variety of different ones in different shapes and sizes.

After I bought my items I then went home and went to work putting everything together. As you can see I cut the stems down to fit the flowers into the tea light jars. I will warn you that it does take a little bit of muscle and power to cut them. I always put the tallest flower in the middle and the shortest in the front. I also twisted the flowers around each other so that it covered gaps and so that the flowers we more spread out.

Overall, I really loved how it came out! This is a project that will not only brighten up your space but also on the plus side you don’t have to worry about killing plants.

Using this is what helped my son as a newborn

Using this is what helped my son as a newborn

Disclaimer: Their are affiliate links that I may or may not receive commission on at no cost to you.

So when my son was born I thought I knew it all when he was a baby. I had ten years of experience of teaching infants and toddlers. I thought I was so ready and prepared. Little did I know that his first two months were also the hardest.

When you become pregnant as a new mom you get all sorts of different advise from everyone and you read tons of books and blogs and you might watch a ton of YouTube videos. I thought that I had it all planned out because of my background in education. Well, none of it prepared me for the first few months. Yes even if you are a teacher yourself nothing will prepare you for your own child.

Nothing prepared me for the first month when he had tummy and gas pains. Almost every child gets this the first month they are born. It’s like buying a brand new house that has just been built. You hear all sorts of new noises and are praying that you don’t have a blocked pipe or a over flowing one. You want everything to run smoothly.

The first few days he had jaundice and it took his little system a while to start moving. That was a contributing factor but when he started to wake up and cry randomly at night we realized that something was not right.

I went through every possible scenario. At first I thought it was my breast milk. Then I thought it was the supplemental milk, which we changed anyways, and then I thought it was the bottles. I was also even pumping(bicycling) his legs to different songs and rhythms after a while to keep it fun and interesting.

I knew it wasn’t my milk because he was fine during the day when I gave it to him. However, at night he would wake up and scream a few hours after drinking the supplemental milk. So then I changed him from similac to enfamil gentle ease. He seemed better but still was getting bad gas pains. If you are going to supplement or skip breast feeding altogether then get the premise bottles and not the powder. You have to be careful with the powder and adding in water because even though you can put in the right amounts you can still make more or less formula in the bottle. Down below is what I used for the pre-made formula.

So finally I thought it was the bottle. I noticed one night that he was literally putting air into the bottle. So I did my research and the first switch that I made was from advent bottles to the anti colic Philips bottles. I thought that it would be the end of that. Nope! I was wrong again! Those didn’t work either. So I then did more research and found dr browns bottles.

Finding those bottles was like the heavens opened up again! He cried a lot less and was so much calmer! I’m saying this because sometimes it can be so simple such as a bottle switch. I thought that buying philips was the way to go because it was a wide nipple and a better fit. Boy was I wrong!

I sure am glad that I switched. He became a happy little camper and to this day at 13 months old he now opens his mouth up wide for that bottle. Figuring these little guys out is like a jigsaw puzzle and once you find that one piece that fits then it all comes together.

Overall, if your baby has colic it might be that they need to switch formulas or to a different bottle or even both. Just remember momma you got this and this too shall pass!

Our Gardening Journey week 7

Our Gardening Journey week 7

Disclaimer: Their are affiliate links that I may or may not receive commission on at no cost to you.

So we had changed around somethings this week with our plants. The first thing that I did was I transplanted more plants into containers. The next thing that happened was that we had more seedlings grow. Lastly, I found some garden treasures at the dollar tree! At the end of this blog I have linked the items to where you can find them.

The first thing that I did this past week was we transplanted our flowers into containers outside. We already transplanted in week 6 our cucumbers and green beans but this time we transplanted our perennials. So far they seem to be doing fine. We just have to make one more adjustment to our hanging pots. I also combined my basil in my containers inside as well. So far the green bean plants are growing just fine. We even have some green beans starting to come out! However, it looks like our cucumber plant is struggling a bit. I don’t know if it’s from the shock of being outside or maybe bugs are harming it or what. I do think that it is having some new growth though. Here in the good old southern USA it does rain a lot during the month of July. Literally every afternoon for the past two weeks we have had rain.

