A Walk Through the Garden, March 31st

We've found ourselves out in our garden space for at least a few hours every day as the weather has permitted these past few weeks. With hands up to the wrists in dirt, it makes it hard to take photos... and without a few photos, it makes it hard to write current posts about what we've been doing out there!

BUT- this weekend we took a walk through the garden (we being me and my camera), and I'm happy to report that I found a little evidence for all that work slowly emerging!

I had to kick off the gardening season with some serious work on the rocks around the beds... erosion swallowed up almost all of them, and you could hardly tell where the paths ended and the beds began. I still need to re-mulch the paths before the weeds fully awaken, but I may already be too late for that.......

This year in our garden, we're trying for:

4 types of bush beans

(Rocquencourt wax, Borlotto "Tongues of Fire", purple teepee, and Dragon Tongue)

Black Beauty and Golden zucchinis

3 types of beets

(Chioggia, Golden, and Shiraz tall-top)

3 types of carrots

(Amarillo, Chantenay red, and Atomic Red)

Mixed orach

Sweet yellow onions

Spinach

Swiss chard

Several varieties of tomatoes

Eggplants (from seed this year for the first time!)

Sweet bell peppers

Various lettuces

NEW- Thompson seedless grapes!

Various flowers

Various herbs

I especially love the early days right after planting seeds, when there's so much excitement and anticipation with every visit to the garden- maybe there will be something new sprouting! Maybe that obscure, heirloom, or rare seed we took a chance on will germinate this year! Maybe that patch of unidentified sprouts in the corner will reveal themselves to be a self-seeded, volunteer treasure! 

I also love when I remember to take a few photos when everything is still so small... because if all goes well, our beds will soon unfurl into a full, unruly, and productive garden jungle!

Right Now

Right now, I'm loving...

...crazy-long, thick, lush, no-filter-needed green green grass (the kind that can swallow a kid whole).
...perfectly sunny, lightly breezy, soft and spring-y afternoons on the back porch.
...the constant bird song.

..."special drinks" on the front porch with my Littles.
...teeny tiny little budding oak leaves.
...the rediscovery of the sidewalk chalk.

...waking up to a chill in the air, grabbing coffee and new tomato plants, and heading straight out to the garden with my helpers.

...chicken "selfies."

Right now I'm realizing I can count the number of hours we spent inside this weekend on one hand (not including sleeping), and I'm really loving that.

Wishing all some Springtime love as we wrap up March and kick off April this week! Happy Monday!

Weekending

Warm, sunny, sniffly, busy, painty, dusty, noisy, exciting.

We're having quite a weekend over here, y'all!

Wishing everyone else a good one, too!

This Moment

Playing along with Amanda today... in her words: 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Working in the Garden

Spring- in all it's frantic, exploding glory- has arrived in our backyard, unpacked, and announced it's staying for a while. I have to put on blinders and practically sit on my hands to keep myself from rushing outside as soon as my feet touch the ground in the morning (and admittedly, there are definitely inside-type things that are being a little neglected despite my best efforts). I can't deny it, though: I'd rather be outside working in the garden than anywhere else right now.

It's not helping that the garden chores are beginning to assert themselves, either. While it was a piece of cake to fertilize, prep, and plant seeds in a single focused weekend, there are other things that require persistence, patience, and timing... and when the contagious mood outside is screaming go go go! it is quite a humble reminder that life must focus on working toward balance.  

So as I can I'm fitting slow, meditative projects between more urgent things like transplanting, weeding, and mulching. One such project that I've started is beginning a stone path at the southernmost gate. It is definitely slow-going, but I really enjoy it, and it helps me calm my mind in the midst of the springtime frenzy around me.

Oh my goodness, would I love to take this stone patchwork through all the garden paths!

Little by little, I'll get there. One stone at a time............

When we hunger for more instant gratification, there's always the decomposed hay bedding that was in the chicken house all winter long, waiting patiently in a pile to be spread for mulch, and there's the newly emerged sproutlings to be thinned.

Lucky for me good help is always nearby.

We are immersed in the work of the season, like every other neighbor and friend at the moment, and I have a feeling that we're not the only ones thrilled about it.

Welcome Spring, we're so glad you're here.

Right Now

"Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful; a meaningful friend, or a meaningful day."

Happy Monday.

Visiting :: The Natural Bridge Caverns

THIS was a cool visit, y'all. Though I have to admit... whatever spelunkers have that makes them see a two-foot diameter black jagged hole in the ground and think, 'I wonder where that goes... I'm'a climb down there head-first and find out!' is something I do not have. But I'm glad someone did, because I really enjoyed exploring it... on the wide handrail-lined well-lit paths that are down there now.

Visiting :: San Antonio

We're back, y'all! Back from a little intrastate trip for our girl's first spring break; back from a road trip and an adventure! We visited San Antonio this week, and just as it should have been (what with traveling with two kiddos 6 and under) it was a challenge, a joy and a surprising success.

We decided we'd only go out for three nights this time around, since we've never really done more than 1 or 2 at a time to this point... and that was a good call. Three nights was just right.

We ate out for every meal.

We did a lot of walking.

We took boat ride tours and cave tours and even an accidental hotel tour (due to getting turned around and a little lost in the huge hotel where we stayed).

It was a good time, my Littles were better than we could have hoped, the food was all excellent, the weather held out, and the drive down and back wasn't too bad.

First Spring Break Road Trip = A+

Our first day in SA was St. Patrick's Day

The view from the balcony the first day

It rained almost the entire afternoon

At this restaurant, all they had on the table was margarine, so we asked our server for some
real butter... and what we got was a chunk from the kitchen that they cooked with
(featured there in the center of the table on the dark blue plate) 

Our second days' excursion was the Natural Bridge Caverns, worthy of their own post, so
check back later for pics from the underground tour!

We moved to a new room the second day due to the insane amount of noise off the river,
and Audrey had the first nap in the big bed.

Our hotel also featured a "heated" pool, and these goofballs swam until their lips were blue
and they were shivering... two days in a row.

One of the kids' favorite parts of our trip: the boat tour the second night

Of course, we visited the Alamo, though the line was so incredibly long to get inside that we
kept to the outside grounds

We visited a decrepit children's museum that was moving locations at the end of the month
and had thus fallen into disrepair... but there was still some cool art to be seen...

...and this... so it wasn't a total bummer.

And you know this Mama was thrilled to find her girl like this!

Our last afternoon on the river and... baby ducklings!

The morning before we hit the road, the kids had their breakfast in our private little courtyard

We had a great time being out, just the four of us, trying new things... and the day we arrived back home- the first day of Spring- we found our home bursting with new garden sprouts, blossoming peach trees, and wild flowers everywhere!

I think our place missed us... it was quite a Welcome Home.