Okay, I get that it may seem strange to have an entire post about a silly garden. But it was such a labor of love and, this sounds even sillier, but it brought us so much joy! Even our neighbors were invested in our little project, watching it go from an overgrown heap of weeds and shrubs to a thriving garden. I got to know a handful of people just because of our garden chats, they would check in on our progress as I got the plot prepared, then later would admire how well it was doing. And as the massive amounts of cucumbers, tomatoes, squash and zucchini came, they could enjoy the extra bounty in the wooden crate I'd set out front so neighbors could grab veggies and take them home. I've had a garden for lots of our married years, but I don't think I've ever put as much work into one as I did this year! And when I say "I" it's because Todd contributes about 2% of the labor force when it comes to gardening;) When we bought our house, I forced my Type-A self to turn a blind eye to the crazy, overgrown yard. I was desperately trying to get settled in while taking care of 4 kids, often by myself as Todd traveled, managing unpacking and organizing, remodeling, and trying to prepare for my first year of homeschooling. And believe me, it wasn't easy to ignore the yard since it got uglier by the week. By the time Fall weather settled in, and we settled in a bit, I had to hit the flower beds around the house to get them weeded and edged before the snow started to fly. It was giving me hives to look at it.. But the rest of the yard was gonna have to wait. And while it waited, it had a hay day vicariously seeding obnoxious weeds in every square inch of soil. And the grass that was overgrown when we moved in enjoyed another season getting even more comfortably rooted down. But when Spring rolled around, we got a neighbor tractor dude to pull a couple of GiNorMouS bushes out by the rock wall, and then I set out to dig up weeds, and cut out the chunks of grass. Lots and lots of grass Oh my stinking gosh it was a TON of work. My little workers, Dawson and Charlie, came out to work with me every day. They loved "helping" me weed, getting muddy, and uncovering earth worms, to which Charlie would squeal every.single.time, as if he'd never laid eyes on a worm. Charlie would constantly ask if a plant was "a good guy" as we tried {unsuccessfully} to avoid pulling up the bulbs that were starting to come up. The kids began to despise the hideous, thorny Canadian thistles as much as I do, and would shout across the garden, "Mom, I found another Kamakakin missle, kill it!" And then finally, the day came to buy seeds. I got the usual suspects and let each of the kids pick something they wanted to plant. So then it was time to set to work planting. And anyone who has grown a decent sized garden knows this, but the prep and the planting is just the beginning. The beginning of a life of weeding. Weeding for fun, weeding in the morning, weeding at dusk, in your spare time, in your not-so-spare time... Just basically you always weed, and you can kiss clean nails goodbye. You will perpetually look like someone who doesn't wash their hands, ever. And then all of the sudden, after days of anticipation and checking the mounds of dark earth with a magnifying glass, at last the day comes that you see little sprouts! And then even better, those sprouts give way to food! Glorious, free food! With no chemicals, no wax, no booger eating kid fingers all over it at the grocery store. And as if wholesome, free food right outside your door isn't enough, bright, cheery, free flowers make me swoon. I always plant cutting flowers in my garden because hardly any earthly thing makes me as happy as fresh flowers in the house. And even just a couple of weeks ago, my garden was still making me happy as we harvested our pumpkins, cut sunflowers to enjoy in the house first, and then for the chickens to snack on as they dried. Corn stalks were cut and ready for fall decorating, the boys had fun whacking them down with the huge sunflower stems. I think some of the sweetest memories that I will cherish for my whole life are of watching my barefoot kids in the garden, picking produce with one hand, and holding a chicken in the other. Our garden grew...
tomatoes CORN strawberries basil blueberries ZINNIAS cantaloupe pumpkins Swiss chard broccoli cabbage cauliflower carrots radishes green beans summer squash spinach cucumbers sunflowers zucchini nasturtiums
The "before" pictures
Starting to cut back the grass.
Removing the most HUMONGOUS bush ever known to man.
Dinner and a show. The kids were so enthralled with the tractor that I had to serve pork loin out on the picnic blanket.
Seeds are in and so are the teeny, tiny tomato plants, blueberries and strawberries.
French radishes. Our first picks from the garden!
Cucumbers on steroids.
One days bounty of tomatoes!
Nothing like home grown tomatoes, and basil!
Is it just me or does this look like two legs and a... Even the carrots are inappropriate around here.
Dawson chose to plant cantaloupe. Spokane is not the best place to grow melons, but we were so proud of this small but sweet cantaloupe!
My favorite rose bush. Smells like peaches and...roses.
The first of our pumpkins.
Our last tomatoes of the season.
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