Elephant Garlic

It's an alien!!! Ha!

But really, those are some tall stems!

These are pictures from our yard.

We have lived here just over two years.

We got a good price on this home in part because the yard was overgrown and will take time and energy to tame.

The great thing is all the surprise plants like this one that pop up on their own.

A work in progress as always!

I had no idea what these crazy things were for months

so I began taking pictures to compare to online photos.

 I even sweetly asked my hubbie to mow around them.

And he did!

Gotta shout out my love for that eucalyptus tree peeking at me in the right corner.

The "skin" came off and revealed these tiny blooms.

I still had no idea what this was, but it was a fun flower to have around.

Then, I tuned in to an episode of Making It Grow.

MIG is a local gardening program here in South Carolina.

There on the screen was my flower!

Elephant garlic, they called it.

So, after some research, I decided to find out first hand about this plant.

We cut off the pretty part to put in the vase and enjoy.

Then we dug up the bulb.

And...

Cleaned it.

And...

Counted 'em, and measured 'em, and spelled it, and pretty much applied it to all the learning areas for the day as a good little homeschool Mommy would do!

Oh, and chopped it...

Special thanks to my nephew, Ironman.
He loved taking something from nature and using it in a meal.

He spends most days in a public classroom and loved this hands-on way of learning.

The kids decided it would be fun to make soup.

Ironman chopped the chicken and carrots.

Princess chopped the potatoes.

Puddle Duck chopped the turnips.
Note: My girls are young so I cut the potatoes and turnips into pieces that would allow them to finish using just a butter knife.
Safety first!

Voila! Lunch is served.

Hey, can I count that as a homeschool French lesson? ha!

Gardening

I am so excited about our garden that Mr. Greg and CarolAnn dug up with a big tiller thing yesterday. The plot is huge! At least it sure seems that way compared to the five plants I had to put in it. Seriously, in one corner I put a cucumber plant and in the opposite (diagonal) corner are two tomato and two sweet pepper plants. It is actually kinda sad to look at. I hadn't really expected such a large space to plant in. So, off I went today to search out some more inexpensive vegetable plant options. (After lunch with the kids, hubbie, and -in-laws, then to the car mechanic and three plant nurseries later...) I found a 4-pack of zucchini, I think, for $1.99 and a 6-pack of sweet peppers for $1.99. Hope they survive!

I am looking at the bright side, if our car doesn't work, I can have a garden to supply the groceries, right? I may be stretching things a bit, but I am very excited with this new hobby. I mean, really, gardening is not very expensive (it helps to have friends with equipment), provides nutrition in the edible stuff, and lots of exercise (my thighs are soo sore!!!). Oh, my favorite, family bonding. My girls have really enjoyed picking grass and weeds from the garden. We actually saw a couple of worms too!

Settlin' In

These pictures are from the real estate site where I first decided to visit this home during my stressful-at-times home search. I wasn't sure about the wood burning insert in the kitchen fireplace, but now I love it. It just feels so country!

Well, here are my little ones, although this is an older picture. Basically, Princess, now almost four, looks the same, but older and Puddle Duck, age two, looks just like this picture of Princess. So funny. I am an only child so I never realized how sibling can look alike, but act so different and any mixture thereof.

My own home. As I write this blog, I am enjoying my first entire day in our new home. Yesterday we decided to have about four families come over to christen our abode. Was I insane when I agreed to invite what totalled (spelling?) almost thirty people into our home on our third day of settling in? Well, we enjoyed our hotdogs, corn on the cob (courtesy of my good friend Christa), potato chips, and brownies, oh, and I almost forgot the watermelon (also from Christa!). No major catastrophes, but I did find out that our sand pile has evidence of kitty visits. Ewww yuck! Yep, we are official country folk. I am luvin' it! Grandpa Jim even helped me start a compost pile yesterday. I am such a city girl, yet the country life seems so romantic. I have even been checking out farmer-type blogs and sites about raising goats and chickens. I think Iwill just start with some tomatoes and sweet peppers for now! Hope they actually grow. I definitely do not have a green thumb.

So, I tried to use the word "well" a few less times in this blog. I am already improving!

I have continued to learn from fellow bloggers Like Merchant Ships and Homeschool Hacks.

Thanks to all!

Keep it Clover!