Backyard Hangout

It's weird to think that a year ago we didn't have a backyard. And it's now unfathomable what I would do with our 2nd if there wasn't a backyard to send him to.

It's too hot during the day to jump on the trampoline (unless there's a sprinkler under it) but about bedtime the boys decide it's time to jump.

And our chickens. Although I pictured tame chickens when I bought them, I've never seen chickens that will take so much abuse and still let a 3 year old pick them up. But I do like that when I tell the boys the chickens are in the garden they hurry out to catch them and lock them back up.

He might not admit it, but I think Chod almost likes the birds as much as the boys do. At least now that they've started laying eggs. He insists it's because the boys have quit begging for a dog, and he'd much rather have chickens than a dog.

Even Gracie Loo-Who likes hanging out in the backyard with the family. I just have to keep her brothers from dropping a chicken on her face. Cause as much as they like them, the chickens still gross me out.

Zucchini Boat Races and S'mores

What do you do when you plant a garden and then buy a house with an existing garden and you end up with 4 zucchini plants? A little time lapse between pickings results in HUGE zucchinis, and some weeks we harvest over 20 between the two gardens! If your friends won't take the zucchini, invite them to have zucchini boat races with you!

So last night we took them to the park and carved them into boats. Bentley was talking trash from the very beginning.

Here's Bentley's finished boat--he sprinkled sand inside and then tried to trick us into thinking it was really cinnamon.

And we roasted s'mores. It was our first experience with campfire marshmallows. And they make for a huge s'more. Grocery stores have replaced the Hershey s'more bars with Halloween candy so we tried out Reeses and Dove chocolate with caramel. There were no complaints about the chocolate choices.

Kinda messy!

It was getting dark by the time the race began, and most of the zucchinis flipped over and it was hard to spot the dark zucchinis in the black water. Bentley is pretty sure his won, and Lincoln tells the story with his boat coming in first place. So it was the perfect race for some competitive kids.

And we still have plenty of zucchini left!

Pest Control Please

Our garden is at the community garden. The community garden is a good place for people without a piece of earth of their own to garden. They have all the tools there for your using and they take care of the watering.
What isn't so great is that we have to drive to get there, it is an organic garden (don't even get Chod started on this), and they don't turn the water on until June 1st. So we get a late start, the weed situation is awful and this year we've also been dealing with blight, insects, birds and mice.

Basically, our garden is the saddest thing I've ever seen. Our green beans have been annihilated by hoppers, tomatoes are spotted with blight and what the blight hasn't gotten the birds do, the squash leaves dance with mice running underneath. The mice have also eaten beans, tomatoes, cantaloupe, and entire hills of our potatoes. We're crossing our fingers they stay away from the 1 pumpkin we have.

It has been a frustrating year, and when we found it frozen on Saturday, we threw our hands up in defeat and headed to Brigham City. At the beginning of the season we spent $10 on tomato plants. We ended up paying just $12 for a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes, which is about 12 times more tomatoes than we got all year. Our onions are great, we did get corn, zucchini production has been fair and we did get a watermelon, and pumpkins.

So this year we are asking--gardening, is it worth it?.

Here we go again

August is showing no sign of slowing down and we are doing our best to hang on and enjoy it all. Between family reunions, baptisms, losing Grandma, the funeral, Chod's running, and more family get togethers I have been trying to keep my head above water, gas in the tank, and clothes washed. I did manage to get the kitchen mopped and the bathrooms cleaned this week, so we are sitting pretty now. We are averaging 3 days at home before we leave again. Which is enough time to unpack, do laundry, and pack again. Chod only has 3 more races until the season is over-a 5k, half and full marathon. If you have a chance to hang out at one of the finish lines, please come! (you will be able to see Chris too, if Chod isn't enough of a draw). Chod, the boys and I will be doing the 5k and I hear it isn't too late to sign up-so you can too.

When we are at home we have been enjoying play dates, the swimming pool, and the fruits of our labor from the garden. Last Sunday we ate trout (caught by Chod), green beans (garden), roasted potatoes (garden), and a salad (garden) with zucchini cake (garden) for dessert. How's that for being self-sufficient and enjoying the bounty of the harvest?

So long garden

Tonight we dug the last of our potatoes, brought our pumpkins home and cleaned out the garden. At times I think our garden was a huge disappointment. I mean, our zucchinis produced just enough that we could keep up, the winter squash never produced, we only got 2 pumpkins, our onions were ridiculously small, and the watermelon died at the very beginning.

Isn't that what my degree was in?

And then I remember that this garden survived the neglect of a pregnant lady and the abuse of a two year old, and I am impressed that it did as well as it did. It also gave us time together as a family and gave Bentley a little taste of what work is.

And aren't those more important than supplying the neighborhood with zucchini?

Dad's helper.

Yes, that's a small potato. It's called a fingerling.

Bentley insisted that the orange pepper on the left was a baby pumpkin. He loves his pumpkins. And babies.

Hard to let go

Dear Deidra,

Today, after Mom and I went to the garden we stopped by your house to share our vegetables with you. I didn't realize how attached I was to them until we drove away.

You see, I helped grow all of them. I placed each seed potato in their holes, got yelled at countless times for stepping on the baby tomato plants, and spent lots of mornings taking care of the garden when it was hot. I helped weed and water and watched them grow. Then today as Mom dug up the hills of potatoes it was my job to pick them out of the soil and put them in the basket. I also helped pick the tomatoes.

And then you show up in town after the work is done and benefit from all my hard work. I cried the entire way home after leaving my precious produce at your house. Mom tried to tell me that we were sharing, but I am having a really hard time letting go.

I think you're a weasel.

Love
Bentley

Pea Time

Meet my gardening buddy.
This morning he helped pick peas.

And then he proceeded to eat them.Such a good helper!

We brought home a bag of peas, lettuce and zucchini. Can't wait until our tomatoes are ready!

Dacha

In Russia it is common for a family to have a dacha. Which is essentially a garden in the country so those living in the city have a place to grow a garden to feed their family. They vacation at the dacha on weekends, since they work the rest of the week.

We may not be Russian, but this year we have a dacha of our own. Since we live in an apartment we travel across town to our little garden. It makes checking on things a little more time consuming than walking to the backyard, but you've gotta take what is available.

Bentley loves going to the garden. He arrives somewhat clean and leaves as a mudball. It is hard for me to let him play in the dirt and water and then let him get in his carseat---but it isn't fair to take mud away from a boy.

He is turning out to be quite the little gardener. His job is to put the seeds in the holes. Tonight he planted pumpkins. As soon as the seeds were covered he ran and grabbed a hot cap, proceeded to put it in place, and then filled the brim with soil.

I only hope he is still this anxious to help in the garden when he is 14 and it is time to weed!

Garden time

It's garden time.

Which means the Stephens' household is full of arguments.

One would think that when a horticulture grad marries an agronomy/soil science grad planting a garden would be a simple thing.

That one would be very wrong.

Chod and I both have different ideas of how the garden should be planted and cared for. While I prefer a normal working garden, Chod prefers to run his like an experiment.

This year may go better than our last garden, partly because we've come to some understanding, and partly because this garden is 6.5 times as big as the last--so there is plenty of room for both of us.

I drew up the plot layout and Chod got to pick the varieties of potatoes.

See, we're compromising!