I feel nauseous about this. A friend of mine from high school is in the hospital with her son, Ike(asaurus). He was born 13 weeks early after Kari had been on bedrest for months. They FINALLY got to bring him home. He is now back in the hospital, seriously ill, and intubated. She tells the whole story here: haikuoftheday.com.
I have taken that ride on the hospital bed. I have been kicked out of the room while my baby was being intubated. There are no words to describe how awful it is. He is having a bronchoscopy tomorrow morning, and I really want you all to pray for Ike, for Kari, and for her husband and two older kids.
She seems to have a supportive community about her, and I think that's HUGE. Her friends have set up a web site for the family here. I'm glad they can care for her so she can care for Ike.
(To top it all off, her husband lost his job about a week ago - there go the benefits. I am so thankful for national healthcare in Canada, and no matter what the problems with it are, I can't imagine having to worry about costs while caring for your sick child. I think it is inhumane that anyone might be denied or avoid medical treatment because they cannot pay for it).
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Dreaming of Sunshine
Ugh. This weather lately makes me want to curl up on the couch and eat cheese non-stop. Grey skies, temperatures warm enough to melt the top layer of snow into dirty mush, and on top of that, Henry has been gone 8 of the last 9 nights, so I'm single-parenting it. Ugh, ugh, ugh!
So, to make me think of happier times, we are going to discuss my garden, or at least the garden I have planned.
I've wanted to have some plants here at the house for a while. Last year, I had a few tomato plants mixed in with my flowers, but it was an awful year for tomatoes. I think I got about 5 fruits from 4 plants. This year, I'm going to try for quite a bit more, and I'm using the square foot gardening method by Mel Bartholomew.
Because we have a raised septic bed, hideous soil (It's all backfill and small rocks), and LOTS of manure, I'm going to do 3 raised beds that measure 4'x4', which gives me 48 squares. I also wanted to attempt companion planting to make my garden as productive as possible. It was a bit of a nightmare figuring out how to organize it, so I turned it into a craft project.
I wrote out what I wanted to plant and how many squares I would need for it. Then I cut out the squares and sorted them into piles of what vegetables like to be with each other. Then I arranged them into 3 larger squares that would be my raised beds. For example, each tomato plant gets its own square, so I cut out 6 tomato squares. On the other hand, 12 bean plants fit into one square, so I only cut out 2 squares. It ended up looking something like this (apologies for the HORRIBLE formatting. Anyone have any idea how to create boxes in html?):
Box 1
Box 2
Box 3
I'll be growing everything but the tomatoes and strawberries from seed. (I ordered from William Dam and Terra Edibles). The tomatoes I'll buy from a neighbour and the strawberries I ordered in a fit of foolishness from Veseys because they were 25 plants for only $10 (never mind the amount of room they need. Yeesh).
If you're actually interested in the specific names, let me know, and I can look them up. I'm being lazy right now and don't want to get off the couch because, did I mention, the weather STINKS!!!! Now, pass the cheese.
So, to make me think of happier times, we are going to discuss my garden, or at least the garden I have planned.
I've wanted to have some plants here at the house for a while. Last year, I had a few tomato plants mixed in with my flowers, but it was an awful year for tomatoes. I think I got about 5 fruits from 4 plants. This year, I'm going to try for quite a bit more, and I'm using the square foot gardening method by Mel Bartholomew.
Because we have a raised septic bed, hideous soil (It's all backfill and small rocks), and LOTS of manure, I'm going to do 3 raised beds that measure 4'x4', which gives me 48 squares. I also wanted to attempt companion planting to make my garden as productive as possible. It was a bit of a nightmare figuring out how to organize it, so I turned it into a craft project.
I wrote out what I wanted to plant and how many squares I would need for it. Then I cut out the squares and sorted them into piles of what vegetables like to be with each other. Then I arranged them into 3 larger squares that would be my raised beds. For example, each tomato plant gets its own square, so I cut out 6 tomato squares. On the other hand, 12 bean plants fit into one square, so I only cut out 2 squares. It ended up looking something like this (apologies for the HORRIBLE formatting. Anyone have any idea how to create boxes in html?):
Box 1
Cornell’s Bush | Cornell’s Bush | Tomato (1) | Tomato (1) |
Zucchini and | Zucchini and | Zucchini and | Zucchini and |
Jacob’s Cattle beans | Jacob’s Cattle beans | Purple beans (can’t | Purple beans (can’t |
Strawberries with | Strawberries with | Strawberries with | Strawberries with |
Box 2
Snow pea (1) with vining petunia | Snow pea (1) with vining petunia | Sugar pea (1) with vining petunia | Sugar pea (1) with vining petunia |
Carrots (12) | Brussel sprouts (1) with nasturtiums | Brussel sprouts (1) with nasturtiums | dill |
Purple bunching onions (12) | Brussel sprouts (1) with nasturtiums | Brussel sprouts (1) with nasturtiums | Large leaf basil & garlic in fall |
Carrots (12) | Genovese basil | Genovese basil | Large leaf basil & garlic in fall |
Box 3
Tomato (1) | Tomato (1) | Tomato (1) | Tomato (1) |
Sweet pepper (1) | Sweet pepper (1) | Fish pepper – hot (1) | Fish pepper – hot (1) |
Spinach - succession planting | Swiss chard – succession planting | Strawberries with marigolds (2) | Strawberries with marigolds (2) |
Strawberries with marigolds (2) | Strawberries with marigolds (2) | Strawberries with marigolds (2) | Strawberries with marigolds (2) |
I'll be growing everything but the tomatoes and strawberries from seed. (I ordered from William Dam and Terra Edibles). The tomatoes I'll buy from a neighbour and the strawberries I ordered in a fit of foolishness from Veseys because they were 25 plants for only $10 (never mind the amount of room they need. Yeesh).
If you're actually interested in the specific names, let me know, and I can look them up. I'm being lazy right now and don't want to get off the couch because, did I mention, the weather STINKS!!!! Now, pass the cheese.
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