Category:

plants + gardening

house plants + MycoMaxx

by Kaylah Stroup September 11, 2023

This post is sponsored by MycoMaxx.

The weather is finally cooling down a bit and my garden is starting to die back for the season which means it’s time to make up with my house plants!

For the most part, my house plants are on autopilot. I water them regularly but maintence, feeding, propagating, etc kind of takes a backseat until fall. It always feels SO good to spend a day just tidying the collection up.

I am always interested in trying out new things to help my plants reach their fullest potential.

I’ve been experimenting with MycoMaxx in place of fertilizers for my indoor plants. Fungi spores colonize within the roots of your plant and become a living extension of your plant’s root system helping them take up more nutrients and water from the soil. So, in return you’re getting larger healthier plants!

MycoMaxx is super easy to use. All you do is mix a packet of it with a quart of water in a bottle and spray that on to the roots of your plants or directly on your seeds. It works on essentially all flowers, house plants and veggies aside from those in the brassica family (which is brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc!)

I can’t wait to see the difference this makes. I’m already excited to use it on next year’s pumpkin patch since that’s the one thing I’m always hoping to grow way bigger!

By the way, MycoMaxx sent me over a coupon code to share with you! ‘kamyco10’ gets you ten dollars off your purchase – which is a huge discount!

Squid loves to help with my plant care time. She always joins me, it’s the sweetest. ♥

my food garden / before + after

by Kaylah Stroup August 9, 2023

When we bought our home the yard wasn’t the prettiest. We were absolutely stoked about the land and actually owning property but in the state it was in, it wasn’t much to look at. Adding my massive flower bed made a huge improvement! We also added trails throughout the woods off the main grassy area and most recently, I’ve been working on converting overgrown weed filled areas to something more useful.

Last spring I started the process of clearing out the area beside my garage. Seen below. It was full of weeds that grew taller than my head. Mixed in with that? Trash. Bunches of it. Not even fun old trash, just like… real modern trash. I wish I had gotten more pictures of it before but honestly, it was just an eye sore. It was an area I purposely kept out of frame.

I spent spring of 2022 clearing out the trash, carefully mowing, and ripping out all everything growing. I ended up planting my pumpkins there last year which really worked out because pumpkins are great at taking over. They kept other plants under control while I figured out exactly what I wanted to do with the area.

Check out my pumpkin tunnel from last year here. It was such a massive source of joy!

This year I started with a plan!

I wanted this area to be more food garden focused as opposed to for funsies flowers. I got three 17″ raised beds from Vego Garden. I have two of the 6 in 1 beds and one 9 in 1 bed.

The beds were easy to put together and I was able to fill them quite affordably by using rotting logs, yard waste, cardboard and homemade compost. I LOVE how they look!

My vision was that the two smaller beds would have an arch in between them and that you’d walk through that arch to get to the larger bed. I used 16ft cattle panel from Tractor Supply to make the arch. Luckily my dad has a truck or else it’d have been a real pain in the butt to figure out how to get the panel home since they don’t deliver.

early in the season, May

I planted tomatoes, marigolds, nasturtium, peppers, onions, and peas!

I’ve felt kind meh about it season long though. Honestly, I’m not having the best gardening year. Everything just seemed to be off to a really slow start and SLUGS. My goodness, slugs! I have never had a problem with them before but they won’t leave my stuff alone no matter how many darn egg shells I crush up around my plants. It’s one of those things I’ve just had to kind of ignore so that it doesn’t drive me mad.

BUT! Earlier this week, I walked outside early in the morning and was able to look at everything with fresh eyes. Things finally seem to be taking off. My tomato plants don’t look very pretty but they’re heavy with fruit just beginning to ripen. My peas are finally climbing the arch! I have baby peppers growing slowly but steadily.

I worked my butt off on this area and it’s definitely paying off. Maybe not as quickly as I’d like but wow, what a huge difference from the before photos I shared above.

Doesn’t it look so lovely? I’m quite pleased with my decision to plant clover in between the beds instead of doing mulch or bark. My mower doesn’t fit but it just takes a second to weed whack! I think having the green in there makes such a big impact and kind of extends the yard.

