Sunday, June 14, 2009

Here is Natalie comparing the color of her shirt to the blooms on her bean plant in our garden.

I needed to get something done without an extra set of hands so I asked Ben to hold Zoe while he watched a show on tv. I noticed that it was quiet so I went to check on them and found that he had put her to sleep. He was very proud of himself and wanted me to take a picture. :)

Jennifer and I took all of the kids on a nature walk at Fletcher Park. They had some *amazing* trees there and I got some great photos.






Shawn came home from town the other day with a new friend. He saved him from being ran over.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Yard Project

We are making progress on my yard project. It still isn't anywhere near finished but that is okay because it is teaching patience. It may take years to finish...and by that point, I bet it turns into one of those things that I don't *want* to finish because it will be my hobby, my work in progress.

So instead of using the black ground cover that is sold in garden supply stores (for a high price), I bought inexpensive light weight tarps from the Dollar Store. I also used some left over scrap linoleum from a friend. I covered the areas that I wanted to mulch. The tarps worked wonderfully because they already have the holes in them for me to put the peg into (to hold it down to the ground). I decided to let the walkway remain grassy and am going to put step stones on it. They won't actually be "stones" though...they will be things that I already have or things that I find. Currently I am using old door mats for the "stones"...but I don't have enough so I am going to have to get creative. On both sides of the walkway will be mulch.

In different places in the mulched area will be a garlic bed, a strawberry bed, blueberry bushes, a tree and grape vines. The kid's pool is also up here (because it is the only area in the yard that is actually flat and not on a slope).

This area shows the mulched area and the dirt bed where I am going to plant wildflowers (the triangle area). The area with rocks is a little water garden.



This photos shows work that still needs to be done. I am building a fence to go along the sides by using branches in the shape of a Y, driving them into the ground and then laying a long straight branch in the Y on each end. It also shows the beginning of my rock garden.


This is my organic, herloim herb garden. It is a mudicinal garden. I plan to dry the herbs and use them to treat sickness this winter. I wrote the names of each herb on popcicle sticks and that wasn't the best idea as the rain made the ink run and now I don't know which is what...I am going to have to take an herb book out there and try to identify them! lol


This is my garlic bed. It is the wrong time of year to plant garlic but I knew it would go bad if I tried to keep it until the fall. So I planted it and am just going to have to leave it for about a year before I see anything out of it.


This is just a groovy fence that I built. I am going to use it to dry herbs. The other one didn't work out but I like this one better anyway!

Our Garden Continues to Grow

This is probably my favorite time of year...the days are not yet scorching hot (although today may challenge that) yet everything is beautiful and green. Our garden is coming along beautifully. We have some weeds that we are trying to take care of but overall, I am very proud of it. Everyone has worked very hard on it - especially my mom and Aunt Erma. I try my best to keep up with my part but with three kids and all of their activities...I'm not out there as much as I would like to be.







Zoe is 10 Months Old!

She has developed into such a happy baby with such a sweet personality. She loves her brother and sister and the feeling is mutual. Her new thing is to constantly say "Guggin, guggin, guggin"...I have no idea what it means but it is hilarious. She will also hold something out to you and very seriously say "Guh". She is kind of crawling, as in - she can get around if she absolutely needs to. She can sit in the floor and use her legs to turn herself around in a circle and she can lay on her stomach and reach something if she is really intent on getting it...but she isn't actually crawling. She is pulling up onto everything but isn't really taking steps while holding on. She stood alone for about thirty seconds last night. Still no teeth!