how our garden grows

My hubby has a knack for gardening.  We have lived in our home for almost 4 years and have had at least a small garden each year.  Last year we just did tomatoes and vowed to have a better garden this summer than ever before.

We have had two predicaments in the past...hilly ground and lots of shade.

Hubby, being the handyman he is, along with his dad's help, leveled out a place in our backyard with compost and railroad ties.  They also cut down a tree that was blocking the sunlight from our garden spot.  We now have a level spot that gets about 6-7 hours of sunlight.  Perfect.

When planning what we wanted to grow, we took into consideration what we purchase the most from the grocery and/or farmers market as well as what types of veggies I want to have on hand to make homemade baby food.  We also decided to go organic with our veggies of course.

When planning on the layout of our garden, we honestly just used my hubby's knowledge.  He's good like that.  We purchased the plants from Wal-Mart, as well as purchased some seeds from our local farm store.

We spent the day on Sunday afternoon tilling and planting our garden as a family.  Such fun!

We decided to plant:

-squash
-zucchini
-tomatoes
-red peppers
-banana peppers
-yellow corn
-green beans
-cucumbers

On my deck, I'm also growing lavender, cilantro, and parsley.

Someone even enjoyed planting from afar, getting her feet in the dirt, and eventually snoozing in the shade.  :)

farmer's market fun

I have a new guilty pleasure.  It's our local farmer's market.  So wonderful! We recently purchased, Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution.  I knew these books were pretty amazing, but had no idea just how amazing until we bought it and I started reading it cover to cover, literally.  This book has completely changed how I will grocery shop and the specific foods that we will put on our table.  (And let me just add that you will want to buy this on Amazon....much cheaper!)

Some wake-up call bits of information I've learned:
*organic fruits to buy vs. fruits to not worry about buying organic
*specific reasons on why to buy grass-fed beef (wow! cows with stomach ulcers, intestinal issues, etc. for being fed only grain, corn, and animal buy-products....no thank you.  I won't support farmers that do that and I won't allow my family to eat that.)
*poultry with higher fat content than actual protein due to not being free-range and not being exposed to enough sunlight (yes, this is your typical chicken you purchase at the grocery store)

Back to the farmer's market.  We live in a wonderful small town.  Some people would call this the boonies.....that's fine by me.  However, with the crazy growth in this town lately...I'm thinking quite a few people have ventured out to the boondocks to settle down.  This little town booms.  And it especially booms on the weekends.  Last summer Justin and I started going to the local farmer's market that is off of our main street, nestled under the huge trees on our courthouse lawn.  I thought it was neat then.  The food looked yummy.  We enjoyed the atmosphere.  However, this summer...I'm going in with a whole new attitude! Purchasing food here not only helps our these wonderful local farmers....but it also helps out the one body that God so graciously supplied us with here on this earth.

This Saturday morning we met our dear friends, Chad and Cheri, at our local farmer's market.  What a fun way to spend a Saturday morning! Beyond the fun found in these pictures below...I also loved watching young kiddos flock to the sample table where the local farmers were cutting huge chunks of fruits and veggies for sampling.  (Oh my...so good, I might add!) I loved seeing these little sweeties running to eat things so good for them.  It just shows that if it's available and they're exposed.....they'll try it!

baskets of yummies

courthouse lawn

My plan is to buy all our veggies and fruits from the farmer's market this summer....beyond things we don't have in our own garden (we were slow going with our garden this year).  We even purchased some free-range brown eggs.  You can even buy fresh poulty frozen and ready to cook with! Can't wait to try that!

love the vibrant colors...just screams "healthy"

(If you're wondering about trying this out and how it can fit in the grocery budget...all of this cost us $17 [all organic...and the chicken is free-range]....just a few dollars more than what it would cost at the grocery story...not organic.  We felt like it was definitely worth it for the quality of the products and knowing exactly where and how these were grown.  I love knowing our money is going to the "little people".)

Oh how summer is so full of fun things like fresh fruits and veggies and Saturday morning trips to the local farmer's market.  \

Thank you Lord for the sweet gift of summer.