My Garden Makeover

Five years ago, Steve and I bought a fixer-upper in the heart of downtown Kannapolis because of its wonderful location and lot. I remember telling Steve that, "I can fix an ugly interior, but I can't fix a neighborhood or the lot." Thus, we settled on our ranch 'fixer-upper' with an awesome back lot!

This back lot was large enough for us to plant three apple trees, create a 40 X 40 garden, and still have a lot of open green space for future soccer games or baseball diamonds.

Currently, our garden is organized into long rows about two feet wide with about two feet between each row.  The area between the rows never stays clean and by the end of each summer, it is so full of weeds and grass that it is hard to walk through.

I recently read a new book which has inspired me to redesign my garden. The best part about this makeover is that by re-purposing junk I have found from previous owners, and items I have collected from my grand-parents' yards, this project will only cost = elbow grease!

The Complete Kitchen Garden by Ellen Ecker Ogden is the book I purchased for guidance. I found a used copy online for $4.00, but it is also available at Williams Sonoma.

Last week, with the help of my sister in-law Leslie, I measured out the garden and marked it off with landscaper's paint.

I marked off six 8 X 8 boxes with two feet rows on the exterior and four feet of walk paths between all the areas.

I cleaned out the first 8 X 8 box this week because I need to go ahead and plant a second round of bush beans, and start my carrot and spinach seeds for the fall.

The challenge will be to keep the grass and weeds under control in the walking paths. I found this article on Pintrest and will try to start creating this fall:

"The newspaper will prevent any grass and weed seeds from germinating, but unlike fabric, it will decompose after about 18 months. By that time, any grass and weed seeds that were present in the soil on planting will be dead. It’s green, it’s cheaper than fabric, and when you decide to remove or redesign the bed later on, you will not have the headache you would with fabric."

In my new design, I have also allowed for a large open space in the middle where I hope to use my grand-parents' old picnic table.

Perhaps if I can actually keep the weeds down I'll actually want to eat in the garden.

I also have this set from my other grand-parents' house in South Carolina that would look nice in one of the four foot paths.

Finally, I am going to decorate and create an enchanting place to visit with crap I have found from previous owners.

I'm not quite sure what these were used for, but I found two corner fences.  Maybe the previous owner used them to stack their wood pile?

Underneath all of the poison ivy are a collection of cement pavers and bricks that would be perfect to add to the walking paths.  However, I am going to wait till the winter to grab them. I already got one bad case of poison ivy two weeks ago when I was moving the fencing in the previous picture. I don't want to go back to that!

I'll keep you posted as the fall progresses!

Bree



What is The Suburban Challenge?

The Suburban Challenge, for any new readers, is living up to and owning the idea of being a domestic diva while not being a stay-at-home diva. It is the handbook for all of us multi-taskers who want it all - career and domestic bliss.

The key to The Suburban Challenge, if you choose to accept it, is cooking in bulk. You must be willing to cook one time per week and get in 4-7 meals from your time in the kitchen. Rachel Ray preaches this, but cooks a lot of different entrees on one day using similar ingredients. I preach this by cooking the same entree times 4 or 7 and preserving it properly. Traditionally I have frozen these entrees. But lately, I have been able to embrace canning - both water bath and pressure canning.

In either case, you are providing a healthy, home cooked, fresh meal for your family every night of the week while also saving one hour of each day by not having to cook it. With that extra hour you are able to achieve domestic diva status by gardening, working-out, running errands, sewing, playing outside with the kids, crafting, ... whatever your heart's desire. People ask me all the time - "Bree how do you do it all?" Well, time management. Make the most of your cooking time on Sunday, then spend the rest of the week WITH THE TV OFF getting done what it is you seek to achieve. Peace!

Here is my first good reason to have more time....my soon to be two-year-old Camilla.  She was helping daddy wash my car last week in the 90 degree heat while insisting on wearing her winter hat.

Here is my second good reason to have more time....my three month old Rex.  He has fallen in love with his puppy dog that Aunt Beth gave him!

The first beach trip with a baby....

     The first beach trip with a baby was awful!  I remember telling my cousin after the vacation, "It wasn't a vacation for me. It sucked. It is a whole new world now."
     This is not a "How To" article, but rather a reflection on how I went from having The Worst Ever beach vacation to The Best Ever beach vacation in a matter of one year. Last year, my oldest and only child at the time was 9 months old. I was naive, ill-prepared, and confused about vacationing with a baby. Our annual trip to the North Carolina coast included extended family in a large rented beach house for one full week. As the oldest grand-daughter of this motley crew, I was the first to introduce a baby into the dynamics. