Greens and daisies

It's that time of year again. We are bringing in tons of greens. For example, today I went out at about 11:00 am and picked a handful of lettuce, baby bok choi, sweet peas, radishes, and green onions and mixed it all together for a salad.

We ordered a scale to keep track of the amount of veggies we bring in. We are keeping record of it all on a clip board for now but I plan on charting it as we get in more food. For the first week we brought in 11.5 oz of spinach, 26 oz of sweet peas, 9 radishes, 22 oz lettuce, 15 oz baby bok choi, 1.5 lbs of bigger bak choi, 1 lb young turnip greens. And our spinach is huge.

We loved looking at it so much we just had to take a picture! Is it because of the compost tea?

This is the bak choi bed. This is an asian green that we use just like the other greens--in stir fries, steamed or chopped really thin in salads. We like it because it is a more heat tolerant than salad greens and more tender than traditional southern greens.

Here's the lettuce bed.

So I also had a birthday last weekend--yes I am 32 years old now. Thanks to all my friends and family who contributed to a wonderful weekend. I took a road trip to Nashville to meet up with my best friends from Indy. We all have soar jaws from talking and laughing so much! I got home in perfect time to receive hugs and kisses from my wonderful family, lots of birthday cards and a package with a new zoom lens! I tested it out on the daisies that are blooming in the back garden. What do you think? The pictures really don't do justice to the beautiful flowers. I really do love having flowers all over the yard.

Malaguena

Ellen and I have been working through a piano lesson book called Alfred's Basic Piano Library-- Level 2. She started learning the Malaguena on Monday and we took this video on Friday. She is so proud at the end of her song and so am I.

twinkle twinkle

Arianna got a violin for Christmas and has been practicing during the day. We do not have a teacher so we bought a Suzuki method lesson book and CD and have been learning by ourselves. She plays 6 different variations of Twinkle Twinkle and also 2 other songs along with the CD for practice (that is what you hear in the background.) I've got more videos on my youtube page if you are interested in hearing her other 2 songs. The violin is a hard instrument to learn and I am so proud of what she has accomplished.

Ambrose Farms and Capers Island

Friday we took a field trip to the Charleston area. Our first stop was an organic farm where they offered u pick strawberries. It took us about 30 minutes to pick about 30 pounds. The farm was amazing. The plants looked so healthy and the farmer was very friendly. He explained how the main things he uses on his plants are compost and fish emulsion. The plants were so healthy and the berries were huge.

The main reason for the trip was a tour of Capers Island. The island is a barrier island that was bought by the state in the 50s. It is protected and very primitive with no water or electricity. They do allow primitive camping but it is only accessible by boat.

The tour guide was very enthusiastic and started sharing interesting facts about the fish right at the marina. He really never stopped talking and answering questions. He started out explaining these stone crab and blue crabs that he had in the tank on the boat. We stopped and looked at some traps in the water.

 He used his "overhead projector" to show us exactly where we were on the coast--the inlet between Dewees Island and Bull Island.

 We floated around in this section of the inlet for a little while waiting for the dolphins to surface. We saw several all around the boat. They were so fun to spot and of course Arianna was excited to see her favorite animal in the wild.

 It took us about an hour to slowly cruise over to the Island from Isle of Palms Marina. Once we got to the shore, the guide walked with us and stopped every so often to name and explain all the different shells and marine creatures that we are all so familiar with. He also talked about how and why the trees are fallen and how to tell the difference between pine and oak skeletons.

I loved learning all those little facts. Here's Ellen showing off the welk shells she found.

 I think that lots of schools take this trip but it is open to the public. For more information on Barrier Island Eco Tours check out there website here.

Around here

Finally got our tomato seeds to sprout. We are growing abraham lincoln and matt's wild cherry tomatoes.

Watering with compost tea.

Observing creatures in the garden. All kinds of bugs and reptiles are coming out in the warm weather. We've seen at least 3 of these broad headed skinks living in the rocks.

Fascinated by the huge snail.

Loving Spring in the South. Azaleas, bridal vale bushes, dogwoods, etc.

Proud of all the dianthus flowers and gerbera daisies that came back from last year.

Oh, and we are tiling the playroom floor. We are right in the middle of it which is why I haven't posted much lately. We've ripped up the carpet, prepared the sub-floor and placed half of the tiles. I'll post before and after pictures when we are done.

Transplanting seedlings--Successes and Failures

Last weekend (the one before Easter) we finally got the seedlings that we started back in January (here the link to that post)in the ground.

A lot of those seeds that we started were a great success and we were very pleased with the health of the kale, collards, lettuce and spinach seedlings.

BUT almost a whole tray of summer seedlings that I started turned out to be a disaster. Hardly any of the seeds even germinated. I don't really know what happened but some reasons for the germination failure could be that the soil was not warm enough, not wet enough or maybe too wet since we noticed that the soil mix we created was a little to dense. Here's a picture of the sad tray.

I've got one tomato out of 30 that I started, no peppers, and about half of the basil and eggplants! We've learned that it's all about experimenting and trying things over and over again. So, I've started new trays of these kinds of plants and hopefully I'll correct whatever went wrong.

Another canoe trip on Cedar Creek at Congaree National Park

Saturday morning we took a break from gardening and spent the morning on a canoe trip at Congaree National Park. The Park is an amazing place just a few miles out of Columbia. They offer free guided canoe trips on the weekends. All you have to do is call 2 weeks in advance (right when they open at 8:30) to reserve your spot. We took this same trip last year and posted more details about the park and the creek here

On this trip we saw a pileated woodpecker, barred owl, lots of sparrows, great blue heron, and a baby box turtle.

