progress!

This year, progress is measured in yards of dirt/bark/wood chips moved, inches the beans have grown, and number of weeds pulled. No kidding, I bet you I have pulled over 2,000 weeds. People admire my tan and ask, "You sure have a lot of color, where have you been?" I'd like to say Hawaii. Or Mexico. Or anything that sounds exotic. "In my yard, pulling weeds," is my usual reply.

So here is the story on the garden: Remember this picture? That was taken April 19th. There I am, poking sunflower seeds into the soil.

In late May, my parents came for a visit and we wrangled Dad into helping us figure out how to augment our sprinkler system to bring water to the garden. As all good home projects go, it took not 1, not 2, but 3 trips to Hope Depot. Glad it's literally 5 minutes down the road! Here is Amanda laying the pipe as Dad and Jack "supervise".

Look at the garden now! Just 10 weeks after the planting! Amazing what a little water will do for a plant isn't it?

We've got wood chips down around the garden beds now! Hope they keep some weeds away.

corn, sunflowers and beans tomato blossoms

squash


pea blossoms

the sunflowers are getting ready to shine

the first, of I'm sure what will be many, zucchini


I love the little curly things pumpkin vines get on them

Aside from the garden, we've also been working on getting a pool up for the summer. Amanda and I worked for 4 days to get an area leveled. We hauled load after load of soil and used a 2x6 and a level to get it as level as possible. You can see the end result behind Emily here... These pools are the cheapest "vacation" around!

Emily... adorable!