Let The Planting Begin

Well, it is that time of year! Darren is outside almost every evening and nearly all weekend long. He gets outside sometime around lunch and won't finish up until dark. There's the regular maintenance of the yard, but there's also spring planting and tending to the flower beds, as well as the raised bed garden along with any special projects that might come up. The kids are in & out either exploring the yard or playing with friends. I see them through the windows or when they come in for a snack or drink. Everyone comes in at night hungry and dirty!

So, these are photos of the new garden bed that Darren built in the back along with a small natural play area (which I have been bugging him about for years). It is mostly just a regular garden bed, but there's a stump walkway in the back that leads to a climbing tree. The kids really enjoy this a lot! I would actually like this bed a little bit bigger, but I have left making that change up to Darren. All of the rocks around the garden came from our backdoor neighbor's yard. They were dug up when they put on an addition. Our neighborhood is very rocky, and anyone who tries to dig anything at all hits rock.

The blackberry bushes are in the back of this bed. I wish all the berry bushes looked like these.

The asparagus patch is front & center.

These are the spring photos of the garden. It looks pretty brown as mostly it is just seedlings, though some of the berry bushes really filled out last year and look great already. Darren has put in a lot of different plants & seeds. We have gotten some good growth, but we have also been hit by bugs & critters that have left the state of some of the plants in question. We are really going to need to be on top of things to get a good crop this year... after last year, the word is out that the smorgasbord is here. We strive to keep an organic garden, so we are trying to control the pests with beneficial insects and barrier protection. We got 1000+ ladybugs in the mail last week and have some row covers on their way now. We are also trying to encourage birds & bats to take up residence in the yard. Every year with a garden is a new experience. The garden will stay this same size this year, but we are always talking about how we want to finish this space in the future.