SmartGardener.com

I'm trying out a new website: smartgardener.com I think it has potential, but I don't think I'm using it correctly yet. Hopefully by next spring I will figure it out.

To use it, you first set up your garden by setting your zip code, telling them how many people are in your house, putting in the dimensions, and then marking "North." After that you are supposed to add what you want to grow (or it will recommend plants for your season and location) and it will tell you where to put everything based on where the sun will be.

The first catch is that you can only do veggies, so if you want to add berries (we have strawberries growing right now) or herbs it is $2 to add each of those.

Once you get it all set up it sends you a weekly checklist of things you should be doing (when to start indoors, transplant, etc). I have trouble figuring out how to check things off the list and say I did them. This may be because Smart Gardener doesn't think I should be growing anything right now...

It has options for setting up a container garden on a patio, so I thought this might be fun for Andrew's Grandma Towle to use next year. I will have to figure out if it can work!

Mosquito plan

Last summer was a really bad one- record breaking heat, no rain. It was terrible for the lawn and the plants, but on the bright side we had no mosquitoes! This year has been normal levels of heat and lots of rain, which has lead to terrible mosquitoes in both the front yard and the back. Austin isn't planning any aerial spraying yet, but we've had a few cases of West Nile in Austin.

(In crazy Mom news, I had to confess to Andrew this weekend that I was a little worried G had West Nile because he had a fever on Saturday. We agreed that I was probably nuts but that I would call the doctor if he still had a fever on Monday. Of course, G was fine by Monday)

If you are on our front porch the mosquitoes swarm you. I counted seven hovering around me the other day. I don't really like spraying bug spray on G even though we have some all natural baby spray, but I make him wear one of these:

He actually kind of likes it because it looks a little like his Dad's Livestrong bracelet. Lucky for him I am a total mosquito magnet, so if we are out together they are all coming after me anyway.

I decided we needed to do some research, since I basically cannot go outside without getting a bite. I read about what attracts the mosquitoes and what we can do to discourage them, and we've been making some changes:

1. 1. Andrew cleaned the gutters in the back. I'm hoping this is where they were coming from on our porch. Apparently they like clogged gutters and it makes sense- wet decaying material. 
2. We had some plants growing in our front side garden. They weren't exactly weeds, but they were not purposely planted. They all had leaves that were just like what was described as something that a mosquito would like. I took them all out (and suffered a few mosquito bites in the process)
3. We can water twice a week now, so I check every Thursday and Sunday morning for standing water. Can't help them out at all!
4. Lemongrass = citronella. I never made this connection. I was thinking about adding some decorative grasses to the yard, and I now I know which one I will pick. They require full sun. I will probably do marigolds as well, since they don't like that smell either.

Hopefully next summer will be mild again but with fewer biting bugs!