With the weather so nice, we started officially gardening a couple of weeks ago and doing general outside tidying up.  We have a lot to do still, but at the very least, our deck has some color, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have some yummy veggies this summer as well.  Time will tell. 😉

Thankfully I had an excellent helper when it was time to run to Home Depot for some supplies. Enzo couldn’t be happier to run around and jump in puddles and chase birds while I grabbed some flowers and such.

Since I knew Enzo would be helping me, I opted for a potting soil that was chemical and poo-free because I knew at some point something would end up in his mouth (like his shovel, and it did).

At one point, Phoebe also joined us and relaxed in her bouncy chair while we surrounded her with flowers to look at.

The raised beds in the yard were quite a mess and took several hours to rip up the weeds and who knows what else that had taken up residence, and add some better soil to the mix. The picture above was during the beginning of Spring, when we probably should have ripped everything up.

I’ve gotten so used to minimal gardening in pots that I’m not sure everything will take, but we’ll see. It also didn’t help that we had a massive storm the day after I planted and my pumpkin and rhubarb are still rather sad… also they are both firsts for me.

The strawberries seem to be doing well, though, and our lettuce is coming in as well as onions, so I’ve been pointing these out to Enzo whenever we go outside.

There is nothing better than watching things grow, though, and I wish I had more of a green thumb, and more time to really get into gardening.  Perhaps when the kids are just a bit older it will be easier.

Also, when we move to a place with fewer bugs.  They were swarming around little Phoebe and got into her little tent, and we’re having issues with wasps as well.  I did find a pet/child friendly bug spray that I sprayed around the foundation of the house that does seem to have cut down on the spiders, but that won’t help with wasps/mosquitos/gnats.

We (Josh really) ripped up two huge shrubs that were a breeding ground for spiders, so that also helped. I replaced one with lavender, and we plan on tearing up more shrubs to replace with more lavender and lemon grass and things that should hopefully deter bugs.  I did plant some bee balm and butterfly flowers, though, in the hopes that those will make themselves at home.