The second thing that is exciting for is that my seedlings are starting to grow. So far the flowers and tomatoes are growing fast. However, peppers can take 10-21 days to germinate. I’m hoping to have lots of vegetables growing this year.

The last thing that I did this week was that I went to the dollar store and I found some cute items for my garden. I found some pretty cute garden decorations like this sun flower, butterfly and lady big. If you go anywhere else you will find them marked up to $10.00. I also found these cute little garden fairies to put in my containers. I found the same ones on Amazon for $5.00. I was sure glad that I bought mine at the dollar store though! You of course can’t have fairies with out a fairy door of course!

Overall, this week was was a overall good week! I love knowing that I can grow food for my family. I have some big plans coming up for my garden soon!

Links of what items I bought:

Sunflower stake

http://shrsl.com/32oia

Fairy Garden

http://shrsl.com/32oip

My 4 top items to have on hand after a C section

My 4 top items to have on hand after a C section

So this post is going to be for those new mommas who just had a elective c section or a emergency c section. I just wanted to get this off my chest and say that baby is going to come the way that it wants to come. Ok rant over. So now you are probably thinking what items do I need or need to get for my c section recovery ?

First, I just want to say that I was an emergency c section baby and my son was sort of an emergency c section. What I mean by sort of is that I literally told the doctor at the beginning of my pregnancy however he wants to come is fine by me. So with that being said I kinda packed for both a vaginal and C section birth and afterbirth. The items that helped me out the most both during and after are below.

1. The first item that I bought is depends underwear. Those are literally the best things that mankind ever gave to women. The amount of blood you will pass after is unreal. It doesn’t matter if you had a c section or not. I bled for weeks and I kid you not that those hospital pads or pharmacy pads will not help you one bit. In fact here is a little secret. I still use them at night because I hate waking up finding out that I bled through. Not only are they comfortable but now they have different colors and designs.

2. The second item that used were hot/cold packs to help with the pain near the incision site and the cramps that happen afterwards. You will have some cramping happen afterwards. These will help with some of the pain you will have from the doctor stitching you up. This is especially helpful to have after the nurses check out your stomach.

3. The third thing to have handy in both a vaginal and c section are compression socks. If you end up having a c section you will be in bed until the day after surgery and until after all the medications have worn off. Not only do they keep you somewhat warm but they are good to have if you have had any serious health clotting issues in the past. I had these on the whole time in the hospital.

This picture is from my own c section.

4. Most of all have a helpful and handy support system. You won’t be able to move the first day or two so having someone to help with diaper changes is helpful. I have to brag on my husband as a new father he was a rock star while I on the other hand was not in any shape or form to get up and move.

Overall, that baby is going to come the way that it wants. It may not be the way that you envisioned or liked but having these things with me helped me a lot. Honestly, I would 100% do a c section again.

Our Gardening Journey week 5

Our Gardening Journey week 5

So this weeks post is going to be a little bit different. Instead of an update on our plants I thought that I would do a mini series of our yard. My husband has been working on this project for a few weeks and you can say that it is a work in progress.

So our yard is a pretty good size yard with a lot of room for our son and dog to run around. However, we have this huge problem that is an eyesore. We have a side hill with tall grass and poisonous plants. At the top of the side hill is what looks like brown vines. What is underneath those vines is a barb wired fence. we can’t take out this fence because the people that own the property behind us own it. However, my husband is week by week cleaning the hill.

Before

The first thing my husband did was to kill a majority of the poisonous plants and to cut down the tall grass using a weed whacker. The next thing that he is planning to do is to plow the hill to get all the weeds up. In the fall we are going to put down a protective barrier so that weeds don’t come up. My plan is to hopefully plant my garden in that side hill because it does get the best sunlight.

