el jardin

Cue the Rocky theme song! In May we took on our most ambitious garden project ever. More tiny plots? Please! We’re full-blown farmers now! Even though it rained a ton in May there were just enough sunny days to construct our massive shrine to agriculture.

Now before we get too proud of ourselves, let’s examine our slippery slope of self-abuse. Ryan’s doing his best to look manly next to the haul he brought home in his minivan…er…truck! He had to take all the seats out except the driver’s seat to bring this load home. Thank goodness he was able to deliver everything we needed in one trip…yeah, not so much…

We started by tearing out the crusty grub-infested grass. Then came the hard part: digging into that horrible rock-hard Colorado clay. Even if you get it wet, it’s still like trying to chip concrete with a Slurpee straw. And then there was the buried treasures…a rusty paint can lid…the gravel pit…but no electric cables or gas lines, whew!

These clod-busters might look like loafers, but they were great helpers from start to finish.

Uh-oh, Eleanor just busted a clod in her pants…Aarrrgh not another poop joke!!!

With half the backyard sprinklers out of commission the kids were more than happy to keep the turf wet…They had a little help…

mmm…Ice cold mountain water with a hint of garden hose…dee-lish.

Alright, Day 2! More like “Day…Who-Cares-We’ve-Lost-Track.” Let’s get greezed up O Fair-Skinned One; we have a lot more shoveling to do…

Top of the mornin’ to ya Ellie! That’s a big mountain of crappy clay you’re sitting on…Actually, if it was crappy it might have been worth keeping!

…denver craigslist > for sale / wanted > free stuff … 3 yards of worthless dirt…get it while it’s hot!

Does a princess sitting on the crud make it more attractive? It was gone the day we listed it, so that must’ve done the trick. Yup, for sure!

The new garden is so huge that the swingset had to be relocated to the opposite side of the yard. Ryan kept working on the garden rather than digging post holes for the swingset, so only Eleanor was light enough to enjoy it for several days. She seemed pretty upset about it:

Now wait! Don’t get the impression that we’re not into small gardens anymore. “Small” is relative, these plots are where the zucchini, melons and other giant vines are growing. 

We learn more each year we do this. We’ve heard that marigolds are really are good at keeping the mean bugs away. So far so good; only one big bug and she seems pretty harmless…

I’m not so sure about this one…better go get the swatter. (Nice model pose Bin-bug!)

A few days passed and there was still no wait line for the swing, so Ellie took the opportunity to swing like the bigs do…Stop that Ellie! It makes you look older!

That’s it! You’re in the way and underfoot Ellie! Penalty box, 5 minutes! She even has the toothy hockey player smile to boot! 

She quickly discovered that the penalty box was a lot like a sandbox, and then she didn’t want to leave…

-3+6=9. That’s how dirt works. We took 3 yards of dirt out and put 6 in, so that means 9 yards of dirt…so far…

If only all the shovel-benders of the world were this cute; we might actually forgive their laziness!

Then it happened…another trip to Orange/Blue… Surprise! Daddy promises that this is the last time…before the next time! Eleanor walks about 60% of the time now, as long as she’s not wearing shoes.

Excellent work Ellie! Looks like you’ve found the latest in high-fashion transportation. I think Rowan was expecting to be self-propelled…

We’re up to 10 yards now…and 10 shades of brown!

Where’s Drew? Man down! Looks like he’s caught a severe case of lazysummerafternoonitis. Poor kid…

Have you ever played Float the Rag? I’m not sure what the rules are, but I do know hats with headbands are required.

Oh-no, it’s an epidemic! Rowan, can you hear me?! Speak Rowan! mmmmfffbldrphh? I knew it! 

Looks like that species of Bin-bug has been identified…it’s a water bug, duh.

And now the reveal:

That’s right, we’re rockin’ the hot pink plastic flamingo. Waaaay cooler than a scarecrow.

Keep a sharp eye bird, you’ve got to protect us from the blandness of February!

So what did we plant? Name it, we probably got it. We got jalepeños…

Onions…yellow ones, white ones, sweet ones.

No less than 17 tomato plants…did we just make salsa?

Beets. Mmm, I like beets once in a while, so we didn’t plant too many.

Spinachio…It sounds tastier when you add the -io on the end of it. Try it!

Not pictured: Bell peppers, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, rosemary, basil, carrots, lettuce, oregano, ichiban, watermelon, cantelope, tomatillo, green beans, strawberries…can you tell we’re excited?!