Garden Gnomes

Back in March, the little beauty pictured above and I decided to finally make good use of our backyard garden. When we bought our house in July of '06, the seven raised beds were already here, as was the white picket fence and garden "shed." I use the word shed pretty liberally, since it is more like a tiny fortress, complete with foundation, dual paned windows, and electricity. I didn't feel too guilty about not planting that first year; I was spending all of my time and energy growing Fiona. Vegetables were the last thing I needed on my plate. Last spring we just didn't get around to planting, and it was a downright waste of all of that beautiful space. So, we got our act together this year, and our garden is shaping up rather nicely. We have an herb garden with basil, cilantro, and chives, and our other boxes are loaded with vegetables: carrots, scallions, bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, and, coming soon, tomatoes.

Here we are a'plantin':

Miraculously, two months later...we have plants! The girls' favorite time of day right now is when we go out to water the garden. I bought them each a little plastic watering pail. They will come to me again and again for a fill up. Fi swaggers over while I'm watering and demands more "dju" for her pail. Then Maddie scowls at her and corrects her: "It's not juice, Fi; it's water!" Ah, sisterly fun. Fiona ends up dumping most of her water down the front of her clothing. Maddie likes to use the big hose. She is really sweet about helping Fiona use it too. Both of them are so eager to be big girls.





I love our backyard. I am so thankful to our Daddo for all he did to make our garden viable. I have a black thumb, so I am sure that without his help, not a thing would be growing. He also did so much to add to the pleasant ambiance of the garden. He conditioned the soil in all of the beds and strung up cute decorative lights, wind chimes, a bird feeder and the birdhouse Maddie painted. It's a really neat thing to be able to do with my girls. The next miracle will be if any of these plants actually bear fruit. I will keep you updated!