In my heart, I'm a city girl. I like the convenience of having everything I need within walking distance, I like the street lights, the people, the more-bang-for-your-buck houses. But I'm also oddly drawn to the idea of homesteading, too.
I love the idea of being self-sufficient and, "living off the land" really appeals to my strong frugal/cheap side. Also, I enjoy eating healthy and it would be awesome if organic was an affordable option. And never having to leave home? Perfect!
However, when my mind wanders to that concept of life, I'm pulled up short by a couple things. First and foremost, the animals. UGH! Our dumb dog is more than I can take some days, imagine tossing a goat or chickens in there. City girl says double ugh!
There is also the matter of sewing clothes. Around here, if a button falls off, we render the garment useless until one of our moms comes around. I don't need fancy clothes, but I do need to not be sewing my own.
Anyway. Last year when we moved to a bigger yard, I started scheming about putting in some type of a garden. I did a little research and found that raised beds would probably make the most sense for our situation.
When I ran the idea by Shaun, he gently (and wisely) suggested that I spend a little more time making sure I can handle the plant life that we already have before adding more. Given my track record, that was totally reasonable.
Well, for Mother's Day my crew surprised me with my very own garden. Shaun had gotten dirt and we had lumber and they got to work.
We thought we'd start small this year and see how it goes. Can I actually keep non-human living things alive? Will I follow through? Will the dumb dog insist on making it his expressway for chasing cats? Will it fall to the sword or be systematically beaten with a whip while the inflictor is singing Let It Go at the top of his lungs? Ahem...
Only time will tell. :)
While the boys were collecting lumber, the girls and I went to get plants. The selection was terrible, so I resorted to seeds.
If it'd been up to me, we would have filled the space with tomato plants, but of the six of us, only Amanda and I like tomatoes. And so, we have carrots, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes.
The planning and planting of it was fun and if that's all we get out of it, that's ok. In fact, there is better than a 50% chance that IS all we'll get. Possibly a life-lesson or two thrown in for good measure. :)
To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
Isaiah 61:3
We love our raised beds! We've successfully grown cilantro, tomatoes & flowers. But I have to admit that Mike does most of the work :)
ReplyDeleteI so miss having a garden.
ReplyDeleteI remember my first one, I let the kids decide what to grow and Jason wanted donuts! so we planted cheerios! fortunately his ADD kept him from ever remembering the donuts that never grew! :)