Oh, did I also mention the iron metal pole that is sticking out on the hill as well? If I showed you in person you would easily be able to see it but in these pictures it is hard to find. The pole is so deep that he couldn’t get it up and so he had to use a saw to cut it down.

After

Overall, my husband has done a really good job with cleaning up the eyesore of a hill. Also, one thing to add is that the construction company added that tree on the hill where the pine straw is. Either it will come out completely or maybe it will stay. Even though we still have a long way of cleaning up the hill I’m excited to have a garden of our own.

How to make edible paint

How to make edible paint

So this week I wanted to do something really fun with my son. He is still too little to hold paint brushes or crayons and I didn’t want to spend a ton of money either. So I decided to try out finger painting with him!

The first thing that I did was I bought poster paper from CVS. No it wasn’t a big poster board but it was poster paper that was cut down. I wanted something that was thick. I didn’t want to buy construction paper because I wanted the paint to really pop on the page. Poster paper is thick enough to put on a lot of paint and it not be totally soaked though.

The second thing that I did was make the paint. Buying the paint would have been much more simpler but you don’t always know what manufacturers put in those paints. Plus this paint is a lot easier to clean and it doesn’t stain like most store bought paints do. Below is the recipe that I used to make edible paint.

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of salt (optional)

Food coloring of your choice

Ziplock bags

Containers to store paint

First, you mix the flour and salt until they are well mixed. You don’t have to add the salt but I did because it adds a sensory experience for children. Then you add water and mix until it’s smooth. Then you divide up your batch into ziplock bags with how many colors to want to use. Then you put the food coloring into the bags and you shake them up! Then store it into containers. I slipped off the end of the bags like I was going to pipe a cake and let the paint come out that way into the containers.

Lastly, have fun with it! For my son it was his first time painting and he did get it all over him. I do have to recommend making your child take a bath afterwards! My sons facial expressions were so funny too. He was looking at me like what is this stuff mom? I wish I did take pictures of him painting though!

Over all this is a fun activity to do with the littles! They get to have fun and learn about colors. I would recommend doing this activity when they are young!

Our gardening Journey week 4

Our gardening Journey week 4

I know I said last week that we had a ton of growth in our garden but holy smokes we sure did see a lot this week too! If you haven’t read my last blog post of our gardening Journey then please do so. Over the course of the last week I have figured out what mistakes I have made and what works and what doesn’t work.

First off,I planted more seeds and got rid of the pods that didn’t have any growth at all. I planted more sweet tomatoes, basil, sweet Williams, jumping junipers, and green beans. I didn’t plant anymore cucumbers because I already have a ton of those. I think a part of the problem was the pods that I got with the jiffy seed starter kit. I think it must have been the soil in the pods because only half of the seeds that I planted germinated. However, out of the 25 pods that I used for the new seeds growing I had probably 5 pods total that didn’t germinate. The pods that I used is right below and you can get them on Amazon cheaper than in store.

The next thing that I also did was I transplanted my pods into plastic cups with the potting soil that I bought. I used plastic cups that were left over from my son’s birthday party. I didn’t want to go out and buy more potted pots and overspend especially since they will be in their for a few weeks. I also noticed that my jiffy seed starter box was becoming a little bit too crowed and the roots of the green beans started to come out of the pods.

After that I did or I should say did not do was put plant fertilizer. Now, I am going to put some fertilizer on my plants in two weeks but I think that also killed half my seeds too. I can say that not doing that did help a lot. I wanted to give the seeds a chance to germinate the second time around.

The last thing that I did do was read the labels on the seed packets. I admit that I was so excited about growing plants that I didn’t think to read the label. The green beans and sweet William seeds require soaking the seeds in warm water overnight.

Overall, I learned new things along the way. I hope expand our garden and spend a little less money on groceries. Also, to note is that my husband is also working on a huge backyard project himself where I hope to one day plant our garden. That project is a project that will not be done for weeks or even months.

