Strawberry Picking

Saturday Nyla and I went strawberry picking! 

(Yes, I am growing strawberries in our yard but we're waiting for them to root properly and won't get any bounty until next season. It's sad, but I'm hoping this helps us having better years of harvest later on.) 

I've been wanting to go but I wasn't sure how she would do. I assumed that she would pop them in her mouth as we picked and obviously that is highly illegal. :) But she greatly surprised me and just carried her little bucket around and kept on picking. I was not allowed to carry the bucket. At. all. She was very insistent on that. ;) I had to give her some guidance to pick the completely red strawberries and had to remind her a couple times but all-in-all she did so great! I think we'll go back in a couple weeks and pick some more. 

Here are a few pictures from our morning together. 

(We also went to the Farmer's Market to pick up some fruits, veggies and grass-fed beef.)

She's so proud of herself carrying the little bucket.

She's doing a great job picking!

"No, I"ll hold the bucket, Mommy."
I definitely head that a few times.

Our haul!
We filled up our bucket close to three quarters full and he told me it was $8. I was shocked it was so little.
I bought another quart because we eat them like crazy around here! 

Nyla and I had a good morning together, so did Daddy and Naomi. They went for a mile walk around our neighborhood and were followed by a sweet puppy for some of the way. We all had a great morning together, but separate! ;)

Saying "Hello" to our New Yard

We're all settled into our new home and back into our usual routine. Thankfully, all the work inside the house got done before we moved in so I can concentrate on the yard. It needs a lot of love but I see potential and I've been working like a dog in it. It needs a lot of maintenance work but I'm excited to see what I can do with it!

And we need a lot out of our yard. Not only do we need a place for the girls to run wild but we need an adult retreat and a garden space. The girls part is done. They can wander anywhere in the yard and be fine (thank goodness for a fence) and the adult retreat part is basically there as well. I do feel relaxed when Daniel and I can go out there and sit in our chairs and just sit and talk. I see a lot I can do each time we sit but I know I can do it later. I have an ongoing list of tasks I can do in the yard. I don't feel like I'll get it all done this year or even the next, but it's tasks I'd like to see done over the next few years.

This week I've worked hard in our yard. Monday, I bought a lemon tree, potting soil and flowers for our patio pots and to put a few in our mailbox bed. I then came home and planted 2 flats of flowers, tilled up a small area for some raspberries, scouted out an area for some fruit trees, pulled up ivy and a lot of other weeks and planned the yard for a bigger bed. Tuesday, I bought 2 ever red loropetulam and 20 bags of mulch. I came home and bricked in my new large bed, extended a bed up by the house, raked and cleaned up the yard. Today I sprayed round up on poison ivy (yuck) and all the ivy I can't get up, as well as other vine stuff that just doesn't go where it is. I obviously have big plans for our yard. I may be a little too ambitious but hey, I see potential! I think I'm getting a little addicted too. :)

I'm also investing in fruit trees. My sweet grandma sent me a generous check for my birthday and I decided I wanted some fruit trees that we can enjoy for years to come. I bought 1 pear tree, the variety is Moonglow (my sister bought me one for my birthday and I found out it needed a companion for pollination; she bought me a Bartlett Pear). I also bought a sour cherry tree, the variety is Montmorency (note: sour cherry trees don't need a second for pollination, if you want sweet cherry trees, buy two for pollination). And lastly, I bought 2 peach trees (our favorite). The two varieties I bought are Redhaven Dwarf and Gala Standard. I bought all my trees from Stark Brothers. Last month, I bought my blueberries and strawberries from them and they've been very helpful. I follow them on Twitter and whenever I have a question I ask them there and they respond within 24 hours (at the latest) with the answer. That makes this newbie gardener more comfortable!

At last, here are a few pictures of our yard. It's only pieces of the yard. It's pretty big and I'm trying to add more gardening plants to it so there's less grass to cut. That is NOT my favorite thing, at all!

