Good Timing or Band Wagon Jumping?

It is Strawberry Days here in town and yesterday was the first big day of activities.  The biggest being the Concert in the Park with Free Strawberries and Cream...a local delicacy.

After photpgraphing that this evening I came home and realized that I hadn't watered my garden in a few (very dry, hot) days.  So I went out to check it.  Here is what I found.

Four ripe, berries from my own strawberry plants.  Do you think they were just worried they weren't getting the attention they deserved?  Or was it maybe they just were joiners, and wanted to be a part of the fun?

Either way, they were delicious.

Stay-Cation Fun!

So the first day of Spring Break  (and much of the second day--for that matter), was spent doing regular stuff.  I love that!  One of the "regular" things we did was prep the garden areas I want to use.  Our wonderful neighbor loaned us his tiny rototiller so I had the kids help me dig up the dirt.  It is so soft and fluffy.  I guess that is good?!  It looks rich and warm and ready for plating.  If the weather will just cooperated for a longer than one day at a time.



This is why I had children...anyone else find that true?!  The Boy loves power tools.

The Girl did her half of the rototilling on the retaining wall.

When One Bloom Opens Another Closes?!

Well,here is the beginning of our family garden. The strawberries are along the left, and the watermelon is right hand side front. Then there are four peppers in front of the eight tomatoes. It has been three days now. So far so good.

On the other hand, this is now my front flower bed. Yesterday morning it had been filled with gorgeous tulips in bright, springtime colors.



As I was making dinner yesterday 6 year old neighbor girl rang the doorbell. When I opened the door, she spit out "My brother picked all your flowers. Sorry."

I am sure I gasped when I saw my once full flowerbed. I was so bummed out.

Now her brother is 4, and like all boys is curious and has some boundary issues. The Boy did the same thing here once upon a time. But this neighbor girl has a tendency to blame everyone else when she is in trouble, so I wonder if she wasn't at least an accomplice. My hunch tells me she may have orchestrated the bloom heist and then knew the brother would get blamed.

The saddest part is that they picked the tulips with only 3 inches of stem, so they couldn't even be salvaged as an arrangement indoors.

Their mom came over when she saw me out looking at my molested flower bed. She was obviously embarrassed. What do you say? She was mortified. I tried to tell the mom that I understand they are kids, but still. I wanted the kids to really understand that this was not OK.

When The Boy tried this same trick--badgered by The Girl or not, I still don't know for sure--he got a spanking. He never picked the neighbor's flowers again. I know that this will not be the fate of the neighbor kids.

This past week or so the weather has been back to the yucky, almost March rain-snow mix and was taking its toll on my psyche. I am so ready for warmth and sunshine and spring and summer. Some days when I would leave or come back to the house, that blast of bright color was enough to keep me going another day.

Now it looks like the mid March bloom pattern our there, only the Columbine is bushier and the Allium Giganteum is coming to the blooming stage. Let's hope those survive the kids.

I know they are only kids, but it still irritates me. Am I out of line? What ever happened to respecting other people's property? I remember distinctly being taught not to even walk on people's lawns...that is what the driveway or sidewalk is for. Isn't that this same principle?

At least the garden is safe. It is inside the fenced-in back yard. Though this resembles the white trash holy land, the garden is safe enough and tucked out of the sight and fingers of the neighbor kids.

5x7 Gardening

Maybe you have heard of the Square Foot Gardening trend going around. It is a great idea for people with little to no ground space to garden in. It is mostly a verticle garden, by the careful selection of appropriate plants, the ground space required is small but the bounty is still great.

Well, last night--after a family home evening lesson reviewing the story of the Little Red Hen--I got The Boy and The Girl and Genius Golfer to help me put in my 12 strawberry plants, 8 tomatoes, 4 bell peppers and 2 watermelons. All within about a 5 foot by 7 foot space at the south end of our house. They also trenched and buried a soaker hose for me to water the roots of everything.

Today it is rainy so the photo doesn't look too promising, so I will share the set up once the sun comes back out.

At least I can check the "gardening" line off my to do list. I am hopeful to get enough tomatoes to can them again this year. And the kids are hoping the watermelon produces enough to eat all summer. They are not, however, anxious for stuffed bell peppers for dinner, but I am!