HSV Garden Challenge - May Update

Well, I am a week late posting this, but this is a more interesting post than it started out. It started out a lot like last month since May was very rainy like April was. It was getting REALLY old. The rain just kept coming. We had days full of thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Luckily we were fortunate and didn't suffer any damage. I pray for all those who did, especially those in Joplin.

Since I am a week late posting, I actually got my garden all planted! Its hasn't rained and we have had great weather! Our fields still aren't planted, but the farmers have been working like crazy around here!

So far during the Garden Challenge, I have learned that I have to be flexible. I am such a scheduler, everything has to go according to plan. Wellll, that hasn't exactly worked out for my garden! I ended up buying some window boxes so I could plant my strawberry plants and I also planted some in my flower bed so they could get going. I had tomato, zucchini and cucumber plants sitting on my porch waiting to be planted up until a couple days ago. I also learned that I should not grow my seedlings in our lovely, wet, old farmhouse basement where I hate going....because then I forget to water them! I ended up replanting some seeds but I had to go buy some tomato and pepper plants, which is fine - my pepper plants didn't end up coming up anyway and I don't mind supporting our local greenhouse. Next year I think I will use the dining room table for seedlings (as much as I hate that idea!). Or maybe hubby will get the basement fixed up a bit. ;-)

I am not sure what meal I want to make first from our garden, but I know I want to make Eggplant Parmesan and I found this yummy looking recipe for Zucchini Boats the other day so I will definitely be making those. Already have big blooms on my Zucchini plant! And we can't forget Zucchini Bread, yum!

As for Jimmy, we have read a few gardening books:

And we have done more activities such as this game from the Homeschool Creations Garden pack.

Jimmy has really been getting into gardening! He loves to help. He planted seeds and loved putting the seedlings in the holes and burying the roots in the dirt. He was so helpful with watering too! His little wading pool is close to the garden so he would take the watering can over and fill it up with water from his pool (no chemicals and I was watching the whole time!). Then he watered each plant. So cute!

Here is our garden's progression:

After sitting for 2 years

 Tilled once

Tilled again and partially planted

All planted! Shew, thought it would never happen! =)

Those little trees in the garden will be moved in the fall, they are some Arbor Day trees we received a couple years ago that I didn't get to move earlier in the spring because of all the rain! So they get to stay in the garden for a little longer. Hopefully I can move the bigger ones with no problems! We have some sweet corn planted in the dirt behind the trees, then everything else is planted in the foreground and to the right side.

Maybe someday my garden will look more like this *sigh*:

Source: lovemyearth.blogspot.com via Ali on Pinterest

I almost forgot, here are some of our strawberry plants in a window box on our porch, this will be interesting to see how they hold up!

As for the blueberry bushes, they are still growing happily in their containers. I think I have decided where to plant them, so they will be in their new homes soon.

I hope everyone has a great month of growing!

HSV Garden Challenge - April Update

April has been a very rainy month here on the farm. We've been dealing with a whole lotta this:

 All I have gotten done around here is roll the yard and the pasture! I haven't even had a chance to mow yet! Our yard is a complete jungle. My husband popped a ligament in his hand in March and had to have surgery so he is not able to do a lot around our place right now. He works a lot and also coaches throwing for our high school track team, so he is not home very often. Add in my 3 yo and 10 mo little boys and our life is a little hectic right now. I am really hoping to get some mowing done tonight when hubby gets home from practice, and then tomorrow as it is supposed to be a beautiful day. Hoping I can get some work done in the garden tomorrow too! If not, I may have to figure out alternative plans for planting.....

Our little seedlings are doing pretty well. We lost a couple, but I can plant more seeds in the garden & they will just be a little later than I was hoping. My jalapenos FINALLY started growing! I didn't know they took so long! ;-)

I purchased a couple blueberry bushes and some strawberry starts last week. We are really looking forward to having our own fresh berries soon! Jimmy will be in heaven!

We also started doing a few of the activities from the Homeschool Creations Garden pack, these are so much fun! Thanks to Jolanthe for being so awesome and sharing such great resources!

