Friday, March 8, 2013

Who are We and What Have We Done with Us?


 Weird post title huh? Well after I share what we've been up to, you may get my drift a little bit better.

Not only did we start juicing...and let me tell you that was enough...but we also started composting for a ...(wait for it)...vegetable garden!!! Yes, we in a week, have started juicing, composting and gardening. That's just crazy to both Phillip and me. It's so, so, "earthy" of us. We're already recyclers but this beats all.



Please do not laugh at our compost bin and the air flow system that I made. LOL I don't even know if it's serving its purpose. 

The thing is, I've always wanted to plant a garden in our backyard but I could never  successfully get my mind around the entire gardening process. It just seemed extremely insurmountable to me.

What would I plant...How do I plan it...When should I plant...How do I get started...How do I keep the weeds out...the bugs out...the squirrels...the list went on and on.

We have neighbors that are so good at gardening that they plant one every year and even grow things all around the outside of their house. Things like tomatoes of all sorts and sizes, peppers, squash, and BEANS!!! They've had beans planted along the side of their house like it was nothing to do. That baffled me. How could they be so good at something that I am so afraid that I'd be completely and utterly terrible at.

Well, for some reason, I had passion and confidence sprout within me about this garden this year like never before. I said to Phil, "I think this year is our year." LOL

Should it all go well, we'd create a wonderful cycle. We'd juice, use out pulp to compost, use our compost to fertilize our garden, use the veggies from our garden to ... you've got it ...juice! Brilliant.

Anyway, we turned the ground of our garden spot, we've pulled weeds and we'll turn the ground a couple more times before planting time (a tip we got from my father-in-law). He grows a beautiful garden every year as well.

before   
after 

 As for school, in Science, we made an anemometer (wind gauge) to measure the speed of the wind. We got an easy one to make from here. They measured in three different places in our neighborhood. They recorded the speeds and determined where the wind was blowing the fastest.

We attended homeschool day at the Capitol. That was fun. The best part was the home school music band that was performing. The girls LOVED it. I became very nostalgic as they played and I remembered my years playing the clarinet in my school band. The kids and I also got a chance to see the Senate Floor.  They also learned that the statue on top of the dome is not the Statue of Liberty but is Miss Freedom. We compared and contrasted the two statues.



We also took the prettiest day of the season to have school at the park. That was today and it was a lot of fun and very refreshing.


Pics from the week...










Isn't it great how pictures make everything look so peaceful and perfect...I assure you...none of this was! But it was all very fun and very worth it!

14 comments:

  1. I love it.
    I am going to do some container gardening this year. I have a farmer friend that is teaching me things... One day I'll have a garden too. I'm super jealous - in a loving way.
    Oh and I just read that children who grow and make their own foods try all kinds of foods. I love that.
    Blessings,
    Em

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    1. Emily, Thanks for stopping by!! Trust me, we are taking this whole thing one day at a time so don't get jealous yet...LOL! It all happened so quickly I really hope that we can meet my goals and expectations for the garden.

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    2. It will be great!

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  2. What a great field trip :)

    I want to compost, but my husband isn't on board. :/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping in Mary!! I'm sort of surprised at Phillip's willingness... ;)

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  3. It sounds like you have wonderful healthy plans. I am crazy enough to be considering chickens this year. Now, that is really out there. LOL! I need to look into juicing.
    Blessings, Dawn

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    1. Yes, Chickens would be a real undertaking for us...OMG...is that in our future? ack!! Blessings to you as well...

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  4. It looks wonderful to already be getting a compost going and thinking about gardening! Winter is still in full force here in Minnesota. :-) We compost too but we have no fancy set up at all - just a wood and wire frame where we dump things in and stir every now and then. It seems to work pretty well. But since everything freezes and gets covered over by snow, we can only really compost that way about seven months of the year here!

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    1. Thanks for the comment believe me it helps to know that you compost and how simple it has been for you. It gives me a comfort in knowing its not that big a deal. So far so good with ours...

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  5. Looks like a fun field trip and a wonderful day at the park! We still have snow :( We started composting a couple of years ago, we are on and off with it, but hopefully this spring we can use it for our garden. Have fun!

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    1. Awe...we didn't get or should I say haven't gotten any snow in our part of the world but it has been known to snow here in March and my kids are still praying for it.

      But yes, it is nice to be gearing up for Spring and doing "springy" things.

      Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. Thanks for visiting my blog! We compost daily. The children each have a patch of growing land so composting certainly keeps the cost down in terms of enriching the soil. Not got round to juicing yet, though....!

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  7. Now you just need to add a few chickens to your cycle! Thanks for sharing with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday! Hope to see you again tomorrow!

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    1. I love your blog over there. I've there more than once, this was just my first time linking up so thank you for hosting and having such a great blog! Chickens??? Now that would be pushing!!! LOL

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