A new adventure - Turkey

We are about to embark on a new adventure - to Turkey. We'll be in Istanbul, Cappadoccia, Ephesus, and the south-west coast of Turkey. We are looking forward to the country that brought us Saul of Tarsus, aka Paul the letter writer; Constantinople, aka Istanbul; the center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman, the Blue Mosque, whirling dervishes, Gallipoli, Ataturk, and so much more.

At the start of our Antarctica adventure, we showed a picture of our back porch covered in three feet of snow. Now May, it is much greener and warmer. Here are two pics from our back porch to the pond, and in reverse, from the pond to the house.

2011 Garden - Starting out

It's almost the end of April, and we've been very busy in the garden. We Expanded the fenced-in area by 60%, built 6 raised beds, and had a soil test and amelioration of the soil (more sulfur, boron, and notrogen). In the expanded area we planted raspberries, strawberries, and potatoes. We also added snap peas this year. Tow new beds are experimental - lasagna beds (esentially a pile of compost covered with some dirt, and hopefully, veggie heaven).

Aaron moved away and will be missed, but Ashley has stepped in with advice and plants and hopefully, the soil test will yield results. The "hooped" area is broccoli, which we had trouble with last year, and Ashley has advised the hooping to protect against a nasty caterpillar.

Next week, a second planting of lettuce and spinach, then wait for plants to grow!

More to come in late May.