Jimmy and I were able to get out and do a little weeding in one of the flower beds and we have been taking walks around the yard. He just loves picking flowers that we find - dandelions, violets, some of my Korean Spice Viburnum flowers, they smell wonderful! And he loved watching the daffodils and tulips come up. They are so pretty!

Last night Jimmy even got to see his first ever rainbow, it was the most gorgeous one I have ever seen! Lets hope its a signal of the end of all this crazy weather we've been having!

And another shot, I took a bunch =D

I hope everyone has a great weekend and gets a lot of gardening done! Happy growing!

Tot School - Spring/Easter

 

Jimmy is 39 months & Matthew is 9 months

Its been so long since we joined in with Tot School! I hope to get back into the letters so next week we will post our Letter M activities. 

Last week we worked on some Spring and Easter activities. Jimmy loved this flower matching game from Lawteedah. Check it out, she put together a great Easter tot kit!

We also did a couple of activities from 2 Teaching Mommies Easter kit found here.

Jimmy enjoyed doing this Easter egg matching game from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

 And of course, we colored Easter Eggs! Matthew's first time, he played with a plain egg ;-)

We did a couple more activities but I didn't get photos. I have been so lazy lately! I need to get out of this rut I've been in for a long time! Posting this is a step in the right direction....see you next week! =D

HSV Garden Challenge

Today is the first day to post for The Homeschool Village Garden Challenge. If you haven't heard about it, go check it out!

We live in Ohio where the weather has been super crazy to say the least. I haven't been able to do much outside to prepare our garden yet, but Jimmy did help me start some seeds a couple weeks ago. Here is what we have so far:

We planted tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, jalapenos, dill and a couple others. The rest of the seeds will go directly into the garden.

And here is the area where our garden was 2 years ago. We didn't have a garden last year because I was super pregnant and I couldn't till it and my hubby wasn't home enough to do it for me since he coaches HS track (throwing). So it needs a lot of work. I am hoping to have a raised bed in there and add one or two each year until it is all raised beds...we'll see if that happens! I am also working on a fence to put around it so you may see parts of that in future posts, but I don't expect to have it done this year since I am building it from pallets as we get them (taking pallets apart takes a lot of work!!).

I don't have any photos of Jimmy helping me plant the seeds because I didn't think about taking any and I didn't find out about the HSV Challenge until just a few days ago. But I will be sure to get a bunch when we actually get to go OUTSIDE! ;-) I heard its supposed to hit 50 degrees tomorrow, so here's hoping! Jimmy absolutely loved planting the seeds and watering them and he is such a nature boy that I know he is going to have a blast!

As far as lesson plans go, I have been super lazy lately about Jimmy's schooling, but I am hoping this challenge will help me get back into the swing of things. We will definitely be using Homeschool Creations Garden Pack and as far as other resources, if anyone has any online recommendations for a 3 year old boy, please let me know! We are down to one vehicle right now, so I am limited on being able to go to the library, etc. I am SO thankful for the internet! I will need to go through all of our books and see what I can "rediscover" and we will be spending lots of time on our property exploring the growing things.

Do you have any tips for gardening with a 3 year old? What to do or what to definitely avoid? We will definitely be planting some strawberries because they are Jimmy's favorite. I can't wait for him to be able to pick them right off the plant!

100 Followers!

 Luke is so excited, he can't wipe the grin off his face!

 Wow! I finally reached 100 followers, thank you all so much for sticking with me! And welcome to my new friends, I hope I don't disappoint! ;-)  Please know that I do not post all the time, I tried and I just can't do it. I am trying to at least get into some sort of regular schedule, but I am a major slacker. I have lots of make-up posts to do, especially about Matthew's milestones! Hopefully I will get some of those posts up, and the bathroom reveal, soon! And since I have reached the 100 follower mark, I might just have to have a giveaway soon....I will let you know when I come up with something =D Thanks again everyone, I appreciate each of you so very much!