Project Monday - starting to plant

I am excited.  Carpenter and I had a great afternoon yesterday.  After a rough week of not seeing him much, he decided to fore-go his nap and hang out with me.  I love that man!

Here's the final pics of the greenhouse.

They rolled huge logs on the edges of the plastic and now it's not going anywhere - well maybe.

We've had a couple of windy days, not super windy yet but enough to make us nervous and it held up very well.

First we went to the store and bought some things - much needed meds that I was out of, and an ironing board that wobbles as bad as the one we have (it was my Mom's, and the new one is going back - I need a sturdy ironing board in this house).  We also got some potting soil and some trays, so that we could start planting. 

Next we filled the trays with soil, and added the seeds of the stuff that is transplantable - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, watermelon, broccoli, cauliflower, canteloupe, etc.  Then we watered them and left them in the greenhouse, on the ground. 

I need to go make sure that it didn't freeze in there.  Tonight it's supposed to get in the low 20's, not sure what it was last night.  So we'll see how this works.  Not ever having done this before, it's an experiment.

Carpenter is also ready for us to plant peas into the soil.  So I need to start that today.  I want to have it all staked so that they can grow up instead of on the ground.  Last year I used chicken fence and put stakes in the ground - though not for all of the peas - and it worked fairly well.  The peas stayed clean and dry and I could actually see them without breaking the plant.

It's only March, so I'm a bit nervous about planting anything in the ground yet.  In our house we get too antsy, to get out there and plant stuff.  Give us a day of great weather and we can't wait.  Sometimes we're ahead of the game and it works out, and other times it all freezes.

So I'm going to get out there and work that soil and get it ready for some peas.  I'll work on getting those stakes up and fence up and then plant.  I also want to make some boxes for the kids to plant their own mini-garden.  I hope we get to it this week. 

And finally, I have some rocks to paint with the kids for markers of where things are.  I think the kids will have the most fun with that project.

There's something about planting and gardening that I love, time to think about God's work in our hearts and lives.  He's always growing us up in some new way.  I'm thankful for His tender care in the garden of my heart, but I'm also thankful that He does the hard work of pruning, etc.  

I am not a gardener, and it frustrates my husband as he is his own father's son.  His dad has a beautiful garden every year with all kinds of flowers and vegetables.  Even though, I'm not good at it, and every year the weeds overtake my veggies, I am going to try again.  Each year should be easier as I'm raising little gardeners, and now they don't pull stuff out that shouldn't be pulled out. 

Does anyone have great ideas about how they plant and what works and what doesn't?

Making the most of today,
Steph