Here we grow again....

Last year we decided to do it right. We went out and invested some money in getting material to build grow boxes, buy fruit trees, get good soil and a drip system for the vegetable garden. It was my favorite summer here yet! Tyler built me 3 above ground boxes and planted rose bushes and 2 fruit trees for me! I loved every second of being in my garden last year. We grew peppers, lettuce, beans, onions, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, beets, carrots, and the list goes on and on. It was a fairly productive garden I guess, but the harvest was only half of the fun.

Emily was just starting to be pretty mobile. Every morning she would eat breakfast then we would go outside to the garden and "pull" weeds. She had a wonderful time outside playing with the weeds and plant containers. Her favorite thing to do was put the rocks that we placed in between the beds inside the beds themselves. Then when she felt that there was enough there she would put the rocks back. She also LOVED to climb on top of the beds and play in the dirt. Emily would get soooo dirty, but I didn't care. Sometimes you just have to let kids get out and explore their backyard!

One of my most favorite memories of her outside last year was her discovery of tomatoes! She loves them. Emily would go out and pick a tomato from the garden and bring them inside and eat them like an apple. This would gross Tyler out to no end! I loved every part of this! Every once in a while I would have to trade the green one that she had just picked with a red one that just ripened, but I didn't care. When your child shows interest in eating fresh, fruits and vegetables you don't get in the way!

First Seeds First....

When we moved into our first home I was thrilled to be able to have my very own and very first vegetable garden. I consulted my Nana and Papa and my in-laws on how to start a "first year" garden and developed a stellar plan. We went full steam working on that garden and gave it blood, sweat and tears and a ton of elbow grease. I had my nieces and nephews pick out seeds so that they can have their own special plants in the garden. Sending kids to a full rack of seeds and ask them to pick out ANY thing that they want to grow is not a wise thing to do. Pick out packets of things that you want grown in your garden, first, and then have them pick from that stack of what they want to grow. Regardless, in a plot destined to be barren you wont get anything anyways so it doesn't really matter.

Our poor little garden was doomed from the beginning. I ignored 3 crucial elements to a healthy and fruitful garden: 1. proper watering, 2. the value of mulch, and 3. location, location, location. The problem with this spot for the garden was that it was up against the south facing side of the house and the sun would reflect off of the house and burn any seedlings that came up out of the ground. However, I must say that one of my nephews picked radishes to grow and they grew, until our puppy decided to pee on them. We literally got nothing from that garden.

The next year, we covered that spot with cement and now it is home to a grill and patio furniture....much better.

All good things.....

All good things must come to an end....yes, but they must also begin. This began 20 something years ago in San Jacinto, California in my Nana and Papa's garden. I took a small seed and planted a beet. When the beet was harvested, I ate the beet. When the beet was tasted, I found out . . . that I don't like beets. Fast forward through rhubarb in Montana, and tomatoes in Georgia and I find myself in a "thicket" of raspberries in Utah.

When Tyler and I married we moved to Utah and lived with his parents for nearly a year. It was a fantastic year, and seriously, I have no living-with-the-in-laws horror stories. All of my memories of that year rest in their garden and kitchen. Now back to the "thicket." My Mother-in-Law, Kathy, had the absolute best raspberries and they grew like crazy! It is no exaggeration when I say that I would pick 5 cups of raspberries a day. That's what got me in the kitchen. I had to do something with the raspberries, so I baked pies. Come to think of it, I am not sure that I ever asked if she had plans for her raspberries. Ooops!

From Kathy, I learned how to recognize herbs and leaves of certain vegetables and when my new brood of nieces and nephews would come over we would most always end up in the garden. I loved this. These times gave me one on one bonding with them. They would ask questions about the plants and, depending on the month, we would sneak a snack of raspberries, tomatoes, or peas. I loved watching them romp around in the garden. That was the beginning of "Farmer Aunt Laura."