One Down, Eight to Go!

"Population will increase rapidly, more rapidly than in former times,

and 'ere long the most valuable of all arts

will be the art of deriving a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil."

--Abraham Lincoln

So this is the beast we've been trying to tame for the last few months. I wish I'd taken pictures before it got cleared out so that I (and you) could see the progress we've made, but this gives an idea of the workload we have ahead of us! There are a total of 9--100 sq. ft. beds that we're getting ready to plant for the spring & summer. Our plan is to harvest enough food to feed our family for an entire year, but truthfully, if we get 6 months' worth, I'll be terribly happy! Mike and I have grown a garden for several years now, but this is our first attempt at something on this grand of a scale. Frankly, I don't doubt that we'll get a great harvest, but what I do worry about is the work it will take to preserve it all...and where in the world we'll store it! We've actually talked about digging a hole under the deck, and putting in an old chest freezer to use as a root cellar for the winter. Since our house is so small and practically every square inch is already occupied, we figured this may be a good solution.

Brooke (6) standing in the middle of what I hope will be lush green very soon, with Mike and the rest of the girls in the background working on the first of 9 beds. This is where we'll be planting our asparagus and strawberries as soon as the snow is gone next week--yes, I said snow.
Maggie (almost 8) helped by raking in compost as Mike loosened the soil. I'm truly surprised that she worked the entire bed, but we're so glad the girls have developed such an interest in gardening already. Whenever we're we're out there, they come along with their little trowels asking if they can dig out the rocks and play with the worms! (Mike is completely thrilled by the prospect of having girls that like worms...can you say "fishing buddy"?)

And here's the man himself, after unloading a truckful of compost. We figured one load would be enough...dun dun dun...yeah, enough for only 3 of the beds. Poor guy. Good thing he's not too out of shape...

One down, 8 to go! This one little bed took us about 6 hours to prepare completely on Saturday. That's double digging (A method used to aerate the soil a full 2 feet down for better root penetration & therefore happier, more productive plants!), composting, fertilizing as well as weeding and removing rocks. What a lot of work! Now that we've figured out what exactly needs to be done and how to do it most efficiently, we think we can cut at least an hour's time off each of the rest of them...that means only 40 hours of work left to get the garden prepared! I hope our backs can take it. Isn't it pretty, though?

Is It, or Isn't It Spring?

I'm still here, and my life still revolves around carpooling, cleaning and gardening. If it wasn't for the darn snow we got yesterday, I may have been able to do some soil testing, but at least I got one of my seed shelves up in the "multi-purpose room." I still have to buy the lights & rig it all up, but it looks as if I may have overestimated the number of flats I would need--YAY! Because of the different planting & transplanting times, I may be able to get away with just one shelf--two at the most! I'm very excited to start planting my seeds in 2 weeks because then I'll feel like I've actually started, even though I've been working for weeks already.

Okay, no more garden talk....umm...Brooke has her school play on Thursday this week. She gets to be a cowboy and do both a square dance and a line dance. She's so excited that she wears her boots everywhere and is always dancing and singing her Spanish songs. It will be fun to watch these Kindergarteners speak Spanglish!

Maggie has her Job Fair this week. Her career is Librarian, and she's having a blast with it. Mike went to her oral presentation in class today, and said she did a great job, though you could tell she was nervous. They use this one as a practice, and next week the parents are all invited to watch the presentations. Mike helped her build a bookshelf for her art project, then I held the stencils while she painted. She did do a little free-hand, which I had to just let go of and be okay with--not my strongest character trait...

As for me, I've hit that "not sleeping at all" point in my pregnancy, so I'm exhausted daily. It's such a pain when there's so much to do and I have to keep taking a break to rest. I started cleaning the living room at about 3 hours ago and though I've made a small dent, there's stll much to be done. Normally, I'd bust through it in about 45 minutes. Can't wait for my mother-in-law to come when I have this baby so she can hold him while I clean! I know, seems like it should be me holding the little guy, but I LOVE the energy I reclaim after giving birth, and I can finally feel accomplished again! Three more months--I might be able to wait...

Nursery/Nursery

This morning, I bought all my flats from the nursery so I can start getting seeds ready. I was going to build my own, but it was cheaper to buy the black plastic ones at the store. Following the Biointensive method (one of the books my Dad provided us with) for a 4-person garden (enough food to feed us all for 1 full year), I figure we'll have about 2500 seedlings started at one point in time. Yeah....now the question is raised--where do we put all the planted flats???? I'm think I'm going to start out by borrowing the toy shelf from downstairs, which should hold about 15 or so of the flats. I'll have to rig a light to the underside of each shelf, but I think it will work. Problem is, I have at least 50 flats to plant, so I need a few more shelves, and a few more lights! I'm planning on bringing them into the computer room/nursery upstairs, since that's really the only place they will be out of the way of little hands and kitty cats. I wasn't expecting it to be that kind of nursery, but whatever works, right? We'll just start calling it the "multi-purpose room."

