I started this blog to challenge myself to say “yes” to things that I would normally say, “absolutely not.”
I’m on Day 40 of my 100HappyDays project. It’s sometimes hard to come up with one thing that made me happy, but so far I haven’t missed a day .
I’m getting tired of the clothes I’ve chosen for my Project 333, and the next season doesn’t begin until July 1st…so I’ve still got a whole month to go — ugh! But I’m sticking with it.
Recently, my friend, Glenda, shared a “30-Day Ab Challenge” on her facebook page. I think I can do “15 situps, 5 crunches, 5 leg raises and a 10 second plank” on Day 1. By Day 30, I’ll be doing 125 situps, 200 crunches, 65 leg raises, and 120 second plank? What do I have to lose, besides hope inches on my waistline? I’m in.
I wanted to write an informative post to go along with this project — it would’ve included links to my Pinterest searches and square foot gardening, pictures of my sketches, list of materials, and possibly some jokes about my trip to buy a wheel barrow and pick ax.
But, I got so much done this week, that I just want to share it with you. One of my husband’s favorite lines is, “Just show me the baby.” Simple enough. I will spare you all the labor pains…here are the pictures:
Before picture of my side yard where we removed dead bushes:
Before picture: The bushes in the side yard died two seasons ago.
Here are a couple of pictures during the project:
Outside measures about 160 inches by 40 inches. Inside of garden bed measures about 144 inches by 24 inches.
Newspaper lines the garden bed to keep weeds from coming through the bottom.I filled the garden bed with about 12 cubic feet of garden soil.
Here is my first vegetable garden:
Back row: tomatoes, green pepper, red pepper, eggplant, and rosemary Front row: marigolds, lettuce, basil, parsley, thyme, spicy oregano, sage, marjoram, more marigolds
I worry that the sprinklers won’t reach the vegetables. I still have to figure out how to make a trellis. But I have faith that most of these vegetables will grow.
At the beginning of this post I said garden beds. Yes, there’s more…
Before picture of shade garden:
BEFORE: The roots from the tree on the right made this area bumpy and not really usable.
After picture of shade garden:
AFTER: Transplanted various hostas from parts of existing garden. Impatiens from plant sale at Elena’s old elementary school. Also some petunias and dianthus.
Here’s one last picture of my tulips and daffodils. They finished blooming last week.
My first season of tulips and daffodils in bloom 🙂
Special shoutout to my son for moving cinder blocks, dirt, and mulch in exchange for an excused absent note to study for his AP Euro exam. Also, thanks to Lu for coming with me to get the wheel barrow and plants. It would’ve been hard to take a selfie holding the pick ax.
Needed a wheel barrow and pick ax for this project. Thanks, Lu!
Thanks for stopping by. Do you know how to build a simple trellis? Got any gardening tips? Share it with us.
As much as I love this name given to me by one of my favorite readers, I feel I haven’t earned it. My compost bin just sits there. I think it’s working–it doesn’t stink and isn’t slimy–but there’s just nothing to report.
When I first started this blog, I had plans to post twice a week. I bought a new binder and filled it with schedules and possible post ideas. Seven weeks later, I’m questioning if I can really keep these posts interesting.
My projects will take time. As much as I would love to embrace this whole minimalist movement, I really am having a hard time throwing out my junk and buying less stuff.
I’d love to start my new “raised garden” project but there’s heavy lifting involved and not many strong backs around here…so now I have to add delivery costs to my budget and the project starts getting tricky-er.
I don’t want to keep writing about the things I’m NOT doing. Eventually even my devoted mom will stop reading. At the same time, I don’t want give up just because things are getting uncomfortable.
So, I’ll keep working on these projects until I can share with you my progress.
