July 2, 2009

Peas! Pretty Peas!

If you like to garden or know how to grow one, then I suggest you whip out the tissues cause I'm about to show you something so very, very sad.

This is our garden. Okay, so the picture is about 2 weeks old but it doesn't look all that different right now.


I try, but its hard to grow stuff in clay. I even planted everything in manure! And I water religiously with Miracle Grow every week. Although I did kill off a few things the first time when I accidentally gave them an overdose of the stuff... and the manure was only .97 cents a bag at back at Walmart, but still!

Only half of everything I planted came up and in some cases, such as my lettuce and broccoli, nothing came up at all.

But I have big plans for next year though. Plans that include fertilizer, potting soil, and more expensive manure.

And no mom, no matter what you say, I am NOT going to ask Luke to bring a fresh batch back from his dad's dairy cows.

Moving on.

I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet, I'm just kind of making it up as I go. But I couldn't stand that my peas are tipped over and always getting there cute little curly thingies stuck in the ground.

So I decided to do something out it.

Enter the sticks.

In case you can't tell, the kids were quite excited by the idea of making something for the garden.

And they were quite helpful.



After we made the "pea braces" I brought out the closely guarded and carefully hidden markers.
I'll let you use your imagine as to why I keep them under lock and key... and bars and steel.


When the kids were finally done with the exterior decorating, we took them to show to the peas and get their approval.

BEFORE
AFTER

BEFORE



AFTER

See? The garden is looking better and more colorful already.

I just hope no one else gets jealous and we have a "keeping up with the Peas" epidemic break out.

I am a bit worried about the Beans next door. Will they get jealous that the Peas got special treatment? Will it start a feud? What if they start submitting decor' requests?

Only time will tell.


P.S. I'm always open to gardening tips. And I'm sure the beans would appreciate some decor' advise.

4 super cool people speak:

Svedi Pie said...

Cute pics of the kids! Ever heard of square foot gardening? When I was in welfare training on my mission I learned that is how the church teaches people to garden. The basic idea is you make your own 4'x4' above the ground garden bed (this helps if your ground is just clay, also helps keep weeds out). Divide the box into square patches and plant within those squares (it's like 12 carrots to a square, one pumpkin plant to a square - I'm sure you could find online what veggies your can plant per square) Anyways, supposedly its much more efficient and easier. Check it out. When I'm in a place where I can plant a garden that's the kind I want to try out.

Good luck!!

Mama Smith said...

I LOVE the square foot gardening idea...That is why I had your dad build me all those boxes...So much easier to maintain...plus, you can put in GREAT soil...and build it over the years...LOVE the pictures and the "cute pea" braces...VERY CLEVER of you, Sarah!!!!

ldsjaneite said...

My Dad did square foot gardening back home in Delaware. Now in Seattle their home has almost no yard. (He even traded in for a push mower!) So they're going the box gardening route now. Believe it or not, I think mine was more successful last year than theirs--even with my embarrassing moments. But as they're adjusting to the climate change, I think it's getting better. First couple of years are always la struggle. I love your creativity in solutions.

Garvin Smith said...

Square MILE gardening is much more efficient. Give me a big John Deer and some implements and I'll show you some gardening. By the way, what's growing in the background, marijuana?

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