May 11, 2011

in the sun

Ben had a day off so we could catch up with some stuff that needed to be caught up. The main one was getting the vegetable garden, more like tomato garden, ready. Last year, we had 29 varieties of tomatoes, this year we plan to have to close to that amount, but the fun thing is we are trying some new grafted tomato varieties out. We are pretty excited about those!

It takes so much work to get a garden ready. We had to take out all the dirt from all 4 beds, mind you they are 9' x 4', then put down some hardwire cloth to protect against our new friend, mr. gopher (it isn't a mole or a vole, but a pocket gopher) devouring our crop, then we had to add the dirt back in, add some metal posts for the tomatoes, along with some new compost, then more dirt, and more compost, then mix it all together. This must be done 4 times and with the sun beating down on us. We. Are. Tired.

The girls helped when they wanted to and played the rest of the time under a nice shade. Ain't being a kid grand?! It was fun to all be out there together as a family and the girls were happy as can be getting to be outside. They brought out as many toys as they could and were playing school and mommy and scootering about all day long.
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I can't wait to officially get these tomatoes in the ground and Lord willing enjoy a good harvest. There is so much to learn with gardening and all the technical stuff that comes with it. I am glad Ben is good at researching all this stuff (and enjoys it too) because there is so much science and planning behind a garden.

The rest of the evening will be spent eating cupcakes and yogurt and sitting around because this mama and her baby belly are super duper tired (and the allergies have kicked into overdrive)! Tomorrow all the work will continue again...

How was your day today?

15 comments:

  1. I would love to do some gardening ( in our case more like landscaping) but it has been raining cats and dogs here. no fun :(

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  2. Lovely! We have two small raised bed gardens, and have to plant them soon! It's such a great thing to do as a family, even if the little ones poop out early. :)

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  3. geez, i didn't think it'd be this hard to grow tomatoes >.> nevertheless, i think i'd still like to give it a try. tomatoes and all sorts of other vegetables :P

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  4. I just discovered your blog through your guest post on Grosgrain, but this post sounded so much like my life - even down to planting an absurd amount of tomatoes. Two years ago we had 43 (plants, not varieties, unfortunately). I am expecting number 4, and allergies are kicking in, and your post was perfect. Thanks. I am glad to have discovered your blog.

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  5. How fun to grow so many types of tomatoes! I can't wait to try raised bed gardening!

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  6. awww x so cute!!! & the food looke super YUM! x

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  7. I love the hard work that comes with spring :) Yesterday I spent hours scooping out my horse stalls which needed it badly. Today's the day for totally cleaning out and organizing the tack room, and tomorrow the barn aisle way. But I love it all, and on Saturday I'm hosting a five year old's horse birthday party, and it's going to be lots of fun!

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  8. A tip for the allergies - get a jar of LOCAL honey. Take a tablespoon everyday for a week- then a tablespoon one day a week. Your allergies will go away! :)

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  9. Oh, I can relate! My husband and I just emptied my three 4'x10' raised beds and moved them to another part of the backyard. It seemed like such a crazy idea, but needed to be done so they would get more sunlight. Allergies wiped us out afterwards. Haven't filled the beds yet, but am excited that I now have room for one more. Wow, 29 varieties of tomatoes! I only have 12 and am looking forward to trying new varieties next year. Happy planting!

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  10. after i clean your bathrooms, i would like a huuuuge bowl of cold, sweet watermelon ready for my enjoyment. :) oh, and shoes. haha!!

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  11. Ooh, I am SO jealous of your garden and your sunny weather! I know they are hard work, but there's no kind of work like good honest aching muscles! I'm sure you all had a great night's sleep after that day outside!

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  12. my gosh! your garden is TO DIE FOR!! i'm incredibly envious and now i want a whole garden for my own. but it does take a lotta time and effort huh.

    btw, did you guys have to separately buy soil or was it all dug up from the earth of your garden when you originally bought the house?

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  13. sugarmouse- we separately bought soil. it has been sooo much work, but so worth it and fun for the whole family! there is so much science behind it all, i thought you just throw seeds down and it grows! ha!

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