Digging, planting, mulching, enjoying.

We spent most of our Saturday working on the yard. It was grueling and wonderful (I love hard labor). We started the day by going to our favorite place to buy mulch and seedlings (see my post about not starting seeds this year). I had dug up many new beds and edged others earlier in the week so that part was ready.

Both boys helped load and haul and pull the wagons. A helped dig, G helped plant. Both helped water and argued a bit over who got the hose (big surprise). They both meticulously planted seeds and patted down the soil. We tried to plan most of it during G's nap time as he is a walking allergy this week and his asthma has therefore been horrible. Poor little guy. He really enjoyed being out for part of it though and helped a lot for a 2 year old!

It took us over 6 hours of digging, raking, planting, and mulching. We have tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplants, pumpkins, a wide variety of culinary herbs, tea herbs, bug repellent herbs, lots of flowers, and even blueberry and raspberry bushes. A also wanted some popcorn, so we planted 2 small rows of that. We added some wind chimes the boys bought and used the stepping stones they made for a mini path through the fruit bushes.

I love seeing results from the planting - it feels so good to dig and plant and mulch and crawl on my knees until my back aches. And everything looks so great - the new small neat plantings along side the beautiful blooming bushes. I cannot wait until August when everything is producing and lush and full. We still have a few more things to do in the next few weeks. I have some more pots that need veggies. A would like to have an area with a bench to read with climbers going up his chair...and we still need a more compact composter and mini worm bin (A is determined to have worms this year!), but we have plenty of time for that.

Today the boys did a walk through of the yard to look at everything again. They stopped at each place, checked the plants, tenderly picked stray bits of mulch out of the grass, tapped the chimes, and sniffed the flowers (before playing a game of high speed chase). I can see how much they enjoy the details and I cannot wait to see them enjoying the rewards of our work. It is going to be a fun summer.