To breast feed or not to breastfeed that is the question

To breast feed or not to breastfeed that is the question

To breast feed or not to breast feed that is the question that crosses every womans mind when have their first child. I’m not for or against it but I’ve always had this notion that if it happens then it happens and if it doesnt then so be it. For many women this is a very sensitive topic and some will say yes do it all the way while others will say nah its not for me. Well, I was one of those that was in between. Yeah, sure I wanted to try it but it probably wasnt in my best interest to continue after the first year thanks to post partum.

While I am glad that I did it, however, a part of me knows that it isn’t in my best interest to do it again or at least for as long as I did it. I am fine with my second child, whenever we become pregnant, to have formula. We did supplement with my son until he started eating food. I really do think that pumping or breastfeeding, whatever you want to call it, really did play a huge part in my post partum depression. In fact I know it did because once I stopped I almost became like my old self again except with a kid of course! It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I felt happier again. Of course I could feel my hormones shift but I felt happier and that I could really enjoy my son. Many women still get post partum without breast feeding but because of the hormone fluctuations I feel like it made mine worse. I strongly do encourage that if you do have post partum to talk to both your doctor and a therapist. I did and it sure did help me get the help that I did.

If covid didn’t happen then I would have stopped a lot earlier than when I planned to. However, since we were and still are in a pandemic, I decided to continue until my son turned a year old. I am all for the health benefits that it gives babies but for me it had a darker side that came in the form of post partum. Am I glad I did it? Yes I am glad because I stuck to my guns you could say when I had people tell me to literally give up. I’m glad I did it because I knew I was giving my son antibodies to fight covid after he got it from me. I’m also glad I did it because I really do believe it helps with protecting him from having allergies down the line. Overall, I’m glad I did do it.

So overall if someone were to ask to breastfeed or not to breastfeed I would say to look deep down inside yourself and ask why. If they still want to go through with it then i would say if in a few weeks you change your mind then you can stop. However, if you dont want to stop then hey more power to you!

Our Gardening Journey

Our Gardening Journey

So recently I’ve decided to take up gardening again. I wouldn’t call myself a seasoned gardener but I’m more like a beginner/intermediate gardener.I can start growing vegetables and flowers from seeds but the part where I tend to stop is not continuing to do it after a few months.

I’ve decided to take it up again because I want to teach my son about the beauty of the earth and the environment that we live in while he is still young. I want to teach my son that with love and care he can grow things and that hard work pays off.

I thought that with a new house and a new beginning in our lives this would be a great time to start gardening again. So far it’s only been a week and already I can see growth happening. This is something that I can now see myself doing long term and not for the short foreseeable future.

So far right now I’m growing two different types of flowers and a few vegetables. I’m hoping that by this time next year that I will be able to grow more vegetables.

So far this is week 1 and 5 days in. My vision is to have a part of my backyard be a vegetable garden now that we have a bigger backyard and to share some tips and tricks with you guys along the way.

Please subscribe to my blog for instant updates.

Top 5 items to buy for baby

Top 5 items to buy for baby

Disclaimer: I am not being paid for any of my opinions or advertising. These are mine and only my opinions only.

1. Mug/ bottle warmer for your car

Seriously I never thought about this before having my son but having a bottle warmer in the car was very beneficial. We didn’t need one until we started taking him out to more places. This is a great idea especially for long car rides and trips. I wish I would have put this on my registry list. The one that I got is this one. https://amzn.to/3uVUalJI will say though that you have to really push in the charger for it to go on. It does take some time to warm up but it did the job. Plus you can also use it for coffee and tea too.

2. Camper high chair.

You won’t just use it for camping. I used mine for going to see my in-laws a lot. This especially came in handy when we went on a recent trip. It was the best $50.00 I’ve ever spent on baby products. I didn’t want to buy an extra bulky high chair to lug back and forth between houses. Another added plus is that they are really easy to clean. The one that I used is from Ciao on Amazon. It has a plastic table “tray” that is easily wipeable. It is so easy to clean.

