Greens and grandbabies. (For the family)

My herbs are in pots this year.  I decided not to fight the Bermuda.

Beans!!!

That little bed of lettuce, carrots and onions.

Faithful squash.

Broad-leaf Rosemary.  I am sure there is another name for it.

Tomatoes and peppers were purchased this year.  I did not have the energy for seeds.  I did manage to get all heirloom varieties!

Onions!!

I posted some of these on FB but these are for the family!

Zaddok went to the zoo with his class.  Yep, that's a lion.  Small town zoos rock.

The Kinder class.

Finally...

It is that time again!  Time to become better acquainted with the dirt.  But first, I have to show you something that we did this weekend.

This is the sweet little chubby hand of my 2-year-old.  He is feeling the popcorn kernels that we grew in our garden last year.  They were so cute!  But I questioned if they would actually make popcorn.  We got brave and decided to give it a try.

It worked!  The popcorn is not like what you get at the movies.  They pop up tiny.  It is much more like a grain than a fluffy crunchy snack.  We still ate it with butter and salt.  It was very good!  I was just so pleased that we were able to grow and pop our own popcorn.  Thanks Papa for giving us the seed!

Okay, back to the dirt.  We have had a very early Spring sneak up on us.  There are blossoms on the trees and the grass is coming back to life.  I always get kind of sad when this happens because I know we will have another freeze or two before Spring is really here.  So we pray that our little apricot tree will hold off a bit longer!  The warm weather did make me realize that I had not planted my early garden.  So yesterday, through the blowing wind and dirt, my family and I got some things in the ground.  I do love this part!  This is the front bed with our tiny onions.

I know this looks like a mess but it is really beautiful pink tulips!  You will see.

 

This is where the lettuce, carrots and green onion will come alive! 

 I can't wait to have fresh greens.

 This little guy was thrilled to get his first time to play with the hose this season.
 I was not so thrilled because I had to seek refuge in the house. 
He was determined to get me wet.

 SEE!!!

 I guess I can't blame him.  It was pretty fun!

 Plus, the joy in his little face is contagious. 
(He has his Daddy's smile wrinkles already!)

 My older boys were content with bikes and Rip Sticks. 
Asher is perfecting the cool factor of Rip-Sticking.

 Zaddy is doing bike tricks and hair tricks.

 Our Daddy, who still loves to play, got a Rip Stick for his birthday.
 He is just one of the boys.  I love that about him.  It keeps us young!

 He keeps us young and these guys keep me happy!  I love you babies!

The beauty of produce

My boys decided to help me out and harvest my root veggies.  I had been ignoring them and we had had several freezes.  We thought they were probably perfect to dig!  Plus, we have a big storm system headed our way and wanted to get them out before it hit.

Our carrots did really good this year.  Carrots are one of those forgiving veggies.  You put down seed and up they come.  Well, it does take awhile but they are worth the wait!

YUMMM!  Look at the fat ones!

Zaddy got a big one.  These are perfect for roasting.

Asher took on the manly job of digging them out. 

Every season I like to try a new veggie.  When it got too hot for my lettuce, I collected the seed and then pulled it up.  In it's place I threw down some turnip seeds.  They came up like crazy and I underestimated how much space each plant would need.  So we ended up with a big lump of greens.  Today we were able to see what was growing under the greens.  I can't wait to roast these! 

What a mess!

But they sure clean up nice.

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Deconstructing a garden

It is a bitter-sweet time of year.  Time to start pulling up the plants that I have nurtured all summer.  Some are in the midst of massive prodution.  They can stick around.  Others, like our corn, have already given what they had to give.  We are always thankful as we wrap up the season.  We again reflect on the majesty of it all.  Nourishment from a seed and some dirt.  It's still amazing after these many seasons.  The Father still provides.  We will continue to pull and sort until the last frost.  I hope your season has been sweet. 

Oh the bounty!!  Vibrant color from the ground.

So sweet with no chemicals added!

My fridge has been stuffed.

But this is beautiful too!

This was just one color of indian corn that came from our stalks.  My personal favorite.

It was like Christmas to open each husk.  So many colors!

Of course we save seed for next year.

This kid stuck with me all afternoon.  He shucked corn like a pro.

This one just kept trying to eat it.  But come on, you always need a comedian.

We found some okra that was long gone.  So, to seed it will go!

As a bonus, we found some watermelon hiding in the corn.  Thanks summer!

Dancing Around Obsession

I am sure you are getting sick of produce pictures.  Well, tough.  It is my current focus.  You will only have to deal with it for another 6 to 8 weeks.  That all depends on Fall.  But for now, I hope you can happily share in the depths of my focus.

/

Dill seed.  Awesome.

The humble beginnings of my stockpile.

Amazed at creation.  Such color and glory out of something so practical.

Poor, sad potatoes.  I did not water you like I should have.  The dry season overwhelmed me.  Yet look how you still managed to grow!  Next year my friends, will be your year.

Who let the chickens into the garden?  Hmmmm.  Someone looks guilty.

I do love to see their little fluffy bottoms in the tomatoes.  They are great at picking bugs, which makes me happy.  But also great at picking perfectly ripe tomatoes.  That does not make me happy.

Oh Summer, you have been torture at times.  But there is no other season that can make ice cream taste so good.

Right Zaddy?


This post is linked to Homestead Revival's Preparedness Challenge!  Go check out the rest of the links.  Great stuff.