SUNFLOWERS

Each year I have enjoyed growing more & more sunflowers.  This year has been the most to date.  The kids are fascinated with harvesting them & saving the seeds.  It makes us want to count the days until spring and when we can plant again.

MY NEW HERB GARDEN

I posted a photo of what was going to be my new herb garden not that long ago. I wanted to now post an update.  Here is a photo of the general outline before any ground was broken.

Here is Hubby digging up the soil.

Now the ground has been broken in the whole semi-circle.

Today I planted herbs & flowers in my new garden.  Boo & Elvis helped me with weeding.  Most of them are seeds so it's not much to look at yet.  But I'm praying they will all grow beautifully & it will end up being exactly what I have pictured in my head.  

OUR 2013 GARDENING SEASON HAS BEGUN!

The planting has officially begun! It was a bit chilly but the kids & I worked outside for over 2 hours today. I planted seeds to start indoors and Sweet Pea & Elvis started the hard work of cleaning out the raised beds. I can hardly wait to plant outdoors too! 

Dave & I were out shopping last night & bought the cups at the Dollar Tree.  The boxes came from one of our Aldi shopping trips.  Free for the taking!  The soil is from Lowe's, of course.  =0)

Cucumbers

Thyme, basil, parsley.  Only a few of the herbs I will plant this year.

I got this idea from Pinterest.  I cut open the milk jugs and am using them as miniature greenhouses.  So far I have 4 planted and plan to have more as I get more milk jugs.  Thank you, Tiffany for giving me 2!  =)

The whole set up.  Well, minus the plastic covering.  I need to put that on tomorrow. 
 Stay tuned for more pics & updates as we watch our garden grow.  =0)

SEEDS!

Our seeds arrived today! Super excited!

This is our first year choosing non-GMO seeds.  Honestly I don't know what our seeds were in the past years.  I thought seeds were seeds.  But this year now armed with new knowledge we are purposely choosing non-GMO and NO seeds from Monsanto.  Read here if you want to learn more about non-GMO and why we avoid supporting Monsanto.

Sprouts!

We have sprouts! It's exciting to see our seeds start sprouting. I took these pictures on Saturday. These are the ones that Bugs & I planted. I'm sure the ones Elvis & Bugs planted together will be sprouting soon!

Most of these are spinach, lettuce & radishes.

Fun with My Boys

Today was chilly but sunny and cheerful. I had told Elvis if he completed his chores & schoolwork on time we would plant seeds. He did a great job getting his work done and we headed outside around one. Bugs came with us and the girls stayed inside to work on school.

It was wonderful to get out in the fresh air & sunshine. We planted 3 packs of seeds and then Elvis wanted to play. Bugs planted about 5 seeds before he lost interest and ran off to play. Lol. Again he enjoyed filling the pots with dirt. Next month we should be able to start planting in the garden!

Diving Into the Dirt

Lining Up the Seed Containers

Ahhhh......DIRT!

Fill 'Em Up!

Bean Seeds

Bugs Planting Bean Seeds

Next Are Zucchini Seeds

Pushing Them into the Dirt

Soccer Boy

Loves that Soccer Ball!

Go Bugsy! Go!

Now Planting Cucumbers

Time for the Slide!

Finishing Up the Planting

Hard at Work

Observing

We found this guy on a sweatshirt that had been left outside.

Big Helper

Bugs helped bring the seeds inside.

Two Helpers

Finishing Clean-Up

The boys were a big help with cleaning up and getting the seeds inside. I found sunny places for all of them & we are looking forward to watching them grow.

Hanging With Bugsy

The older 3 were dragging their feet getting their chores & schoolwork done. I got tired of waiting for them to finish and I took Bugs outside and left the others inside to finish up. We planted some seeds & played outside in the yard. It was rather cold but nice & sunny. I'm extra glad we went outside and enjoyed the sunshine b/c I heard tonight that it is going to rain & sleet tomorrow.

Enjoying the Sunshine

Digging in the Soil

This Was His Favorite Part! Dirt!

Filling Up the Planters

Time to Plant the Seeds

Covering the Seeds Up

On the Swing Set

Now the Slide!

Wheeeeeee!

Next!

Next on his list was blowing bubbles.

BUBBLES!

Today's Work

Seeds in the dining room..........

Behind the Computer Desk............

............And On the Window Sill.



MORE TO COME!