I was obviously too young to be responsible for a garden in Mississippi, but I certainly do NOT remember having to pre-grow seedlings indoors as we waited for the dirt to thaw and the weather get warm enough for these little plants to survive outdoors. 

This has become a joy for these garden itchy fingers every february, march, and even into april to sow seeds indoors.  

 

Tomatoes and Paprika have taken a jump start and been replanted once already. 

What would you have in your ideal little garden plot? 

So this happened last year! I planted and grew and artichoke.  

We will see how this year goes....

It's starting to get cold...last week this was water, this week it was ice.  

(and now back above freezing...)

beskära ett äppelträd, pruning an apple tree

This post is for Monica Norén, who got an apple tree as a present, and is ready to prune!

March/April is the ideal time to start pruning!

Den har sidan visar klart med bilder hur man ska göra... http://www.blomsterlandet.se/Tips-och-artiklar/Tips-och-artiklar/Tradgard/Frukttrad/Apple/Beskarning-Av-Appeltrad/

 De har siderna är också mycket bra med alla detaljer!
http://clindmark.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/dags-att-beskara-appletrad/

http://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2011/05/01/beskarning-av-appeltrad

The daily adventure...

Rasberries can sweeten any day, and right now they are growing in abundance around us.  

It is difficult NOT to stop and pick a few as we go by!

But Lydia has shown surprising patience in picking them and saving them for later. 

 This book, a gift many years ago to Hannah from our relatives in Maine, has definitely had it's influence.

Here are some things Lydia has said about rasberry picking (that relate to this book):
We better take them home and can them so we have some food for the winter!
Kerplink, Kerplank, Kerplunk (Sound of berries dropping in the bucket).
"One for the bucket, one for my mouth, one for the bucket..."

This girl, she's got lots of plans for her rasberries....rasberry juice, rasberry ice cream, rasberries for pappa....  (And here is a glimpse of some rasberry juice making, which was later translated into rasberry ice cream).

 Hats on, smiles on, watch out for thistles and nestles!

 And Markus definitely has figured out how to get his fill of rasberries that make their way to his tummy.  (I have stopped watching everything he puts in his mouth, so there is no doubt some green rasberries or even a little critter hiding inside have also been eaten!)

Springtime in Sweden

Don't be fooled by the winter jackets...it really is springtime here!

Here are the top seven things we are thankful for: 

1. Sunshine

2.  Birds have come back

3. No more winter snow pants for the kiddos

4.  Occasionally being able to even strip off the winter jackets

5. Vitsippor (spring anenome flowers) that carpet the forests

6.  Being able to spend more than a frozen minute on our little balcony

7. Longer days, and did I mention sunshine? 

spring is coming, right?

Have you been following the swedish schedule and sowing your seeds to optimalize the relatively short warm season here? 

Already planted so far is: 

Mint, Parsley, Dill, Coriander, Basil, Sweetpea, and Cosmos

soon to come: 

sunflowers (worth a try again), salad, some daisy looking flowers, and a couple more herbs. 

 I need to get these sweet pea plants out before they wind their way around our living room!

 Cosmos

 And it wouldn't be complete without some IKEA diy seed starters...

And whether they prosper or not, this whole gardening project is good for a daily reminder that winter is basically OVER!

Sowing seeds already?

In Gothenburg, you have to take the bull by the horns when it is still snowy and cold outside, because it seems like it takes a looong time to warm up here. 

According to this article from Blomsterlandet, now is already the time to start sowing seeds, and sowing can continue all the way into May.  blomsterlandet's article 

Last year I was too late in starting to sow seeds and get things going on our tiny little apartment balcony.  

It seems like things had just gotten started when it was getting cold and dark again!

 So, unlike all the places I have lived in in America, this little cement corner is what I have to work with in terms of enjoying plants and the great outdoors from my apartment.  You take what you got, right?

Here are a few more websites about when to sow seeds here in Southern Sweden: 

http://www.icakuriren.se/Hem-Tradgard/Plantera-Odla/dags-att-sa/

http://www.coop.se/Recept--mat/Vardagstips/Tradgard/Sa-fron---att-frosa-plantor/

Midsommar

This is my first time celebrating Swedish midsommar, a day which marks the longest day of the year in Sweden with lots of fun (and some terrible paganistic) traditions.  Let's see here...

