This is the year of the garden people. I’m putting it out there into the universe like it’s no big deal but in actuality….ITS A HUGE DEAL.
In the past, we have done some gardens. We did a veggie and herb garden the first year and it turned out great. Amazingly…you don’t need to water things for them to grow because GOD DOES IT FOR YOU. It shocked me how many delicious tomatoes and peppers and herbs we harvested. And then the following year we did it again…again…Mother Nature did her wild thang and we ate from her womb generous hands? That came out wrong but you know what I mean. We had amazingly delicious produce.
Fast forward a couple years and the garden was neglected and abandoned. I wanted to keep up with it but it was just too hard being huge and uncomfortable leaving the couch to bend over a pregnant belly and all that. We did do some container tomatoes but it wasn’t the same.
So this spring I convinced Jeremy that we need to start the big garden and then in the fall, build a coop. I talked about this plan before and I am so in love with the idea of home steading and having our big yard actually produce something and teaching the boys about how food comes from somewhere – not just the grocery store. I mean seriously I could go on and on and bore you right to sleep. In fact, if you need to take a nap – just read that intro again. It’s like the less invasive version of Ambien.
Let’s get to the photos….we had the overgrown garden – see the rosemary went a little nuts. And then Jeremy’s dad was getting rid of his raised beds so we gladly accepted those and will try to recycle the materials by tweaking them for our needs.
Jeremy was pulling up the wood and saw a snake – and if there is something you should know about Jeremy it is – he likes Crossfit, Fantasy Football, Survivor and EVERY SNAKE IS A COPPERHEAD. EVERY SPIDER IS A BROWN RECLUSE. and EVERY BOWL OF ICE CREAM IS WAY.TOO.SMALL.
We found an amazing number of critters…..two toads…
One small baby mole….
One salamander….
Two snakes and two lizards (we didn’t get a photo because apparently they can crawl out of buckets!).
After relocating the critters to new homes in the woods, we started the planning process by setting up ropes and stakes. That’s when we visited with our neighbors Larry & Charlene and lost track of time.
The next morning, we had to go right back to it….you can see that the garden is in a really unused part of the yard. It’s full sun and decent soil but it’s basically just lost yard.
The end goal is to have four beds this year and we can add a fence and shrubs and flowers around the fence later. I told Jeremy that I need big wide paths so that I can fit a wheelbarrow inside the fence and between the beds. That should help make clean up easier.
Where all that leftover fencing material is laying, that is where I want the coop eventually. I would love to have the coop enclosed and then also have the fence go around the garden and the coop area so that the chickens can keep us company when we tend to the garden.
I didn’t realize that I wanted something so big (it’s about 30×25 for the garden fenced area) but the stake and rope thing really helped me “feel the walls”. My mom always says to allow for growing room (for flowers planted along the fence)….and so this should help in the future.
The crazy rosemary plant got axed. I wish I could have saved it but Jeremy tore it up before I had a chance to veto.
The plan was that we would remove the grass because we had issues before with the grass growing into the beds. We removed it before but still – on the sides that the grass remained, it was very invasive. So I told Jeremy that we could just remove it completely then I would make his every dream come true – aka, I would cook him steak 🙂
We spray painted the lines onto the grass and Jeremy rented a sod cutter from a local place for $40 for a half a day.
That’s it right there. The sod cutter. Also known as EPIC FAILURE.
Thirty minutes to cut one strip and Jeremy’s patience got chopped down.
Yeah. And the roots aren’t even removed. So we nixed that plan and decided to go with the bigger-is-better route.
Enter the Dingo.
Jeremy called the tool rental place back and we upgraded to this bad boy. It’s basically like a little digger that you walk behind and control by pushing and pulling levers.
At first we dug up the bed and dumped it into the trailer to haul down to the woods. That’s a terrible idea by the way. Jeremy would dig it up, dump it in, haul it down, hand shovel it out, and start all over. He then just decided to walk it all down with the Dingo and it worked much better….one small load at a time.
Half way done….
Almost there…
Slowly but surely – he made it all the way to the four corners and finished it up. It wasn’t the most exciting work for Jeremy….
But these little nuggets loved watching the whole process…
Maxi Knight get’s literally SO MUCH LOVE. The big boys want to hold him constantly.
I think he gets annoyed by the affection at times. Also – Max and LJ can wear the same size now. They are like twins…except LJ is easier to hold because he is like this skinny little monkey that clings to you. Also LJ has a huge vocabulary. He says things like “Mommy, I saw a big bug and it eat me and it’s dangerous! Can I have popsicle?” It’s hilarious to hear the things in his head. Max can say Ball. At least we think he can. It might be babble. We are still trying to confirm that.
The best part of the Dingo was when Jeremy was done and the boys got to pose with it.
They LOVED this idea. I love the fact that Will is ALL him in this photo….baseball pants, star wars shirt, arm tattoos, the hole in the knee 🙂 That’s my boy right now.
Weston and his signature Capt. Morgan pose 🙂
And Max literally crawled up there by himself 🙂
The boys are my little helpers when it comes to MK’s smiles 🙂
Just look at those big ole teeth!
It looked like so much fun to pose on the Dingo….but I resisted. Nobody needs to see a grown woman posing on a piece of lawn equipment. I would never do such a thing anyway. I have more dignity than that.
So that’s it. We cleared out the grass and Jeremy used the bucket to grade it smooth. Then we raked out the remaining bits. And now we are ready for mulch and beds 🙂 and bed. because it’s exhausting to watch Jeremy work so hard 🙂
Next on the list for THE HAPPY GARDEN project –
- build and set beds
- figure out water situation
- fill beds
- plant veggies and herbs
- build fence and gates
- throw mulch
- plant flowers
- make a sign
- don’t kill everything
Well – now that you know our big spring project (oh wait – you know nothing yet. there is more. it’s kinda crazy.) what is yours? You guys start your gardens yet? Have you got those plantings in the ground? We still have to figure out the water situation with ours. We are debating if we should just get those little tiny irrigation hoses or if we need to just have the bigger soaker hoses or if we should just wait till next year to tackle that…aka..let the boys spray it with the hose. Hopefully everything will be done this month though….fingers crossed. I mean…Mama needs her tomatoes!