Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Yard Update

We've somehow hit the 'one year' mark at this house. Some projects have been completed, others not. We laugh when we look back at our 'first' goal list for the house renovations - we were quite optimistic and naive. But, we are proud of what has been accomplished. (Photos of the inside will be posted in the near future.)

But, since summer is now upon us I can't help but share with you our yard and the transformation that has taken place since we first began pulling out shrubs and weeds back in '08. You may recall this:


But, with many hours spent tending these gardens it now looks like this:





While we have more work to do here, we think it is quite an improvement and our neighbors thank us.

We also want to share our growing vegetable garden!



The heirloom tomatoes are growing like mad, as are the onions, various squash and lettuce. We've struggled a bit with our bean varieties and the broccoli - between the slugs and wet weather they haven't flourished like we hoped. Everything is growing the 'natural' way without use of any pesticides/chemicals, so we know some of the crops will be lost to the bugs. We have really enjoyed eating our home-grown lettuce - the taste & texture is remarkably better.