The first iris's are blooming!

I created a big bed. It's a work in process and probably will be for a long time. I like it!
Behind the bricks will be the bed. There's already a few things there that are planted or waiting to be planted.

I invested in 4 blueberry plants this year. I hope we'll be enjoying blueberries from them next year! I bought 2 O'Neil and 2 Misty. You need two different varieties for pollination. I ordered them from starkbros.com. They have a 1 year money back guarantee. 

Our strawberry patch. I planted 25 bare-root strawberry plants. I hope they'll spread like crazy and we'll enjoy them next year as well. The variety I chose was Ozark Beauty.  

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My raspberry bed. I made a gardening friend on Twitter and she sent me 5 raspberry canes. She told me I'll probably have 25 canes in 5 years. I'm excited. She thinks the variety is Heritage.

Our Meyer Lemon tree. I'm going to keep it in a pot and on the patio through the summer and fall. I'll move it into our house before the first frost. The man I bought it from said it should give us lemons this summer. It looks like it might!
I'll be interested to see how this works for us.
It's definitely an experiment. I thought a $21 experiment wouldn't be too bad. :)

A bigger picture of the lemon tree.

A peony! I'm anxious to see what color the blooms will be. I'll be moving this into the big bed by the fence in the Fall. For now, I'll enjoy it in this spot. 

As you can see I have a lot going on in the yard. My mom is going to help me with a few things in the yard for my birthday present from her. We're going to Digger O'Dell next weekend to pick out a few things for the new big bed and talk about what can be done in it.

What's going on in your yard this year?

Busy, busy

We've been busy around the Gafford home.

We are moving! Houses, not blogs. :)

We are getting some major renovation done in the new house so we won't be moving for 4 weeks or so. Don't worry, I have before pictures! (I love seeing people's before pictures, too). Y'all it's going to look nothing like it did when we bought it. It was a well-cared for home just a little outdated and in need of a face lift. We aren't going anywhere else so it's worth it to get it all done before we move in. We'll be able to enjoy it all for years!

Because of all this house updating blogging is last on my list. Don't worry I'm still cooking, we're gobbling leftovers and up to our usual shenanigans. But, right now, I'm focused on paint colors, tile, countertops, etc. I'm almost done picking all of it out (thank goodness) so I'll be back here before you know it. I'll still pop in and post my menu plan or a meal we've loved. You can't get rid of me so easily!

Until my next post, keep on cooking and checking back. I'm here, just in and out.

P.S. I'm checking out blueberry bushes. I'm going here for my needs (Daniel's cousin used them and gave good feedback). Anyone do any gardening? I've tried tomatoes, bell peppers and jalapeno peppers the last 2 years but I just didn't get much out of it. But blueberries I cook with a lot and the girls eat like they're going out of style. And they come back year after year. I like that. Now, I just need to keep them alive so I can reap the benefits of them. :)

First bounty from my first ever garden!

3 bell peppers and 9 jalapeno peppers

This is our first full summer in our house and I have had big plans for a garden ever since we put an offer in last year. I wanted to start one last year but would've had no time with a new baby at home. This was the year to try!

For this years trial run I bought 4 tomato plants, 2 green bell pepper plants and 4 jalapeno plants. I planted them in big pots this year wanting to make sure I liked it before I put more money into building homes for them or tearing up my yard to make a garden. And I do like it!

I love seeing them grow from such a small plant to towering plants producing vegetables. I kept telling my husband and I mom, "If I get just one vegetable from each plant this year, I'll be happy." So far, I've gotten more than that from my bell pepper and jalapeno. The tomatoes are taking longer to produce, but I've got a few small tomatoes on a couple of the plants. And the plants themselves look healthy, I feel like they're in a good place so far.

As of right now I'd say I'll be doing another garden next year and may even expand what I plant and grow. Any suggestions on what I should have in my garden next year? What do you garden?