3. Cuisinart baby food maker/bottle warmer

Seriously this is the next best thing to buy. All I wanted was a gadget that gets the job done of making his food and warming his bottle. I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars for those high end brezza baby products.

4. Dehumidifier

Getting one will help loosen baby’s boogers especially when they are a newborn. You can get them anywhere. I had one running in my son’s room during the winter or when he had a bit of a stuffy nose.

Just a cute picture of my son and our dog pepper!

5. Nose frida

I can’t say how much I love this product. My son on the other hand not so much. It really gets some of those hard to reach boogers out especially when they are sick.

All of these items can be purchased on Amazon. I also want to know what are your top items that you bought for your baby?

5 things that you don’t need on your baby list

5 things that you don’t need on your baby list

1. Lots of clothes that are 6 months and above

◦ I know it’s really temping but do not put clothes that he/she will not use in the first 6 months. Especially if your child is a premie or grows like a weed. If people give them to you and you don’t have them on your list then that’s fine but chances are that if you put clothes that are 7-12 months then they will get you that instead of 0-3 or 3-6. My son was already in 6 month clothing at the age of 4 months.

2. Newborn clothes

◦ Most babies will only fit into these for a week or two. If you do have a premie then by all means get them but for the most part have on your list 0-3 months clothing.

3. Wipe warmers

◦ For one thing this is just a extra gadget that you don’t need. Many babies have survived with wipes that are not from a wipe warmer. Plus wipe warmers dry out the wipes faster. Wipe warmers are very much unnecessary and most of the time your newborn will be drowsy at night when you are diaper changing them. Plus if the wipe warmers is defective you could be possibly run the risk of it being a fire hazard. Also, if the baby is always used to warm wipes then it could be problematic when you are out and about and all you have is cold wipes.

4. Swaddles/sleep sacks.

◦ I’m going to get a lot of flak for this but swaddles that have the arms in you don’t need. You are just prolonging having to deal with the startle reflex at night. I’ve taught infants in a Montessori classroom and the ones that had a harder time falling asleep without one were the ones that have slept with sleep sacks with the arms in. The only time my son had one was in the hospital. It took him a week or two at the very beginning to learn not to sleep with it. If you wait till 3 or 4 months you are just adding onto the reasons why your baby is more cranky at night on top of teething. However, if you are going to buy one then look for a brand with the arm holes so you can put their arms out. Also, again this is a item that the baby industry says that you need in which you don’t really need. Many babies have survived with out being swaddled at night for the first 12 weeks outside of the hospital.

5. Nursing bras or pads.

◦ This is something that you need to buy on your own! You need items that the baby is going to need only! If you are going to nurse your baby that’s great but people are not going to buy that for you. They are going to buy items that are specifically for the baby.

5 things I’ve learned being a new mom

5 things I’ve learned being a new mom

1. Don’t be ashamed to ask for help

◦ If things get really hard ask for help from your support team. It’s okay to ask for help from your partner, parents, and friends when you are having a hard time. Having a infant is tough in and of itself. This also helps when you just need time to yourself.

◦ 2. Don’t be afraid to talk to someone.

◦ Especially if you are dealing with anxiety and post partum depression. I thought that I wasn’t going to have depression because I’ve handled kids for years being a teacher. Boy was I wrong. My body could not handle the change of hormones and talking to someone and taking the right medications helped a lot.

3. Don’t plan big life events in the first year

◦ This one is really important especially when you have a infant and are trying to get into a routine. My husband and I put our house up for sale when our son was two months old. That combined with my post partum and covid on top was not a good situation. While I am glad that we are in our new home my husband promised me to not ever put us through that again.

4. Have a support group.

◦ This is extremely important especially going through post partum depression. Anyone that will be able to help you or even talk to you when things get hard. It also helps to have someone that already has kids and can give their advice.

