The Cool Kids on the Block

It's true. What can I say. Dustin and I are the most popular kids on the block. 

Cool KIDS of the Neighborhood!

We step outside, the kids come running. 
We're inside, the doorbell rings..."Can you come out an play?" (Okay, well, maybe they are asking for our dogs to come play or to see our chickens...seriously...we need real kids!).

Dustin the "Hero" to little 6-year old Sam. He loves Dustin!

Our house is the petting zoo with a super awesome garden. Don't get me wrong, when I was little I loved playing and dirt (and still do), so I get it. Our house is fun. A couple weeks ago we started our garden! Here shows the neighborhood fun!

Yes, the kids wanted to help shovel horse poo...it was FUN!

This year is going to be a great year. We haven't had the best "luck" with our garden. 

Year One: Tomato Mania...too many, didn't know how to can yet, couldn't keep up with the flow of tomatoes. Tomatoes everywhere...many rotted.

Year Two: Tons of growing, beautiful ripe tomatoes (I know how to can now), watermelon, squash, and about 15 other items. Darn rats and rabbits...ate it all. ALL OF IT!

Year Three: Beautifully grown heirloom produce from seeds. Perfect. Until the rain. Down it came...forever. Until our garden was a mushy mess of fungal rot. Only the strongest survived--a handful of cherry tomatoes. 

This is Year Four and we're ready! So what, the winter has lasted way too long, the sun hardly ever comes out, and our seeds didn't grow inside. No problem. We got this. Planted ahead so we can restart. 

Getting the planting trays ready!

Here's our plan this year:
1. Raised Beds: Rain can't hurt 'um.
2. Rat Poison: Come on and eat up furry friends...may be your last meal!
3. Better Boys: If the heirloom seeds don't grow we have backup tomato plants, Better Boys always grow!
4. Bad soil: Not this year, we have horse poo for that!

So, we are designing the most beautiful raised bed garden, with 26 items to grow...walking paths and even a handmade trellis in the corner of the garden to sit under for shade (Dustin's creation!). Here is our hope for our garden...we're thinking Southern Living may visit us this year...just getting ready!

Probably similar to what it will look like in a few months!!