Summer projects!

Summer has officially begun for us now that I am off school so Kelly and I have started our summer projects. This year things are very different for a few reasons. Of course, Bean is the biggest change in our life. We are so excited to be spending our first summer with her. Our second big change this year is that Kelly will leave in July, so he will not be around to help with things after that. He is actually hoping to have all his big projects completed by the end of June so that he can enjoy a few weeks around here without things hanging over his head. Both of these things have thrown a loop in all we are used to.

Kelly and I are both very outdoor-sy, if you didn't know. I have a garden that is very large and usually feeds us through the winter with many things. Kelly has a tractor that NOBODY thinks he truly needs on our little piece of property, but he does put it to good use around our house and on our long private road. This year, we knew we had to make some changes.

The garden is still as big as always, with 4 kinds of squash, cantalope, onions, garlic, strawberries, green beans, tomatoes, 3 kinds of peppers, 2 kinds of cucumbers, tomatillos, fresh herbs and corn. However, we turned a portion of it into a community garden of sorts. Our neighbor Don planted peas, beans, corn and tomatoes in the last 6 rows. And our friend Rosi planted pumpkin, peppers and tomatoes in another row. It's great because it really fills out the garden. They have also offered to "bean sit" whenever the garden needs weeding, which I truly appreciate.

Kelly didn't have too many options for his projects. He had to repair some damage to our property, mainly our retaining wall. This was demolished when the sewer was put in and our hill was running down Don's hill, which wasn't good. We also needed storage space, hence the tremendous barn project. This past weekend Kelly worked on the wall, and almost finished it! Our goal is to eventually tear out the existing upper deck that is slowly sinking into the ground and replace it with patio and a retaining wall. His work this weekend showed us that it is possible, once we have the money and time.

The garden... well, we shall see how it fares. So far only the strawberries have come in and Bean hasn't let me pick them too quickly. (she won't even sit still for that too long.) As for picking tomatoes once a week and then spending all day canning them, we shall see if that happens at all. If it doesn't, they do freeze very easily. Or, if that doesn't work, we do compost quite a bit. It's all a learning experience isn't it! We still love you Bean, and wouldn't trade you for ANYTHING!