Voodoo Stitches garden report for Jan 2011

This past week we have had some crazy weather here in southern California. It went from being about 58 degrees and overcast (aka a California 'winter') out to 86 degrees and sunny. (Hello there spring!)  This weekend it was beautiful and WARM so the hubby and I decided to get a move on with our garden. Our backyard is small but we get a lot out of our little plot of land. Half the yard is concrete and half is grass and a long winding raised bed. We have an apple and an avocado tree and we grow as many veggies as we can muster. I'd show you a recent picture but since we are still busy bees hacking through all the over growth and winter debris I don't have much to show you yet. So here are some pictures from last summer.

My cheap faux rattan yard furniture from Big Lots. The over grown avocado tree is on the right.

I need more tikis! I bought this one by the guy who carved it at the Melrose flea market.

 The well established roses were already there when we moved it. I would love to have veggies there instead but I don't have the heart to rip them out since they are so lovely.

The highlight of our backyard, the hot tub! We scrimped and saved for over a year to be able to buy it. Well worth it, we use it all the time!

Here is a picture of me in front of the tub showing off a dress I made last year. I hand drafted this from scratch trying to get it as close to an original 50s Shaheen sarong style as possible. The sarong part didn't come out as well as I had hoped but I gave it a built in bullet bra which turned out great. 

 This is our little breakfast/lounge area under the covered back porch. I was lucky to find the gorgeous 40s repro tropical print cushions at Pier 1 last year just before they discontinued them.

I spent a good part of the day yesterday and today hacking through over grown lantana and pineapple sage bushes. There was at least a foot of dead leaves to rake up in the raised flower/veggie beds. (It doesn't sound like much but it was enough work that today my legs are super sore!)  I did manage to get some summer squash and spinich seeds started and a few tomatos planted so that is a start. We are looking into building a small greenhouse so we can grow stuff we failed at last year like broccoli, brussle sprouts and cabbage. (Can we talk about how annoying the cabbage moth is? UGH. Buggers ruined half our plants last year!) Until I have more to show you, that's it for Voodoo Stitches garden report for January 2011. Over and out.