Bring on the boredom!

I am sorry.  But I must bore you again this year.  I cannot begin my planting without taking pictures of dirt and sharing them with you.  So hang in there.  The green will be coming soon!

It's dirt.  That is all at this point.  Just dirt.

Okay so maybe it's a special organic seeding dirt made moist by a rooting hormone/vitamin solution and labeled with plastic knives marked with a Sharpie.  Nothing crazy.

This is what I am planting in the pots.  Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.  These must be started indoors.

These are my remaining seeds that can be direct sown once the soil is consistently warm. 

  I had trouble watering my seedlings last year.  The spray bottle took too long and pouring water from a cup would spill over the edge and displace the dirt.  So I bought these plastic ketchup and mustard bottles for about 99 cents.  They allow enough water out to be practical but not too much to make a mess.  So nice!

I am so proud.  I kept two geraniums alive all winter long in my sun room.  They are starting to green up and flower again!  Two plants I do not have to buy for the porch this spring!

This is an experiment.  I want to grow sweet potatoes.  This is the way you get slips.  Or so I'm told.  I'll let you know how it goes.  No roots yet.

Our chickens are producing well.  4 chickens=4 eggs a day!

I'm not sure what happened here.  I think someone just blew his mind.

Awww.  I love the way things grow around here.

It's time!!

I am so proud! We finally have a layer. Those girls took longer than my last brood. They are almost 20 weeks. My last chickens began laying around 16 weeks.


You girls are pretty lucky. I was just thinking about how you were becoming worthless and seemed ripe for the frying pan. You must have read my thoughts. That's creepy.


This is our first little egg next to a store-bought egg. Isn't it cute? Over the next few weeks the eggs will become bigger. We might even get a few double-yolkers!


The garden is definitely winding down. I am seeing more yellow and less growth. We are getting lots of maters though!


And the melons are getting ready.



And this little guy is enjoying life before the frost. He is loving the sedum blossoms.


I am always ready for fall. It is my very favorite season. It is the time when the garden gets ready to rest. That means I get rest too. God created us to need a time when we lay down our duties and just enjoy His blessings. The way it works is beauty. I don't think I would enjoy my garden as much if it weren't for the fall and winter. Everything has it's purpose. Everything has it's time. Seems like there was a song or Bible verse about that. Hmmmmm.

Ecclesiastes 3

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. `

Update on garden, chickens and the coop.

Things are changing quickly here! The garden is growing like crazy, the chicks are mini-chickens and the coop is complete!!! Well, minus the painting but complete enough to hold some chickens. Here are some pics to prove it!
GARDEN...

Onions that didn't get to finish growing thanks to some unnamed children.

Green beans. I love how they twist and climb. I love how they taste too!

We didn't get to do our drip system this year so we are trying a more, elementary approach. I'll let you know if it works. (the milk jugs are a primitive drip system that also allows us to feed and water at the same time!)
Squash and lots of it!

Eggplant. Can't wait to grill it!

Day lilies. Not food but too pretty to resist.

This is the coop!!!

This is a chicken that we stuffed into the coop.

These are the chickens that refuse to go into the coop.
I really love it and am so proud to have it. My husband is THE BEST!!


My son decided to spontaneously give up all of his teeth.

This one decided to make the sweetest eyes at his daddy.


I love my life! Thank you Adonai for blessings.

The coop!

It's finally here. Well, of course, it is not finished. But almost! My woodworking wonder of a husband has thrilled me, yet again, with something that exceeded my expectations. If it were up to me, the chickens would live in an old dog house. But no, my sweet man took his time and used his artistic ability to make something that we will be able to keep for many years. Here he is in the planning stages...

and yes, the tongue does help him think.

Just starting:



It's coming along:




But alas, we do have to have some fun too right?




Well, except for Zad. He just needed to yell at someone.


And he had the best idea of all.

The joys of fresh produce!

This afternoon, Matt and I had salads made with fresh stuff from the garden. Two kinds of lettuce, oregano and some green onion came directly from the dirt and into our bowls. We did add some tomatoes, avocado and cucumber from the store but it was still delicious. We added some feta cheese and a home made vinaigrette that made it perfect! It makes me excited for the bounty of summer. Here is a pic of the before. I meant to take a pic of the after but got too excited about eating and forgot.


It was a busy week last week. We had family come into town for a dance recital and a baseball game. It was so special to have friends and family to share the fun stuff with. We had a great time and Jolie did a fab job dancing. Asher had a good game and showed off for his grandparents. We feel so blessed to have these kiddos! Here are a few pics.










Our chicks are in the ugly teenager chicken phase. They are losing the cute chick fuzz and have sparse feathers growing in. It's pretty funny. They are fun to watch and are afraid of everything. I can't wait to get them outside!




My son.