1.  Make a flower crown.  That was right up my alley, although I have a long way to go in improving...

My sweet mother in law, Monica, had fun teaching me...and it all starts with a good wire frame.

And Markus just hung out in the high chair and cheered us on!

Go out in the yard and pluck a bunch of weeds (whatever is in bloom, I mean). 

Here we have some hundkex (dog crackers??), daisies, clover, buttercups, and some other unknowns. 

Go send Lydia out to play in the sandbox...(she loves her playful uncle Jonas)

I thought it was fun to see the mess I made, plus the baby toys and other stuff mixed in....

When Lydia was done playing in the sandbox, I managed to keep her distracted for a good long time with soapy water that she could pour out and do whatever with.  (One of the disadvantages of an apartment life, no freedom to play with water!)

And this is what you get!  I thought these photos were so funny I just threw a whole bunch up on the blog here.  Enjoy!

Markus: "Ooh, I feel a new toy here on my head...reaching reaching....I got it!"

"I knew it, it is a new toy! How does it work?"

"I bet if I eat it, I will learn more about it."  (While his cousin's flower crown has fallen down on her nose and Lydia is obediently wearing her flower crown for about 30 seconds before casting it off.)

"It doesn't taste so good..."

"You guys are gonna use these pictures against me one day, aren't you?"

"Looks like some pieces fell on my lap here...I wonder if i can eat them?"

(Look at our sweet Lydia!)

....a little while later...."Am I still wearing this thing??"

And of course, don't forget the other nice thing about midsommer....friends and family visiting together!

And a few things I forgot to take photos of....strawberry cake, pickled fish and new potatoes.  

Saudi, part 1!

Well, here it is....some thoughts and photos from our trip to Saudi.

Starting with the thing that most people think of when you name this region of the world....SAND!

Lydia had her spade and bucket all ready to go play in "the world's biggest sandbox!"

My mom and I had to wear abayas everytime we went out.  Talk about a bad color choice!  I can only say that it was obviously a MAN who chose the rules that all the women in Saudi have to wear black (in the 100+ F degree heat), and all the men should wear these white traditional dresses.   At least they give a decent draft....

Did I ever mention that our daughter is a bit of a dictator?  She put everyone hard to work blowing bubbles for her while she dug in the sand. Below, grandma and grandpa are looking on as Lydia gives the bubble blowing process a shot!

Beautiful....dad, I know that you are gonna miss the desert when you move back to the states!

 What fun, driving out into the middle of nowhere and playing in the sand until it got too hot to walk in!!

Believe it or not, stuff DOES grow here.  Below are a just a few samples of the plants that grow in the desert there.

And of course, even out in the middle of nowhere, there has to be a mosque....looks to me more like a church though; maybe all the church looking mosques got punished and sent out to the desert so people wouldn't be confused or tempted.

Här får nu några tänker och bilder från vår resa till Saudi. 


Vi ska börja med den som många tänka på när du nämna den världsregionen....sand!

Lydia här hennes spad och hink redo att leka i världens största sandlådan!


Jag och min mamma fick har på oss abaya klänningar på oss varje gång vi gick ut.  Vilket dåligt färg!  Jag kan bara säga att det var självklart en man som bestämd att alla kvinnor ska va svart klädd (i 45 grader vädret) och alla män ska har vitt på sig.  åtminstone blåsa det in i den stor klänningen när man gå....


Har jag berättat att vår dotter är en liten diktator?  Hon sa till att alla ska jobba hårt och blåsa bubblor för henne när hon grävde i sanden. Även mormor och morfar kolla när Lydia försok själv att blåsa bubblor. 

Vackert!  Pappa, jag vet att du ska komma sakna öknen när ni flyttar tillbaka till staterna. 

Vad roligt, att köra ut till mitt på ingenstans, och leka i sanden tills det var för varmt att stå på!

 Tro eller ej, det finns växter i öknen. kolla på några som vi hittade.


Och även i mitt på ingenstans måste de har en moské.  Det ser till mig ut som en kyrka- kanske alla moskéerna som sa ut för mycket som en kyrka blev straffad och skickad till öknen så folket ska inte bli frestad. (haha).