Also, this year’s pumpkin tunnel? I’M VERY EXCITED! You can definitely expect to see a lot more of that later in the summer! xo

2023 bouquets // pt. 2

by Kaylah Stroup July 31, 2023

orange juice vase

Part two of my little ‘photograph every single bouquet I make this year’ project! Quite fun to see them go from almost exclusively yellow/white to exploding with color. This project is only just getting started and I already feel a huge amount of satisfaction. There is truly nothing like growing your own flowers.

See part one of the bouquet project here.

in the garden // july 2023

by Kaylah Stroup July 26, 2023

It’s the third summer in the flower garden of my dreams!

There are so many plants blooming right now. It’s an absolute treat to wander around inside. Every day it seems like something new is exploding with color.

It’s been too hot most recent days to do much of anything out there which works out just fine for me since it’s mostly on autopilot during the summer. The goal has always been that there are enough plants that there just isn’t room for weeds. While I’m not quite there yet, this year’s garden is worlds different than my first-year garden (which I HATED during the summer because it just felt unmanageable!)

This year my flower bed is an absolute delight.

I just wanted to share some recent flower bed pictures. That’s all. xo

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A post shared by kaylah 💀 (@thedaintysquid)

Check out this post from June of 2021 to see little peek at how far it’s come!

a new brick walkway through my garden

by Kaylah Stroup June 19, 2023

We added a brick walkway through my garden. I AM OBSESSED.

drone garden view June 2021

Back in 2021, I added the first of many gardens to our yard. It all started with this handmade arbor that I wanted to grow clematis on and from there the idea of a massive circle shaped bed was born.

My plan had always been to put large flat rocks on the inside so that I wouldn’t have to mow it. I was in no rush though. I didn’t really feel like sourcing the rocks. Even though my dad will always let me steal rocks from him that still meant finding the perfect ones, hauling tons of them and then figuring out how to puzzle piece them together. It was a project that I just kept pushing to the side.

Then, early spring of this year, my husband and I randomly decided our fire pit needed a makeover. A weekend’s worth of work and it turned out BEAUTIFUL. I jokingly said “we should do my garden next!” thinking it was just too big of an area or that we’d never actually have enough bricks.

Well, turns out once the idea was in my brain I couldn’t get rid of it. I don’t recall if it was the next weekend we started or not but either way, we got right to work making it happen as soon as possible. The whole flat rock idea now seemed so silly.

About 85 to 90% of the bricks we used were sourced from our own yard.

Shortly after we moved in we discovered a hidden patio near the house. It had completely grown over with grass. I spent a huge chunk of time uncovering the patio before I finally decided that I didn’t want to keep it as is. It was a bit of a tripping hazard and not really in a spot that we’d use at this point in time. I painstakingly dug up all the bricks and stacked them on our woods line.

I was able to find a newspaper article about the folks who laid the aforementioned patio and it seems like they really truly loved this house. Everything I’ve read about their time here just makes it feel like they poured themselves into this place. I like knowing that I’m able to give these bricks a new life and one that is so near and dear to my heart. It sort of feels like paying tribute to them in some strange way, ya know?

The other 10 to 15% of bricks came from Facebook marketplace. I found a gal giving away bricks (FREEEE!) so I ended up grabbing two Jeep loads of bricks from her. She wasn’t home when I picked up the bricks but a neighbor wandered over, asked me a few questions and then proceeded to give me some history on the house and garden I was gathering the bricks from. Apparently the previous owner of the house was an older gentleman who had suffered a stroke and lost the ability to use one of his arms. That didn’t stop him from laying all these bricks by himself though. My goodness, let me tell you, there were a ton of bricks too. More than I could ever manage to bring home. The neighbor was sad to see his hardwork torn up like this.

I obviously love how rad this ended up looking but as you can guess, I also love how sentimental the materials are. I have no idea who the man with the brick garden was but I think it’s really cool that his materials could come to my home and make something so special for me.

It took a couple of weekends worth of work mostly because it was just too darn hot to work for very long. All the hard sweaty work was so worth it though! The whole project turned out even better than I could have ever imagined. It was one of those projects where when you finally step back and look at it you think “Oh, this is how it was always supposed to look!”