It is always so refreshing to be out in the middle of the forest away from all the city noises and technology toys.

Safe and sound after the 2 hour trip (with no stops or breaks). No one fell in the water this time--that's a first!

Spring days in the garden

These photos have been taken over about a week. We spent all of last Saturday digging in the garden and getting 2 new rows ready. Daniel trimmed the lupine cover crop that had been growing all winter. We added our compost and then tilled it under and mixed it all in with shovels. Even though you don't see me in these pictures I was out there for most of the time. Daniel does way more of the work in the garden than I do but I really do enjoy being out there working along side of him.

The area that we were working in had potatoes and beans in it last year. The rows were shaped differently and we wanted them to look like the rest of the garden. The second picture is the finished product--2 more long rows.

(potatoes are planted in the 3rd row on the left. We planted those in late February)


We are excited about 2 new crops that we are trying out this year. Pictured below the top bed has jerusalem artichoke and the bottom has taro. Both of these plants are perennial and you harvest and eat the root or tuber.  They are also beautiful plants while they are growing. The jerusalem artichoke grows tall and have big yellow flowers and the taro have elephant ear stalks and leaves.

We started summer seeds (flowers, veggies, herbs) last week also.

In another part of the yard we have had this cabbage (along with  several others) growing all winter and it is big and beautiful now. We have a new found love of cabbage and I can't wait to harvest this one this weekend and enjoy it with friends.

We have lot's of sugar peas coming up on these two rows.

We have garlic and onions here with lettuce seeds scattered and beginning to sprout all over. Some other things we started as seeds in a few rows are carrots, radishes, turnips, bok choy. We will be transplanting our broccoli, kale, lettuce, and cabbage seedlings this weekend.

We ended one day last week hanging out by a fire.

Another night Daniel took E and A to see a local theater's production of The Sound of Music. We had friends that were acting in it and that musical is one of  our favorites.

Hunting Island wildlife

I want to add a few more pictures of some of the wildlife we were surrounded by over the weekend. The kids named 2 of the raccoons that visited us at the campsite. They also named the little black throated green warbler that came close a few times. I do not have a good zoom on my camera so I had to get very close and he didn't seem to mind. The other pictures are of the sea cucumber and the egret. In the first slideshow I posted a picture of the forest and if you look closely you can see 2 deer that came up to our site as well. Enjoy!

Spring Break Hunting Island 2010

We were so happy to return to Hunting Island State Park. This year we asked our good friends the Morrisons from Durham, NC to meet us there. It was cold and sunny so we just bundled up and played all day. The mornings and evenings we huddled around the campfire and enjoyed wonderful meals including oatmeal, pancakes, toasted burritos, roasted veggies--yum! The kids had so much fun playing on the natural playground of fallen trees along the beach on our hike to the light house. We also explored the marsh boardwalk, pier over the lagoon, and the nature center. It is a fabulous place to visit and one of our favorite spots in SC.

A great show

The dress rehearsals and show went by really quick and all the practicing definitely paid off. Everything went very smooth. The girls I taught danced beautifully and had a blast the entire time. Everyone I talked to about the show really enjoyed it and everyone is asking about when we will be doing another one! Daniel and I had fun on stage together too.

Here are the fairies backstage during the performance.

Although E and A wish their orchid practices could go on year around, I'm glad it's all over. We had a great time but it is very nice to have our lives back to normal.

There are a few more pictures of the show on our website at Columbiaballetschool.com.

Peter Pan Preview

In celebration of its 30th year anniversary, our ballet company is putting on a production of the Peter Pan Ballet this weekend. The girls are orchids in the lagoon scene and Daniel and I are Mr. and Mrs. Darling. I also choreographed 2 of the dances--the fairies and the orchids. The girls and I have been rehearsing since November. In the month of February and especially these last 2 weeks (4 days a week) my family has been totally absorbed in rehearsals, music, costumes, and a lot of standing around for Daniel. I will post more after this weekend but here are a few pictures that one of the moms took last night at our dress rehearsal. It is going to be a wonderful performance. It's being held at Richland Northeast Highschool in Columbia at 3pm on Sunday.

 

 

The big snow

The girls had a slumber party to go to on Friday night but before we all went over to the party it started snowing. See if you can find anything unusual in the picture below.

 

Daniel ran out in the small snow we had last year. This year there was more snow and the girls and I were laughing hysterically when we saw him running through the yard in his shorts again this year! We ended up getting around 5 inches. I couldn't believe it snowed that much in Columbia. I took the picture below on Saturday morning.

  

The kids and Daniel had a great time Saturday building 2 enormous snow men. 

  

Celebrating Arianna

February 9, 2003

Betwixt Howard’s Knob and King Street,

Nestled amongst thick bramble, wild apple, black cherry,

From reservoirs of Arcadian rain,

A new spring burst forth sweet and pure.

Sympathy is her sense,
Attuned to the heart
as water the form filled.

Grace is her mark,
Her mode of communication dance,

The outward expression of her inner life.

The abundance of her strength,
Hidden in its depth,
And manifest only through the tenderness of her touch,
Is our constant treasure.

She is our coolest summer rain,

And our softest fall breeze,

We celebrate her life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIANNA

Happy Birthday Arianna

Arianna turns 7 next week. We had her birthday party sleep over last night. The kids all had a great time and they are still playing hard this morning.

Above, Arianna and one of her best friend's Ayla admire the beautiful cake last night. Ellen and Arianna decorated the top. Didn't it turn out nice?

There's our home-made pinata. Arianna decided she wanted a simple round one this time. The last few birthdays we all felt bad beating down the elaborate dolphin and dog pinatas.

Our girls. How and when did they get so big?!