Hankering for Spring

With daylight savings time this Sunday and spring officially less than three weeks away my hibernation is quickly coming to a close. The threats of more "winter" weather this coming Wednesday doesn't have me too excited about donning my work boots just yet. Though the last shot of warm weather and sunshine had me and the 3 and 4 year old outside cleaning our raised beds and making plans for planting.


It won't be long and we will have our carrots, sweet peas, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, spinach, and salad onions planted. We are going to make a couple of potato towers we saw on Pinterest and plant them as well.  They can grow up to 25 pounds of potatoes each. I'm thinking we are going to start with three.

The 4 year old is fascinated with both flower and vegetable gardening.  My goal is not only to raise enough food to eat and some to put up for the winter, but to entice him to eat more vegetables...let's hope it finally works.This year we plan on adding some blueberries and grapes. We are all kind of excited about that.

Of course a winter of scrolling Pinterest, browsing gardening magazines, and reading flower and plant books gives a person tons of ideas. Especially when there is such a big back yard available. We have an old galvanized water trough that's been in the back yard some fifteen years. This is the year we are going to turn it into a water feature and the surrounding area into a court yard. I have a drawing, a list of plant and landscaping materials and a detailed to-do list. It includes a children's play area complete with music/noise making area, checker-board, club house (you know cause we have boys) and some whimsical pathways. I love the alphabet pathway but instead of using the flat stones we are going to pick up some of those round concrete stepping stones so the 4 and 5 year old can paint them. It will be the major path leading from the court yard area to the play yard.


We have a stack of these square stepping stones down by the barn and now I know what to do with them! We are going to use Frisbees for the game pieces and probably paint the squares red and black. I'm not sure if we will try and build some benches or just pick some up ready-made. We have to keep in mind that it will be plant season at the store and there is plenty of work to keep us busy there. The hop scotch game will make a perfect path from the swing set to the club house.

I think a pallet fence between the court yard and vegetable garden will be a nice addition and give me another place for flower beds. I really want to add a couple of Jane Magnolia trees.  They are one of my favorites and bloom early giving us the first hope of Spring.

Along the base of one of our huge old oak trees the four year old wants to make a fairy garden.  I love it! I think it will be just the touch of "magic" to keep both boys interested.


Poor Uncle Bubba keeps listening and looking as I show him all these pictures and talk about what we are going to do "just as soon as the weather breaks" but I think I might see a trace of fear in his eyes.  It's going to be a huge endeavor and of course, the vegetable garden comes first...so we are going to break it off in chunks and work it like that. Hope you enjoy this journey with us.  I will post before and after pictures, tips and advice and everything we learn along the way.  Until then...enjoy the last bit of winter weather, make your plan, and we will see you back here soon.

Aunt Theresa