Adding six rows of bricks inside my garden bed opened up a few inches around the entire interior. Of course I also got a decently sized circle in the center to plant in as well! So, it looks way prettier and I got more room for flowers. A win/win, right!?

I’m still working on filling in the new interior bed but it’s coming along quite nicely. Honestly, a lot more quickly than I thought I would. I thought I was going to have self control when it came to plants this year but… nah.

I absolutely could not be happier with how this bed is turning out. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this being mine. Literally every single day I look at it and think ‘WOW!‘

left 2021 // right 2023

THE best overalls // duluth heirloom gardening overalls review

by Kaylah Stroup June 15, 2023

This post is a ~~love letter to~~ *ahem* a review of my favorite overalls, the Duluth Women’s Heirloom Gardening Bib Overalls.

It is no secret I love overalls. I’ve reverted to the style I rocked as a kid and I basically only wear overalls. They’re nice to work in, they’re comfy and, perhaps most importantly, unlike most other women’s clothing they have POCKETS. So, I am always on the hunt for my next pair.

Last year I tried out Duluth’s overalls for the first time and it’s been a full on obsession ever since. Let me tell you more…

duluth trading heirloom gardening overalls review

Duluth Trading Company is known for producing durable and functional workwear, and these gardening overalls are no exception. They’re made from a breathable and sturdy cotton/polyester blend fabric that is designed to withstand the rigors of gardening and other outdoor work. In a word? They’re AMAZING.

details

4.8-oz. DuluthFlex® ripstop fabric is super-stretchy and strong.
Dirt brushes right off – keep it in the garden!
No-slip elasticized straps with upgraded hardware that stays clipped.
Double-chapped legs for poke protection.
Double-layer knees with bulk-free bonded water barrier; accepts knee pads, sold separately
12 pockets, including right thigh cargo pocket with tuckable flap, left thigh utility pockets, 2 back patch pockets and pruner loop. TWELVE! T-W-E-L-V-E pockets!
Bib storage system with zippered pocket/phone sleeve, pencil slots and sunglasses loop.
UPF 50 sun protection.
Relaxed hip and thigh; straight leg.
Machine washable.

wear & tear

These babies have seen their fair share of garden time. One thing I noticed right away was that their claim of ‘dirt brushes right off’ is surprisingly actually true!? They seem to stay so much cleaner than any thing else I wear while crawling around in the dirt. It’s kind of crazy!

I own three pairs. All of which have held up beautifully. I’m one of those people who washes my work clothes after every single wear so my overalls have been washed A LOT. They still look good as new! Literally no fading, pilling or other signs of their constant use.

I had one very small issue a while back where a button came off the side while in the washing machine. Duluth has a very generous exchange policy so I was able to just take them back to the store and get a brand spankin’ new pair without any hassle. I literally walked up to the counter said “Hi, one of my buttons fell off in the wash!” and the gal behind the counter started organizing my exchange despite the fact they’d been washed and worn many times previously.

sizing

Sizing is definitely the one thing you have to look out for with these overalls. I am a pretty consistent size large in clothing, especially bottoms. My favorite pair of pants are a size 12 but others that fit well in my wardrobe are size 10. In these overalls? I’m a small. I’ve made sure to include lots of photos in this post, as well as a gif of me wiggling around so you can see how they fit on me.

returns & exchanges

With anything, online especially, I like to know that if I straight up hate something or it just fits weird I’m not going to be stuck with it. As I mentioned above, Duluth as a really great exchange policy. Shipping is free if you’re exchanging size or color! They also have a ‘No Bull Guarantee’ which means if you are not satisfied with any item you purchase from Duluth Trading, return it for a refund within one year. After one year, they will also consider returns for items that are defective or don’t perform as designed. No Bull means if something goes wrong, they will always treat you right. Amazing, right!?

As you can see, I have zero complaints about these overalls. The price is a bit more steep than I’d like but this is definitely one of those things where you get what you pay for! Take it from this cheapskate, they are worth the price. They’re easily one of my favorite things in my wardrobe.

