Gardening

We've finally been able to get out in our backyard and start gardening. It's so refreshing! To get the yard mowed, which in itself was a chore - our lawn mower quit on us this year so we had to invest in a new one...blech. That's not a 'fun' purchase ya know? Not too exciting. But we did and the yard got mowed. Weeds are gone (for now) and everything is starting to get green again. Refreshing.

We were fortunate that our garden bed was pretty much still intact. It had to be tilled up and weeded and we went ahead and added some new compost, but all in all, it was pretty easy work. Our little tiny plants are all in the ground and everything is started!

Brooke got to go and pick out her own flowers this year for her little flowerbed (next to their swing set). Here she is with her flowers getting ready to plant...

Brenna is old enough this year to 'help' as well. Sometimes it ends up being more of a hinderance, but she enjoyed getting her hands dirty. :)

However, Brooke is the long-term expert and got to do all the planting for the most part.

Now, don't let this picture fool you into thinking that Brad always does all the hard work. Ha! Actually, this year, while he was off getting a truckload of compost, I was back home tilling up the garden and weeding it. Then he came home, dumped the new compost and raked it out.

Brenna: "What is this for?"

Child labor at its best. Really, I promise she WANTED to do this. I promise!

But even moreso, she enjoyed the sweeping job of cleaning up the bed. Seriously.

And here's the finished garden. Well...almost. From L-R, we have rosemary (still intact from last year!), cilantro, then onions, potatoes, strawberries, bell peppers, jalapenos, and tomatoes. I hope to add cantaloupe but haven't done those seeds yet. Doh! Also, in a flowerbed close to the house, we have blueberry and raspberry bushes.