When the sun shines through

My house is pretty much in disarray.  On the days it is raining I'm catching up on my spring cleaning.  Since it's really been a raining I have time for a really deep clean.  Strong man has organized the basement and the garage.  I have torn apart the pantry/laundry room, the kitchen, to toy room, and one of the rooms upstairs.  Really I've gotten an amazing amount of work done over the weeks.  Even so just like anything else in life things have to get worse before they get better.  So while I have piles like this one below all over my house, on those sunny days or even those days when it's simply not raining the boys and I have been out in the garden.

Getting my hands dirty is one of the best therapies for me.  To hear the birds sing to watch life grow from bitty seeds.  To nurture the soil and protect the plant all the while knowing really it's not because of me that it grows, but the One who created causes the garden to grow.

Strawberry blossoms hold such beauty to me.

I gave each of the boys there very own row allowing them to plant whatever they would like. 

Tomatos may be my most valued plant in the garden.

Laughter planted sunflowers, giant pumpkins, beans-so he can have his very own dilly beans, beats-he is a lover of all things pickled, & flowers of some sort.



Why yes, he is covered in mud, planting in his underwear and standing inside the part of the garden where he already planted seeds...While this boy makes no sense to me at all, I can't help but laugh and love him.

This boy, my wild and crazy full of passion son, dug the bean holes with his toes.  He also helped Mommy plant her cucs.  At first he helped by holding the seeds for there protection and then next thing I knew there were only 5 seeds left as he had randomly planted the rest in some other row.  It only took about 30 seconds for him to do so.  That was round two of cucumber planting so from here on out my motto about those pickles I've dreamed of making for quite awhile is: It is what it is.

With all this rain the garden is becoming a bit of a french garden.  Just like with the cucumbers I shall embrace the same motto: It is what it is.

Man of the woods on the other hand, my serious rational thinker, planted sunflowers, giant pumpkins, beans just so he could have a straight from the garden snack, green peppers, broccoli, boy blue flowers.  He planted in perfect rows exactly the way Momma explained how to him.



Now this boy thinks like his Momma and I very much love him for it.

As for the rest of the garden well I decided to try some companion planting this year.  Ever heard of the three sisters?  It's when you grow corn, bean or peas, and something from the squash family all together.  The corn acts as a bean pole and the beans help support the corn in strong winds.  The Cucumbers I will act as a live mulch keeping out the weeds and helping the ground to hold it's moisture.  I've found some other fun tricks too, but I'll write more on that later.

Just today we sampled the first of our fruits.  These berries are deeeelish.  I'm certain like the asparagus these will never make it into the house.