5. Don’t be afraid to set boundaries

◦ This is especially important when it comes to grandparents or strangers. If you don’t feel comfortable then just say it. You are the parents and only you can decide what you want for your child.

Our garden Journey week 14 and 15

Our garden Journey week 14 and 15

Hey guys incase if you are wondering if I just disappeared well I haven’t. For the past two weeks I’ve been spending time with family that I haven’t seen since wayyyy before the pandemic started. Now I’m back and I’ve got some awesome updates for you guys!

For starters, this blog is going to be one of my shorter ones because Ive started my own YouTube channel. I figured it’s better for me to video process that I’ve made than to write about it all the time. My YouTube channel is https://youtube.com/channel/UCXcDX_rmEeb2PeebsuSoO-Q So please go subscribe to my channel.

The second thing that I wanted to update everyone is my garden! Some of my plants have survived and some have not sadly survived. However, my winter and summer squash have made a comeback! They are looking fantastic. Also, before I forget my snap peas are almost ready to harvest as well. I’m so excited! If you want to see what my garden looks like now then head on over to my YouTube channel!

Overall, I think I’m doing okay despite the set backs that I had earlier. If you have gotten this far then make sure you subscribe to my blog and now vlog for updates!

Our garden Journey week 14 and 15

Our garden Journey week 14 and 15

Hey guys incase if you are wondering if I just disappeared well I haven’t. For the past two weeks I’ve been spending time with family that I haven’t seen since wayyyy before the pandemic started. Now I’m back and I’ve got some awesome updates for you guys!

For starters, this blog is going to be one of my shorter ones because Ive started my own YouTube channel. I figured it’s better for me to video process that I’ve made than to write about it all the time. My YouTube channel is https://youtube.com/channel/UCXcDX_rmEeb2PeebsuSoO-Q So please go subscribe to my channel.

The second thing that I wanted to update everyone is my garden! Some of my plants have survived and some have not sadly survived. However, my winter and summer squash have made a comeback! They are looking fantastic. Also, before I forget my snap peas are almost ready to harvest as well. I’m so excited! If you want to see what my garden looks like now then head on over to my YouTube channel!

Overall, I think I’m doing okay despite the set backs that I had earlier. If you have gotten this far then make sure you subscribe to my blog and now vlog for updates!

Our garden Journey season 2 week 11 and 12

Our garden Journey season 2 week 11 and 12

Ok so I know that I haven’t been giving very many blog updates lately. It’s not that I don’t want to but it’s that things around here have been touch and go with the weather here. Georgia weather doesn’t want to make up its mind weather to be hot or cold around here. I do have a few updates though when it comes to our garden area/ space and also what plants have made it this far with the wacky weather that we have in the south.

The first update that I have for you all is that I have finally built our second raised garden bed. I’m going to have so much more space now for my transplant crops this year! Im going to start transplanting more crops in this next week. I’ve also have to order more supplies for my drip irrigation system. Those drip irrigation kits that they sell on Amazon are kinda a rip off because then you will realize that you actually don’t have the right sized tubing that you actually need for the system to actually work. So then you end up spending more money than you were anticipating. I think I will do a future post of how I set up my drip irrigation system.

The second thing that I wanted to talk about is the fact that I’ve kinda lost a few more plants from the freeze that we had this past week. I’m so bummed about it but hey you can’t control everything. I might have to replant some winter squash outside. I’ve tried to record some short clips of the garden to show you all too. I do think however learning about the weather in your area and the frost dates is a great way to learn from your mistakes and to either not plant so early or try to find other methods of covering your crops for those freezing nights. Now I know for next year to start my indoor seedings in March rather than February too.

So as a recap of everything that has happened I think I’ve learned these past two weeks some pretty important things on how to not kill your plants faster. Im all about learning from my past mistakes because I’m only human. If you would like to join me on my journey and learn a little bit about growing your own food then please subscribe to my blog down below or follow my YouTube channel!