Nothing to post on the sewing front right now, but I do have something house-related to post: my husband has decided to grow a garden this year! Not a topsy-turvy garden, but a full-grown (no pun intended, ha!), raised-bed, in-the-yard garden.
He did a lot of research on the front end, about dimensions, irrigation options, seeds, etc. Then he got to work in April putting his plan into action. I'm pretty proud of him...
[the board he used to measure his beds out, then he spray-painted around the corners and edges to mark]
He decided he wanted 3 raised beds and then decided how much room between each bed, how far back in the yard, which side of the backyard, all that kind of stuff. He really thought of everything, taking into account that eventually Deacon will be old enough to play catch so Jeff didn't want the garden to hinder throwing across the full length of the backyard...plus, we'll eventually have a shed out in the backyard, so he decided which side the shed would be on and left room for that.
I'm telling you, everyone says I'm the planner -- maybe I've rubbed off on him in a few areas. :)
He got a strapping young man looking for some extra cash to come out and dig the sod out around the whole area so he could put mulch down around the beds -- he'd already thought of the issues with mowing around each bed and decided to just make one big rectangle. Such a smarty-pants.
The next thing Jeff thought of was how to efficiently water the garden once he got his seeds planted. His brother, Tim, and his wife, Leslie, were down the weekend of Easter and they helped Jeff put in his irrigation system. He'd already had a line brought out to the garden from the spiget (sp?) on the back of the house so all he had to do was put in each line (4 lines per bed) and connect it all. Each line has holes that drip water once the water is turned on...
See how the soil is dark in spots? That's the underground irrigation system after it's been on for a little while.
I'm telling you, the man is BRILLIANT.
So now we wait. And wait. And wait.
About a month later (the beginning of June), this is what we have:
The very early stages of banana peppers, watermelons, sweet corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, green peppers, yellow squash and zuccini. Oh, and we bought a tomato plant to put out there. The banana peppers are in the hanging basket. Also, he started some of the watermelons, green peppers and banana peppers inside in pods and then transplanted them after about a month.
And this is what we currently have, as of this very morning, June 18:
Look at that! The first fruits of his labor! It's crazy but there is a tiny little watermelon out there, about the size of a large marble. But it looks exactly like a watermelon, with the stripes and everything. Jeff says it will likely get to the size of a small basketball so we have a while before we can pick it. :)
We're excited about the garden, but we're trying not to have expectations that are too high with this being our first year attempt. We'll see how it goes and make adjustments as we need to for next year. If there is a next year. :)
I'm sure I'll post here and there as we get more growth and veggies popping up...