Now, what are you waiting for, grab a pair!

my mother’s irises

by Kaylah Stroup June 14, 2023

Time for my annual photoshoot with my late mother’s flowers.

In 2021, the year I started my massive circle shaped flower bed (ahem, see here!) my dad gave me free reign of my late mother’s flower beds. My mom LOVED her gardens so despite the fact that none of the flowers that were still surviving excited me, I happily brought a bunch home to care for in my own garden.

That first season, even though we transplanted at the ‘wrong’ time, the plants still managed to product flowers. From then on I have been straight up obsessed with these plants.

This is their third season in my garden and I truly can’t imagine them looking any prettier than this. Every single bloom just feels like pure magic.

left 2021 // right 2022 // 2023 below

It breaks my heart she isn’t here to see my garden. I know she’d love it. Growing up, she couldn’t pass by a garden center without stopping in to see what they had. It drove me nuts at the time. She always said “You’ll get it someday!” and by golly, I do now. What I wouldn’t give to browse a garden center with her again. ❤

See also: Mom’s daylillies – a post from July of 2021

2023 bouquets // pt. 1

by Kaylah Stroup April 11, 2023

Each year I try to take on some sort of year long project. In the past there have multiple years I did Project 365. In 2023? I am going to take a photo of every single flower arrangement I make!

For years and years, I always said one of my life goals was to live somewhere that I can grow flowers just for the sole purpose of picking and enjoying indoors. In 2021 I made that goal a reality by starting one heck of an awesome garden! The first year I wasn’t so great at cutting my flowers. I just wanted to enjoy them in the garden. I am definitely getting more and more comfortable stealing stems though. It’ll be even easier if I make it into a little photo project too, right?

So, here we go! The first six arrangements of 2023.

Clearly, right now the only thing I have blooming is daffodils. I almost backed out of this project thinking it might be silly if I’m just making arrangements from the same flowers over and over again. BUT I actually think, with time, that will be what makes it really fun. Throughout the series you’ll be able to see what I’ve got growing during a specific period and the main colors and flowers in my bouquets will slowly evolve. xo

propagating roses

by Kaylah Stroup March 29, 2023

fresh and lovely roses from my husband, Feb 15th.

I accidentally started propagating some roses.

If you’ve followed me on social media for any amount of time, you probably know that I am no stranger to propagating plants. I might even venture to say it’s one of my favorite hobbies. I love taking one plant and making multiples. It’s a thrill for a cheapskate like me!

This is a first for me though. My Valentine’s Day roses from Jeff took a very long time to start to look ugly. They were on my mantle for nearly a month before I deemed them “too far gone”. When I finally got up to throw them away I noticed that they seemed to be growing.

March 15th

While I am fairly confident propagating almost anything, I don’t have the best track record with roses. Our first summer here, when my dad let me go absolutely ham in my late mother’s garden, I tried to propagate some cuttings from her rose bushes. I followed the tutorials I found online to a T. Alas, they just died. I haven’t tried again since – until now!

I did a bit more research on growing roses from store bought cut stems. The verdict seems to be that they will have trouble rooting or may not grow as strong as roses that weren’t specially bred for cut flowers. You know what though? I’m feeling hopeful. These bad boys are growing at a really impressive rate! Plus, what’s to lose if they don’t grow?!

Part of me wants to split them up, putting half in dirt and leaving the other half in water to see if that makes any difference. They seem to be doing so well exactly as is though so I’ll most likely leave them to it. Do ya thang, roses!

I wrote that above, grabbed the roses to get a few updated photos and promptly separated them to experiment. LOL, whoops. I ended up cutting away the dead flowers and divided them up into three different containers. One is on my mantle where the vase originally was. A second container is in the window so that it gets a lot more light. The third is in my mini greenhouse that I start seeds in. We’ll see if that boost in humidity seems to push them along any faster. Each is still only in water though. Water propagation always seems to work best for me. Anyway, now I’m happy to let them do their thang without any interruptions from me.

March 27th

I’m really excited about this little experiment. If you never hear of it again from me, chances are they just died but hopefully I’ll be able to share some photos of a tiny rose bushes sometime this summer. Cross your fingers for me. xo

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