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First Garden Update of 2012! Cleaning Out, Planting and Strawberries!

May 14, 2012 By Emily McClements
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I had a wonderful Mother’s Day yesterday — thanks to my awesome husband and kids. They spoiled me and made me feel special. I hope that all of you mamas had great days too.  And if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, or maybe less than the best as a mother, my hubs wrote this post for me yesterday over on Babble, I hope it will be an encouragement to you!

One of my requests for Mother’s Day was that we get started working on our garden, since that had been neglected as we dealt with family stuff over the past month. My husband was great yesterday, doing the majority of the hard work, as I can barely bend over, and get out of breath if I so much as lift a rake or a shovel, at 35 weeks pregnant!

This is how we started — the beds were full of weeds! And my kids were excited to help!

So, we got the raised beds all cleaned out, and mixed in a layer of compost from our backyard compost bin, before planting some seeds. It was really great to be able to use compost that we had made, just starting at the end of last summer. Is it weird that I think it’s so interesting and fun to think that we made really nutrient dense dirt for our own garden out of food and yard scraps? Oh, it’s the little things that make me happy!

Another fun thing was that we were checking out our little strawberry patch and found that we have lots of little ripening strawberries! We got to pick four of them, and each of us enjoyed a fresh, right off the plant, strawberry! They were really sweet and juicy and yummy, the kids were pretty upset that we couldn’t pick any more, but I had to teach them that we can’t pick the berries until they are totally ripe and ready.

Actually, the kids were great helpers, of course they loved digging in the dirt, and they also liked to help plant the seeds. My daughter especially did really well with helping me plant the sugar snap peas.  All together we planted the peas, zucchini, spinach, carrots, and some oregano, basil and cilantro.  I can’t wait to see my little seedlings come up!

We still have a few more boxes to fill, and I’m trying to figure out what else I want to plant. I’m planning to get some tomato plants from the Farmer’s Market, and a friend has some cucumber, squash and possibly tomato seedlings for me. I’ll also do another planting of carrot seeds, and I’m thinking about trying watermelon and maybe cantaloupe.  I don’t want to overdo it, because I am just a month away from having a newborn baby, but I also want to utilize the space that we have out in our garden to grow our own food, and because I do think it’s fun to get out and work in the dirt and watch our plants grow and produce food!

So, that’s just a little update of what we’ve been up to around here. We’re trying to ease back into life as normally as we can, although the reality sets in on days like Mother’s Day that I will never get to hear my dad tell me what a wonderful mother he thinks I am again, so I have my moments of sadness and grieving. I don’t mean to be a downer, but that is just where we are at with life right now.

We’re also busy preparing for Baby #3 to make her arrival. We’re still planning a home birth, and working on getting things ready for that. We are excited, blessed and at the same time a little nervous to be welcoming this new little one into our family. We’re realizing what a change it will be to have a little newborn baby around, but we can’t wait to meet her and snuggle her and love her. And we know our kids will be a great big sister and brother!

Thanks so much for sticking with me during over the past month, I am hoping to be able to update a little more frequently, and am also looking for guest posts for next month after the baby is born.  Please send me an email if you’re interested in posting on Live Renewed!

What are you planting in your garden this year?

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14 CommentsFiled Under: Green Living Tagged With: composting, gardening, green living

First Garden Update of the Season! Default ThumbnailGarden Update #3 August Garden Update! Default ThumbnailGarden Update #2

Comments

  1. Kinda Crunchy Kate says

    May 14, 2012 at 9:54 pm

    I don’t get to have a garden this year. We’re living in an apartment now, and our yard is almost completely shaded, which is not very conducive to gardening. We bought a half share of a CSA this year, though, to make up for it and hope to hit the Farmer’s Markets fairly frequently. I’m also going to try a couple of container gardening plants–just some tomatoes and zucchini/squash.
    If you plant watermelon, make sure you leave space, because it will get huge. It tried to take over one entire end of my garden. The watermelon was delicious, but they are space hogs! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Gisele says

    May 15, 2012 at 2:06 am

    I have never tried planting strawberries but I am actually planning to plant them maybe this year.. Thanks for the information shared..

    Reply
  3. Danielle says

    May 15, 2012 at 11:33 am

    Looks wonderful! It’s so great to see your kids working with you, too! So far, we’ve started tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, squash, carrots, and green beans! 🙂

    Reply
  4. KIm says

    May 15, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    Congrats on getting your garden going; that’s what I choose to do with my Mother’s Day as well. 🙂 So fun to see your kiddos get involved!

    Reply
  5. Margery says

    May 15, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    I’m in Georgia. I added a new raised bed this year and an asparagus bed. I am harvesting now: kale, arugula, lolla rosa lettuce, cabbage, spinach, mustard greens, mint, parsley and rosemary. Half-grown are pole beans and zucchini.

    Just starting out are cucumbers, dill, basil, chili peppers, sweet banana peppers, cherry tomatoes, early girl tomatoes, oregano, thyme, nasturtiums (edible flowers and leaves) and radishes.

    My blueberry bush is full of ripening berries. I hope to be eating gallons in a few weeks!

    I have slowly added a little each year. I have some plantings in the landscaping, two raised beds, kale and arugula in planters on the front porch, and several items in pots on the back deck. I can’t believe my garden has gotten so big!

    Try something new every year if you can manage it. I tried brussels sprouts in the winter, and they were a total flop, but I had never done winter gardening before. I will try something different next winter.

    Reply
  6. Crystal says

    May 15, 2012 at 9:49 pm

    Plants can be a bundle of work or an easy breeze depending on their origin. One thing is for sure: Almost every landscape project involves trees. Trees create shade and privacy and are low maintenance and will last a lifetime.

    Reply
  7. Jeannie says

    May 15, 2012 at 11:35 pm

    I live in an apartment right now, but grew strawberries in containers last year and will again this year.

    This year there are a ton of flowers (means lots of berries!) and I am going to give some to my sister to thin out the plants in the pots.

    They have to be shared with the birds and squirrels, as they often get to them before I do.

    Reply
  8. Debbie says

    May 16, 2012 at 12:27 am

    I love your raised beds. I am trying one this year. We will see how it goes.

    Reply
  9. Cheska F. Rodolf says

    May 16, 2012 at 12:37 am

    That’s hard to do in a small space and even harder when the weather doesn’t feel like cooperating. Thankfully there are other means of keeping interest in the garden.

    Reply
  10. tinafreysd says

    May 16, 2012 at 3:23 am

    I want to learn how to plant this looks like exciting..Thanks for sharing..

    Reply
  11. Arth says

    May 18, 2012 at 7:59 am

    Now I want a strawberry garden in my backyard! Haha

    Reply
  12. Jenet says

    May 22, 2012 at 9:10 am

    My grandma and I planted broccoli, Bibb lettuce, cauliflower, Cherry tomatoes, yellow peppers and strawberries. This is my first year planting berries so I am excited to see how many strawberries I’ll actually get. I love having a garden, but this year my garden is very special because my grandmother and I planted it together. She is 85 so every moment we can share together is a blessing.

    Reply
  13. Shenamea Frosse says

    May 31, 2012 at 3:52 am

    Wow, It’s nice to have our own garden especially if the corps is a strawberry and I love to eat strawberry.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. August Garden Update says:
    August 21, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    […] our garden this year has taken on a life of it’s own! Our original planting on Mother’s Day only yielded us one zucchini plant. A few peas came up, but I didn’t keep them watered […]

    Reply

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