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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Our First Garden

Okay, what?? It's Thursday!! I've been a busy bee this week and my body feels it!!! I am so sore from working outside in the flowerbeds, giving massages, cleaning houses and just working in general! I thought a lot about my Amish neighbors this week and the way those ladies work so hard....physically speaking. I know there are A LOT of women who work hard all day long, but the physical labor I see them doing....it makes me tired just watching! Anyway, my body is sore because I'm not use to working like that.
We have officially planted our first garden. The Master Gardener, (Jake's Mom) was the fearless leader who shamelessly put us all in our places and gave us step.by.step instructions NOT to be ignored. I can't remember the last time I saw Mama so IN CHARGE. Hey, I don't know a thing about planting a garden and for goodness sakes she grew up AMISH and had a garden the size of an acre.....
A
GARDEN
the
size
of
an
ACRE!!!!
The kids frolicked like kids should!
Paisley ate grass. The boys wrestled.

My brother Tom joined us as well, and our friend Jess,
they are our neighbors and have a true appreciation for community living.
That's just one of the things we like about them both.

Mama on her throne of glory!
She is beyond thrilled to be back in the garden.
"It's been 15 years since I had a garden, oh, it feels so good to have my
fingers in the dirt."
Bless her soul.

Jake built a fence around the garden.(*wait 'til I post the pics....)
It's **darling.**...like everything he creates!
He is AMAZING!!! He said he's going to put lamps on the posts.
My garden will have lights.
Lest I choose to pick a tomato in the dark,
I will not go blindly picking a red or a yellow...
I will turn on my lights
and see clearly!!!! Hilarious!! I love him!!!
My daughter and I hung out on the hammock and watched Superman!

Each morning when I come to my kitchen sink which overlooks our garden,
I look out and can surely say it has grown overnight. I can almost hear it growing!
My garden roots are taking me back to my roots and I like the way it feels.
Jake put up a wash line for me. I'm considering turning off the TV for the Summer, (Jake could care less). I would like to purchase chickens to have here, but don't know if "undomesticated" animals are allowed within the borough!
I am even considering making my own yogurt....do any of you do that?
Advice for a beginner??
I think I have more "prairie" in me then I once realized......



"Many things grow in the garden
that were never sown there
."
~Thomas Fuller~

12 comments:

Mimy said...

Good luck on the garden! We didn't get ours in yet...one of these days. Last year was all an experiment so I'm excited to try and do it better this year. My friend Thelma just posted her recipe for yogurt...it looks so yummy. Thought you might want to check it out! http://fruitloops115.xanga.com/ Not sure if the link works or not!

Sarah Gingrich said...

You are a lady after my own heart. When we lived stateside I too had the playpen out by my big garden, with Sophia cooing at me while I picked tomatoes the size of softballs. I also make yogurt (though not here in Chile due to the shelf-stable milk). I had more failures than successes though due to the trickiness of keeping the yogurt at the right temperature for the right time (I put the jars of yogurt on a wire rack over a sink of hot water and covered all with blankets. When I'm stateside again I'm buying a 2 qt. yogurt incubator online (by doing it in a large container you don't have to deal with cleaning little cups that some machines use). It takes the risk out of ruining a batch due to temperature drop. I think they run around $40-$50; a good Christmas gift : ). A word of gardening advice; weeds grow quicker than a baby can get jelly in their hair; use either cardboard or black plastic between the rows to discourage weeds, then you can hand weed around the plants. First year gardens are especially susceptible to weed parties, so keep yourself sane : D.
Love from Chile!

Dana said...

Best wishes on the garden!! I thought I was in the clear this year but Arnie had another idea. Looks like we'll be doing a ton of corn and keep the strawberry field picked!! Still not as much work as last. Let me know what you planted and how they did!!
(I saw lettuce coming up again this spring. sure sign of planting too much last year!!)

Dana said...

oh, Sarah's right about them weeds. We put down thick pellets of straw in the walk ways and mushroom mulch around the plants. It worked great! (we've got some straw if you need it.)

Bess said...

Umm, so...are we living similar lives here??? Just put up a wash line two weeks ago, just planted the garden three weeks ago, looking into getting chickens on our property again, and LOVE the "community living" thing we are experiencing here! :) :) Wouldn't it be cool if we were neighbors???

Anonymous said...

Love it Love it Love it, my Friend! :)

Michelle said...

OK, so that was me posting that last comment w/o putting in my name or anything. Hey, it's been a crazy week for everyone ;). Love you girlie, Michelle

Mary June Miller said...

Looks like so much fun! Someday I hope to live somewhere where I can have my own garden as well!

I make so much yogurt I think I could make it with my eyes closed - and it's easy peasy chicken squeezy!
I saw someone else already gave you a recipe - but it you want mine - let me know.

Mj

melissa said...

How awesome! I had a wash line the first couple of years we lived there and loved it for sheets and towels! Oh, and believe it or not we had to look into the "chicken rules" because someone inquired about it when we were selling the house and unless something changed you were allowed to have them as a "hobby"...okaaayyy... :o)

melissa said...

How awesome! I had a wash line the first couple of years we lived there and loved it for sheets and towels! Oh, and believe it or not we had to look into the "chicken rules" because someone inquired about it when we were selling the house and unless something changed you were allowed to have them as a "hobby"...okaaayyy... :o)

Melissa Stoltzfus said...

Oooooo, I am going to be so jealous if you get chickens! I want some so bad, but I don't know if we can have them either. I'm thinking probably not with so many houses so close. . . .I do not make yogurt yet, but I would like to get that started too! We DO have a garden. Too little if you ask me but that is probably good. Otherwise I would plant WAY more than we can take care of OR eat!!

Ann Flower said...

You will get reward for your hardwork. expecting the picture of blooms in your garden on your upcoming blog.