Thursday, June 10, 2010

we have a yard?


it is crazy to be living in a house- a place where we are actually required to fix broken things, fill your own nail holes and take care of a yard. it is quite the responsibility but we readily stepped up to the challenge. every saturday morning that we have free we roll out of bed, put on a pair of "work-hard-pants," as cade calls them, and head out to dig and prune. here are the yard projects 2010:

1. THE LAWN
when we first moved in, our yard was covered in snow; however, as the snow melted we started to understand what happens to a lawn when a house has been vacant for a year. it disappears. completely. if it was green and in our front yard- it was a weed. little nubbins of dry grass peeked through in places but overall it was a sad sight. when the weather started to warm up, our backyard turned into a jungle of fast-growing, lush, green weeds. since the front yard is a huge project to undertake, we just decided to mow the back weeds into a pseudo lawn for this first year. that will have to do.

to tackle the front yard, we started early and came out swinging. we have been busily weeding, planting and spraying to get some sort of lawn back and we are starting to see some results.

2. FLOWERS
i have always looked forward to having my own flower beds planted all pretty and nice. my mom always had flowers in our yard on all over our back deck and i loved it. with bright eyes and huge expectations, i headed over to home depot to gather all my flower friends to join me in the yard. it didn't take long for my dreams to be crushed... i quickly realized that flowers cost your right arm and filling a huge plot like mine- to fit my expectations- was going to require a second mortgage. i priced and perused and finally picked out my flowers for this year. i am a first time gardner but i think it went well for my inaugural plot. needless to say, after this first planting experience, i have learned much for next year. lesson one: plant them low- never grow, plant them high- never die. lesson two: don't plant flowers in may. repeated snow and hail storms will freeze them. lesson three: just like flowers, weeds grow. plan accordingly.

3. GARDEN
when i was a missionary, i was called as a welfare specialist and received extra training in the mtc on debt management, first aid, hygiene and gardening. we planted a square foot garden on the mtc grounds and the whole time i was digging and pruning i thought, "do they even have gardens in japan?"

turns out they didn't. BUT- they do have them in lehi and we wanted our own! cade set out to build us a nice planter box. we got some good soil and planted this year's crops. corn, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries, raspberries, and onions. square foot style. they are all growing like crazy and we are already seeing some ripen. we only did one planter box this year- but we are already excited to build another one next year and double our harvest.

4. THE PLUM TREE
as you can see by the picture- this project is pretty much failing. maybe we aren't the gardners we boast to be...

and finally... you may be asking, "where was violet this whole time?"
right here, of course! (yes that is what our back "lawn" looks like) vi is a little outdoor baby and she loves working in the yard.

9 comments:

LAINA said...

Your garden looks wonderful! I think that is what I am most excited about for owning a house one day... to have a garden. Good luck with the yard, but it doesn't look like you need luck, you got mad skills.

the Eggett's said...

nice yard! I am jealous of the garden, I can't wait to eat my own fresh tomatoes and cucumbers!

Missy said...

Your square foot garden looks great! How nice to finally have your own yard :)

Norton's said...

Isn't yard work so much fun? I just hope and pray I never come across a snake. I'll flip. Your yard looks beautiful!

Kristine L. said...

Well, if you never plant grass, that will save Cade lots of time and not having to clip the grass with scissors...

If you have no idea what I am talking about, ask Cade. He used to trim his lawn with scissors.

Abby said...

Good on ya for the yard work. Here’s what I’ve learned about yarding. Perennials are the way to go. It’s only a one-time investment instead of every year. I’m down to only my window box and a few planters that are Annuals because of the cost but they are currently empty. There is always something else I want to spend the money on…like food.

Erin said...

Cutest family ever. And jealous you have a house. It'll be a while before we get a place. P.S. I read the awesome story about Vi. Amazing. So glad she's doing well.

Jen Holtkamp said...

looks great! i was a welfare missionary too and i'm so glad you're putting your knowledge of square foot gardening to use :) -jen

Mary Ann (Crockett) Ahlstrom said...

Ryan wanted to do a square garden so badly this year. We bought all the stuff, then found out from the neighbors that unless you have your garden elevated here in CO, the rabbits eat EVERYTHING. So we had to return them all and get terecotta planters. Your garden looks awesome! good for you!