A Sneak Peak at the Winter Garden

It’s 11am on December 23 and I should really be at the grocery store...BUT, it rained.  A LOT.  It rained for 5 days straight and that’s a lot for our desert climate.

Moss!!!

My garden was calling me to come out and play.  I left the cinnamon dough rising (recipe in the next post), the laundry on the bed (in the washer and in the dryer), a table full of Christmas crafts, and threw on some gardening clothes.  The boys followed me out to the backyard...not dressed for gardening (no shoes...just socks), but I knew I only had a small window of time before it was time to feed lunch to everyone and put the babies down for a nap (it’s a whole routine that involves teeth brushing and books, snuggling...etc.).  I wanted to see the progress of my winter garden and to see how much it really rained.

I found this tub full of water right at the gate to my garden! 

The pathway had sprouted a lot of weeds so the shoeless boys and I weeded the garden together.  I never mind weeding when the soil is completely soaked because the weeds pull out so easily and I feel a huge sense of accomplishment.  I sprinkled some fertilizer throughout the garden and "watered" it in with the rain water.  Even though it didn't need to be watered, the package said to "apply to wet soil then lightly water in"...so I did.

Here's what's growing in my winter garden this year:

The flat leaf (Italian) parsley is still going strong.

These Christmas oranges are perfect this year!

The garlic patch is sprouting nicely.

My celery is growing strong!  I'm so excited about these...

The onion patch is taking off...nice.

Baby carrot plants...

The curly leaf parsley smells so good.

And, the boys played nicely waiting for me to finish.

While the kids ate lunch, I rolled up the cinnamon rolls and set them in the oven to rise then then bake.  I love my “delay-oven-timer” feature on the oven.  It remembers to cook things when I’m too distracted.  Can’t imagine why I’m too distracted!?!?

Now it’s 3:15 and the babies are asleep.  My daughter has a friend over, my son is enjoying some TV time and I’m ready to tackle the kitchen and the laundry...oh, and take a shower...or maybe I should get to the grocery store!?  But first, I NEED a cinnamon roll.  :)