Four Square Gardening

The name makes me think of square dancing, but dancing is completely optional with this little garden project! This spring, Jeff's dad helped to build a bunch of these Four Square Garden kits for the Garden Center. 

They are designed to make for easy vegetable, herb & flower gardening...no tilling required! The kit came with everything you need to start a nice little garden, you just purchase the plants or seeds for the items you want to grow. Jeff drove around with our kit in the bed of his truck for several weeks before we finally got a chance to put it together this past weekend.

We had a few hours on Sunday afternoon between morning church & evening church, the two younger kids were sleeping, so we got to work. Or as Jeff says, he worked, while I "helped" by taking pictures! 

First step: Finding a nice sunny spot. We put the square base in the yard for a few days to make sure that it would get enough hours of sunlight.

When we had a good spot, we put landscape fabric underneath to keep the grass & weeds from coming up into the bed.

Then we began filling it with the soil components: Vermiculite, Peat Moss, Black Castings (worm poop), Mushroom Compost, Manure Compost, and Chicken Compost...

We put in half of the vermiculite & peat moss first, then added the composts & raked them all around to mix. Then we put the remaining vermiculite & peat moss on top & mixed some more.

There was lots and lots of raking & mixing involved...

Hey LOOK, I did actually do some work!

Occupational hazard...foul odor!

Were you paying attention to the soil components...yes, it really did smell like poop! Even after scrubbing our hands several times, they still had the faint scent of manure, nice!

Poor Sophie, she is our nature girl & had been wanting to plant the garden for weeks...she didn't like the smell so much, but she was a trooper!

After all that work, Sophie brought out some refreshing water!

Next Jeff installed the strips that divide the bed into 16 one foot square planting sections.

Sophie always looks for ways to be a helper. She was holding the screws for Jeff.

Now for the fun part,  it's time to start planting!

Since we were getting a later start, we chose a variety of plants including herbs, tomatoes, and cucumber. We did buy a few seeds to plant including some beans, lettuce & spinach.

And a good drink to make everything grow!

The finished product!

The empty squares are where we planted the bean & lettuce seeds. They should sprout in a few weeks.

Tomatoes

Dill

Flat leaf parsley

Lavendar

Oregano

Rosemary

Chives

Sage

Cucumber

(I keep humming "parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme...")

I did also plant some basil in a separate pot & some mint in another pot. Mint is very aggressive & would take over the garden, so it works best in its own pot. 

So now we are just waiting for a bounteous harvest!!! We are also praying that all of the woodland creatures don't eat the fruits of our labors!

Simple Woman's Daybook

For today, Tuesday, May 25th
and Wednesday, May 26th because I couldn't finish it in one day!
and Thursday, May 27th because the pictures would not upload on Wednesday!!!

Outside my window...calm, a gently blowing breeze whispering through the green leaves.

I am wondering...if I can drive the speed limit on the newly paved main road by our house. The new pavement is SO nice, it is easy to find yourself going just a bit faster than 35! It's not a problem driving slower when the car is bumping & lurching due to all of the pot-holes!

I am thankful for...seasons & change, as much as the kids have all had wonderful, fantastic, growing, GREAT years at school, I am R-E-A-D-Y for summer break...and surely by mid-August I will be R-E-A-D-Y for school to begin again!

I am wearing...khaki capri pants & a red tank top, black Dr. Scholls sandals & long dangly silver earrings. (That was on Tuesday! On Wednesday, the outfit is very similar but I switched things up with a black shirt instead of the red...I'm tricky like that!)

I am remembering...that I need to call & schedule the art camp sessions I purchased for the girls yesterday. I am making head-way on camps, yay! Football scheduled for Jack, found a good gym for the girls to do cheerleading or gymnastics camp, 

I am going...to go shut the back door...AGAIN!

That sign might as well say, "BUGS Welcome!" 

I am hoping...that the kids will all stay outside for at least 10 minutes without someone coming back in and leaving the door open again...didn't work, someone came in before I was even finished typing the first half of the sentence. 

On my mind...ready or not, summer break is here, at least for one member of the family & the rest will be out of school very soon! Have I achieved the proper scheduled activity/downtime/playtime balance for summer? I want to have an order to each day & perhaps each week...like Tuesdays Library Day, Wednesdays Park Day, Thursdays Errands, Fridays Fun Outings...or is that too scheduled for summer? What do you guys do?

Noticing that...it has been approximately 8 minutes & counting and no one has come inside!

Pondering these words...
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. Proverbs 10:19

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18

A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble. Proverbs 17:20

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1
Last summer we focused on a different Fruit of the Spirit each week, and tried to be purposeful in cultivating good fruit. So I have been thinking & praying about what we could focus on this summer. Lately, listening to how the kids speak to one another & to me, (and to be completely honest, hearing my own words/tone sometimes) I have realized that we all could use a little practice in taming our tongues!

I am reading...Proverbs.
Starting June 1st we are going to read one Proverb a day for family devotions.
From the kitchen...I got nothin'. Oh, I did make some yummy fresh strawberry smoothies to accompany the ever glamorous PB&J for lunch!

Around the house...kitchen helpers...

One of my favorite things...eating out at a restaurant. I like to cook, but I LOVE eating out!
I love it even more when it is 4:45 & I have no ideas for dinner...now we don't eat out nearly as often as I have no plans for dinner at 4:45pm, but I sure do like the idea of it! 

A few picture thoughts I am sharing...

Remember this photo from last week, Darcy's long hair blowin' in the breeze...

Hello NEW bobbed haircut! (And, yes, there is a story behind this!)

Notice the long hair on one side & the short hair on the other side...
On Tuesday evening, Jeff discovered long blond hair all over the floor in Jack's bathroom & some scissors nearby...Darcy was already bathed, hair washed & combed & in bed at this point. She wasn't asleep, so I went in to ask her where she cut her hair & she pointed by her left ear & said, "Here Mommy!" I could only feel around & couldn't fully assess the damage, but Wednesday morning I could tell we would be heading to Great Clips (handy that I had a $4.99 coupon!)

Here she is in the chair & you can see the short hair by her ear & how long the rest is in the back. She doesn't really like things like going to the dentist or getting her haircut, but I told her that when you cut your hair by yourself, you HAVE to get it fixed, and she sat still the rest of the time!

The haircut turned out really cute, but hopefully she won't get the idea to cut her own hair again anytime soon!

But she did get a lollipop when we were done, so I'm not so sure we won't be back!

Drew enjoyed a lollipop, too, for waiting so patiently! It was his first lollipop ever...I think he's a fan!

Thanks for visiting! 

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