Summertime - Bring It On!

I've been busy, busy, busy these past couple weeks. Last Saturday my dirt/soil arrived (yay!) and it was waiting for us in the driveway when we returned from a picnic. I donned on my garden clothes and started prepping for the physical work to begin and was so thankful and happy when both my boys came outside and started to help. They shoveled and hauled the wheel-barrel into the backyard where it was dumped and I moved it to where it needed to be. It took a couple hours, but it was great to have it all done, with the driveway clean and washed before the sun went down. 

The Boys shoveling Mom's dirt.

"Smile Boys!"

The weather has been increasingly warm. Unfortunately it's been all over the board as the temperature has risen, fluctuating between 82 degrees (F) one day, and 62 degrees the next. Not only does this reek havoc on what to wear when you're heading out the door in the morning, but it causing our plant starts to not. Start that is. Although I do have to say our blueberries appear to be doing fine, thanks to the pruning and love given them last fall. I believe our crop that we're just harvesting is the biggest and tastiest to date. Yum!

Yummy

This is what was left after my #2 and #3 realized they were ready. My #3 did help, holding the colander and picking some herself.

Almost a full large colander is pretty good off of two bushes. About half the berries are still ripening. I'm looking forward to when we have all seven bushes are producing at this level. That will allow us to enjoy blueberries for several more weeks.

I moved the sign to the main side of the house...it just
seemed more appropriate given  my new garden beds.

You can see in the below picture that I planted three new Chandler Blueberry bushes along the garden area in between our home and Yia-Yia's home. It gets a lot of sun and just enough of a breeze. I expect excellent harvests in the summers to come. They're small, but they have plenty of space to grow...although the angle of this picture makes them look like they're all crammed towards the fence.

There's 3 bushes total. Small now, but they
should grown fast in this spot.

Almost all planted now.

Walking into the back, you can see that I now have more veggies planted in the beds. For fall, I've planted carrots (not visible yet), potatoes (low green leafy plants on the back left of the front bed), head lettuce (same bed and finally growing some bulk), fennel (second bed), along with beets, bok choy (not visible in the picture), and bush green beans (just beginning to get some height on them (under the metal frame in back left bed). I am always amazed at how warm the earth feels as I stick my hands in. I opened a pack of carrot seeds, and smiled as I poured them into the palm of my hand. The weight was slight, but the warmth they held was a surprise. These tiny little seeds felt perceivably heavier since they were warmed. Like the warmth and energy of the sun had added to their mass, just a little bit. Needless to say, I'm excited, and a little apprehensive to see how everything grows as it will impact what I do next spring.

              

The front of the house looks pretty with my pots all filled out and blooming. The heliotrope is WONDERFUL and fills the air with the most wonderful vanilla scent. Sometimes it borders on smelling like black licorice. Not being a huge fan of licorice, I just move to the next basket. =0)

Our wedding plaque under the one hanging basket.

I love seeing the seasons come into their own, and experiencing all the bounty it has to offer. Odd as it may seem, it gets me excited for the next season! Fall is my favorite time of year...but until then, I'll enjoy the summer days and spend time putzing out in the yard. There's plenty of time yet to ready for the changing seasons.