Handy gadget for a weeding fool

I'm a sucker for inexpensive tools that make annoying tasks, well, less annoying. For instance, my kitchen is filled to the brim with all kinds of gadgets that make repetitive tasks quicker and measurements more accurate. It seems that my habit is not limited to the kitchen.

Recently, I purchased a couple of weeders to see if they would help with the inordinate amount of weeds that have decorated the area around our house. At one time, there was grass there. You see, last year (during the drought) we really didn't water our grass. Oops. Oh, we put the sprinklers out every now and then when the watering schedule allowed. But it just wasn't the same as having a sprinkler system that could target many areas in a short amount of time. And we really didn't want to spend extra money since our water bill stays pretty high throughout the year. We didn't fertilize and didn't use any pre-emergents. Oops again. It's so bad you can see the property lines we share with out neighbors--the weeds designate the area that belongs to us.

So now that you know the back story, I can tell you about my new favorite gardening gadget. It's the OXO Good Grips Gardening Weeder. It's lovely because the design of the tool allows you to pop the weeds out of the ground and pull up the roots too. And you should know that it's a little bit of an obsession for me. Even though it may be a futile task, I enjoy cleaning things up and making the yard look less shaggy. I'm also hoping to encourage the bits of grass to grow and spread. At least until I'm ready to remove it and plant something better!

Do you have any handy tools that make life easier? How about weeding tools that you can use with your feet? This one can be a bit tough on the hands and back.

New Spring Photos

I'm delighted to show some new photos taken by my hubby last night in the backyard. Stay tuned because more photos are coming your way.

The $64 Tomato

Need a fun, light-hearted read? You should definitely try The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden.

As the popularity of backyard vegetable gardens has soared and I've started my own, at times I've doubted the cost savings associated with such an endeavor. It seems like I typically spend much more than I save. When I spotted this book, I knew it would be something I could understand. However, I didn't expect it to be hilarious. Like laugh-out-loud-at-work hilarious.* If it's any clue, the first chapter of the book is titled "Whore in the Bedroom, Horticulturist in the Garden." The author is a man who is turned on by the dirty fingernails of his attractive landscape architect and compares a resident groundhog to Brigitte Bardot. Not exactly what I expected from a book about vegetable gardens. It's a quick read--give it a try!

*I'd like to explain while I was reading a book at work, but it's a really long story that begins with the 4th largest bank failure of 2009.

Signs of Spring

Ahhh...the signs of Spring. No, I'm not just referring to the Kleenex in my hand and the redness in my eyes. I'm talking about all of the color that has magically popped up around me. The green that has started peeking out of my brown lawn. The pinks and purples that are dotting many of the trees as I drive home from work. Even as an allergy sufferer, how can you not love this time of year??

Although it seems like I've put countless hours of labor and love into my yard, alas, it's only been two years and I don't have too much to show you at this point. But I know there are good things in store. Countless bluebonnets waiting to make their grand (at least to me!) appearance. The peach tree which will soon be full of lovely pink blooms. And the spring/summer vegetable garden that's beginning to take shape. Mostly in my mind. After all, it's barely mid-March and a late freeze could be ready to strike when I'm not paying attention. Expect to hear more about the veggies in a couple of weeks.

Until then, I'll leave you with a few shots of some of the happiness I'm finding in the yard.

Man vs Goliath (otherwise known as Sarah vs the Clover)

Over the past few months, my new flower bed has been home to an unwelcomed tenant. The clover has invaded a majority of the space while blending in with the much more likeable bluebonnet plants. Why did I let it get so bad, you ask? Well, it certainly wasn't my intention to ignore the problem. The weather has been consistently wet and cold. And there were so many bluebonnets mixed in that it was difficult to tell just how far things had gone. Two weeks ago, I decided to put an end to the takeover. I began the slow, painstaking process of pulling out the clover while carefully leaving the bluebonnets. I even dubbed myself the "Clover Crusher" to make me feel better about my plight against the three-leafed monster. Yes, there have been bluebonnet casualties. But so far, I've removed three grocery bags full of clover, and I'm not done yet. I will win the war.

The good guy--my beloved bluebonnet

My nemesis

What lesson did I learn from this? Don't let an unwanted plant takeover your garden. Remove it early so that you don't have to give yourself silly names and refer to the removal of said plant as a war.

The battlefield---can you tell the clover from the bluebonnets?

What happened to 2009?

So, it turns out that I'm not a prolific blogger. In fact, you might even call me a lazy blogger. My gardening efforts continued throughout the year, but unfortunately my blogging efforts did not. I hope to change that in 2010, but sometimes life gets in the way of all those good intentions.



I just purchased Garden Guide For Austin and Vicinity and cannot wait to begin planning new projects and learning how to better maintain the stuff I already have. The most pressing item on my agenda is to prune my peach tree. This means that I'll have to teach myself how to do this. After I prune, I'll probably spray the tree with neem oil which is supposed to prevent bug problems later on. I'm really crossing my fingers because I have no clue what I'm doing. Hopefully one of my many reference books will come to the rescue.

To get back in the swing of things, I've decided to post some new pictures and promise that more posts are on the way. I'll try harder this time...I promise.

Hello Summer

It's difficult to get excited about gardening when the hundred degree heat is ON and the Spring that I was loving has so quickly disappeared. The weed patch went from good to bad in a hurry, and I can't figure out exactly what to do with it. My 'hands off' approach didn't last long, since some of the dried up flowers needed to be removed and a grass that I haven't identified yet began to seriously take over. The heat and lack of rain haven't allowed new surprises to pop up, so it's looking a little barren. The sunflower continues to be a prolific bloomer, but I must admit that the plant itself does not strike my fancy. The size of the plant (it's taller than me and has enormous 'branches') does not make it a good specimen for a backyard. The amazing cut flowers make it easier to cope with the obnoxiousness of the plant.

While the sun is baking outside, I've started plotting my plans for the Fall. Hopefully, by the time Summer rolls around next year, I'll have a few more hardy plants in the ground that will be providing color and a bit of cheeriness that the landscape is currently lacking.

I picked my first bell pepper yesterday! It's a quite a bit smaller compared to the peppers that I buy at the store (not enough fertilizer? not as many chemicals?), but it's a gorgeous lime green color that I've never seen before. The plant has two other peppers that are almost ready to be picked. The golden Swiss chard is still producing, and the color is so vibrant that I'm sad when it's time to cut it down.