Mike and I and the girls have been out in the garden for the last few days (since the weather has been gorgeous in the 50's & 60's) cleaning out all the debris that we didn't get around to last fall. I'm hoping Mike will get around to pruning the trees by the weekend, so we can torch our pile on Saturday night. Anyone for a bonfire? We were going to compost it all, but there's way too much & I don't want to sort through it to see what's useable & what's not. (I'm afraid of diseased leaves and grass clippings, as well as weeds--goatheads, or puncture weeds--that may regrow.) Maybe we'll rent a shredder for the prunings & just keep that separate...hmmm...just thinking out loud here. It's amazing how much more room we have with everything cleared out, though! I figure we'll be able to fit 10-100 sq. ft. beds out there, which I never would've attempted before, but it's perfect for our plan. I wish we could plant fruit trees too, but I think we'll have to forego them until we move into our own home. I just don't want to invest $40-$50/tree, only to leave them here for someone else to enjoy & benefit from. We still have the apricot tree at the Mortuary that we harvest every year, so we won't be completely without. It sure made some great apricot jam last year! I do want to plant some concords along the back fence, though, so we'll see what I can find. If not grapes, maybe raspberries...

As excited as I am to get going in the garden, I know how much work it will be, and I hope I can keep up with it all! I've read up on Toxoplasmosis, and as long as I wear gloves & wash well after digging, I shouldn't have to worry about contracting it, so that's a relief that Mike won't be left to do it all on his own. The weather is expected to turn towards the end of the week, and snow is even in the forecast again (welcome to Utah!), so we'll hold off on tilling the garden and doing our soil testing until after that's cleared up. Then we can get the soil fed and start getting the beds ready. I seriously can't wait for that part! I'm a little nervous that my expectations are higher than my skills will prove to be, but I'm looking forward to it, nonetheless. What I'm not looking forward to is all the hours I'll be spending in the kitchen after the harvest is over...Anyone up for a "Canning Vacation?" A little service project, perhaps?

Well, I've finished my novel, so I have to fold clothes now...or I could put it off some more and write about something else...

Freedom & The State of the World

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." –Ronald Reagan

Why does it feel as though Pres. Reagan knew something we didn't? Could he have had some inclination that we'd be in the sad state we are in today because of greed and corruption? I certainly don't have all the answers, but I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines, thinking I'm doing all I can by going to the voting booth each November. It's simply NOT ENOUGH! I'm still trying to figure out how to be involved more, so I'm on the lookout for opportunities to make a difference in our government, as meager as my offerring can be for now.

Sorry, this is a weird post...pregnancy brain I guess.

"Forced Togetherness"

Growing up, there was a standing rule--if one of our siblings had an activity, we ALL went to support them in that activity, be it sports, plays, concerts, or cheerleading (which I still maintain is NOT a sport, Julianne). The only exception was if we had an activity of our own, and then things got a little more complicated. As a teenager, this was not my favorite rule. In fact, I was so busy with my own life that sometimes I just wanted to stay home and be ALONE! But, alas, with 4 siblings, that was never to happen. Looking back, I'm grateful to my parents for their "forced togetherness" that I'm sure has contributed to the closeness we now enjoy as a family, and probably kept us out of a LOT of trouble in those precarious years.

In that same light, and with the same intentions, last night we attended out first extra-curricular activity as a family--Maggie's choir concert. (I know, we're slow at getting our kids involved in things--we figured once it starts, it never ends, right?) It was crowded, hot, and we couldn't see Maggie over the hundreds of heads in front of us, but we had a surprisingly good time! Katie and Bridget danced their little hearts out to the Latin beat as Maggie sang Spanish songs, including "Guantanamera," a childhood favorite of mine. Brooke found a hole in the crowd & was able to watch Maggie deliver her line, "Music brings the world together, and makes us better friends." It was a GREAT night--the first of many, many, for this little family!

Passing the time...

They put the tall 4th graders on the stage and the short 2nd graders on the floor...they obviously didn't ask for my opinion.

Maggie is the first blue shirt on the left...

Ward Conference

We had Ward Conference last week where we got to hear a couple of really great talks from Bishop Jenson and President Saviano, but unfortunately Mike was on-call, so I took the girls to church by myself while Mike picked someone up at the ME (Medical Examiner for those of you who don't run in death circles...). After church, we were having dinner and Mike asked the girls how church was. Four-year-old Katie replied with, "Dad, you should have come! Bishop Jenson and President Obama talked to us!" Hmmm...wasn't aware that President Obama was a pale Italian guy who works in the Missionary Department in Salt Lake...wonder if his wife knows?