Finished up the back and prepping for our vegetable garden...

So today I was able to nearly complete the back of the yard. I still need to add about 6 bags of mulch. I've put 16 bags on so far... however, there are still some spots that you can see the soil. I am really pleased with the way it turned out.



After I finished with the back I turned my attention to the vegetable garden. There is a spot on the side of our deck that is a great place to install a garden. This will be our first attempt at growing our own food so we wanted to start small and work our way up. We plan on planting cucumbers, squash, zucchini, spinach, and tomatoes. All but the tomatoes will go in the ground. In an attempt to plant more variety we opted to plant the tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets. The plan is to plant everything on Sunday after church. Our friends Paul and Heika are going to share in the garden. Heika wants Zion to experience planting and working the land so she can see what comes out of the ground. I think it is a great thing to get young children into gardening and generally doing things outside. In fact, I can remember when my Papaw had a garden and he would always be out in the backyard work the soil. The memory has stuck with me ever since I was a child and when we purchased our house a vegetable garden was on the top of my list. The idea of eating food that I have grown makes me happy. It is the way things are supposed to be.




Also, today Carrie planted some flowers. She is beautiful!



Here are some miscellaneous photos. One is my dog Rummy - He is dangerous and will attack you if you say something bad about Carrie, Madi, or I.
I got poison oak or something and it sucks!!!

The battle for my backyard...

To say that my backyard was overgrown is an understatement. Initailly, I had a rainforest in my backyard! When the sun would shine there was no indication that it was doing so if you were standing under the canopy of trees. Carrie and I have worked very hard to get the yard back. I still have to spread some cedar mulch but other than that I think the very back of our yard is done... for now.

This is what I planted:

14 - Thuja Green Giants - These Arborvites will grow to approx. 20' high and 5' wide in a hedge like we have. Thuja Green Giant

7 - Azaleas - A variety of Azaleas. Some are red and some are pink. Similar to this.

3 - Fothergilla Common - This plant is native to Virgina and grows nice white bud. Fothergilla

Here are a few photos for reference: