Let's start this with a confession...
I am not a gardener. I don't find joy in planting, pulling weeds or watering. I have never kept a plant alive for longer than 3 months. Luckily, my kids can tell me when they are hungry or thirsty!
But, my kids love berries and I hate how expensive they are. So I wanted to set up an area in the yard to grow them. This year, the stars alligned and I found myself out in the back yard working my butt off to make it happen. I didn't take a true before picture, but you can get the idea of what I was starting with from this picture.
I had to cut down 5 volunteer apple trees...with a saw(!)...on my own! After the trees were gone I was left with a rolling patch of weeds. That is not grass in the picture and the only reason it is green is because it has been raining a lot lately (we are too cheap to worry about having a luscious green lawn).
This is the start of my row of raspberries -- more on why it isn't complete in a minute. My in-laws are awesome. They supplied me with the starts and reminded me that I need to be patient and cut them back this year. By keeping them from producing this year, their roots will grow stronger and they will produce better next year. So, this is an investment that will mature Summer 2011. Maybe by then I will have forgotten the muscle pains that I endured by turning all that soil by hand.
These are our three new blueberry bushes. We have three others in an awkward area of the yard that I hope to move over here next year. My son wasn't patient last year and ate them all while they were green. Hopefully, I can distract him long enough to let them ripen this year.
My next BIG hurdle:
Believe it or not, this pile has been the reason for more arguments than I would like to admit. Apparently, a wood pile is as importnat to my husband as a fabric stash is to me. I have come to accept it, but I would like to move it! He is ok with ME moving it. Once I have moved it, I can continue my row of raspberries and plant my strawberries. More pictures to come...
