Gardens

Spring is officially here! The weather has turned lovely and we’ve been spending lots of time outdoors. A few weeks ago, Tyler built a raised bed for Hank’s garden. We actually purchased a skill saw for the project and now feel like official Do-It-Yourself-ers! We’ve done many projects on our own before, but this was the first time Tyler actually designed and built something from wood (unless you count one of the packs he designed a few years ago for work, but that wasn’t all wood). It was such fun planning and going to the store to get lumber and plants. Hank’s GG and Grandad were visiting that weekend and it was so much fun having Grandad help on the project.

didn't Tyler do an awesome job?

Hank checks out the new veg garden

After the bed went in, I planted flowers and plants for Hank to enjoy. Hopefully some butterflies and hummingbirds will enjoy them as well. We are so pleased with how it turned out and Hank really seems to enjoy checking on his plants. We’ve been blessed with lots of rain since we put in the garden and everything is growing beautifully! I received some Earth Boxes for Christmas to make a container garden since our ground is so hard (we actually had to use a pick-axe to plant our trees). Yesterday, we set them up and planted some vegetables and herbs.

Hank especially enjoyed helping to water the plants. He really likes water (should be fun when the pool opens!). Now we’ll see if the Earth Boxes live up to their claims.

We’re so pleased with all the new living things, its so beautiful and makes us want to be outside in our yard even more!  We purchased a spinning compost bin yesterday and Tyler put it together while Hank enjoyed playing in the empty box. I’m so happy to finally have a compost bin! I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted us to have one and how sad it made me tossing egg shells and coffee grounds and fruit peels and such in the garbage. I think renaming our garbage bin, “landfill” helped make the compost bin purchase easier. That and there is a perfectly unused corner of our yard for it. It certainly has made us think more about what we actually throw away and what can truly be re-purposed. Here are some photos of our newest backyard adventures and gardens in no particular order: