On Gardening...

When I was a teenager, if someone would have told me that I would enjoy gardening as an adult, I would have never believed them.  My parents always had a very large garden and a big yard to care for.  As kids, we had responsibilities to help with mowing the lawn, weeding flower beds, and helping to plant, weed, and harvest the garden.  I HATED IT!  I remember telling my dad that someday when I had my own house, I would NOT be having any garden, flowers, or grass.  I would have rocks for my front yard! :)
Less that two years after Eric and I got married, we moved in a duplex in Orem, Utah with a backyard while attending BYU.  I was so excited that it had a backyard so that I could plant a garden.  Eric didn't start out being the gardening type, but after years of my persistence in planting flowers and vegetables at different places that we have lived, he now enjoys it too, but it still isn't his passion like it is mine.  There is something very rewarding about watching things grow and enjoying the fruits of your labors.  It is very enjoyable to work together in the yard.

With spring arriving, we have taken advantage of the nice weather to do a little landscaping and gardening.  We finally have created an area outside our basement patio that will be inviting once we get some furniture.  In the picture below, you will see our peas growing with netting around them to protect them from deer and rabbits.

As we were trying to decide where in our yard to make a garden, an opportunity arose.  The fascia board that surrounded our back deck had some bowing.  It was still under warranty, so it was replaced at no expense to us.  They left the old fascia boards.  Well, it just so happens that these boards are made of a composite material that is very weather resistant...what better thing to use them for than garden boxes.  About the same time the boards were left, I had some friends that were telling me about a class they had taken on square foot gardening.  So we decided, why not?  I think they turned out pretty good.  We planted peppers, tomatoes, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, and cucumbers.  We still have some leftover wood, so I hope to get Eric to make a couple more soon.

About the same time we planted the peas, Jesikah and her friend were making a clubhouse near her basement window, and they were going to plant some weeds in these leftover bricks for a garden.  I told them, "Why not plant some pea seeds?"  Jesikah loves fresh peas from the garden, so she did.  She planted one seed in each hole of 3 bricks for a total of 9.  She watered them everyday, and guess what, they all came up.  She is SO excited about them.  She goes and checks them along with the rest of our garden and flowers everyday.  I hope I'm sowing in her the same love for gardening that I have. :)  The other kids enjoy seeing them grow too.

She took these pictures of her peas the day she discovered them...they are awesome pictures.  In the above picture, one hadn't come up yet, but it now has.  She took advantage of the sweet evening light without even knowing it!

Love the light!