Some of my favorite pics from the garden

My favorite thing to do for dealing with stress these days is to dig in the dirt.  I pull weeds, yanking them out of the ground and tossing them into the trash pile.  I plant seeds, water them, check on them several times a day waiting for them to grow.  I love capturing some of it all on film too.  So, here are three of my favorite pics from my garden so far this summer.

Look at the bee!  He’s been working very hard in my garden this summer!

This lovely sunflower is just beginning to bloom!

This is my absolute favorite one!  God is so amazing!  He put such care and attention into all of His creation!  Look at the detail He put into designing this beautiful butterfly!

I really hope the pumpkins, carrots, lettuce, and kale all work out too!  If so, I’ll be sure to take pics of the harvest!

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DIY Drip Irrigation

So, I’m kinda getting into this gardening thing.  It’s the perfect hobby for me during this season of my life because it’s done outside and it’s summer right now, so I’m always outside with my kids.  At night once they’re in bed I can spend time on Pinterest reading and learning all things “garden” related before I fall asleep too.  It’s been really fun!  I’ve discovered there are TONS of gardening blogs out there!  I’ve also discovered that there are lots of cool “tricks” to help your garden along and I’m having a good time trying out a few of them.

Watering my garden is a problem for me.  I’m always worried that I’m watering too much or not enough.  So, I read about different techniques to keep my garden watered and the soil damp while I’m growing my plants.  It’s really interesting to me because we live in a very warm climate and for the most part we’ve been having a pretty dry summer.  I don’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of money on our water bill just because I want to grow a garden, so I was interested in saving money while still watering my plants enough that they will grow.  The idea that I found on Pintetest that I thought would benefit me the most was a “DIY drip irrigation” system.  Here’s the pics of what I did.

Water bottles with holes drilled into the sides and bottom.

Do not drill too many holes.  Do just enough to let the water drip out into your soil.  I drilled about six holes in each bottle.

 Once I tested the water bottles to see how fast the water dripped out, I buried them into the ground.  (Just put them right beside your seeds or the plants you are transplanting.)  I was doing carrots planted into pots buried in the ground on this day, so I put the water bottles into the center and then scattered the seeds and covered them with a mixture of dirt and a bagged garden soil mix.

The idea is that I will fill the water bottles from the hose each morning and then allow them to slowly drip and water my soil and plants all day long without fear of my plants drying out. On really hot days (90-100 degrees), I’ve been filling the bottles twice daily.

I haven’t had a harvest yet, so we shall see if this is a “Pinterest Fail” or a Pinterest Success!”

Digging in the dirt makes me happy!

Getting to be a foster mama is one of the biggest blessings of my lifetime.  I love my Baby Girl!  She has brought so much joy into our lives and I wouldn’t trade getting to be her mama for anything!  “Foster Care” in and of itself; however, is stressful.  Baby Girl’s case is coming to an end, but still strange things can happen at a moments notice and change the course of everything.  I’ve been a bit stressed lately.  I decided to do something with my stress, something productive.  Some people clean when they’re stressed, some people work out or over eat.  I garden and pull weeds.  Here are a few of my little beauties to show off.  I know they’re nothing to brag about just yet, but it’s fun and it makes me happy!

  My first raspberry bush!

Pumpkins popping through!

Jalepanos growing!

 My first beautiful sunflower to bloom!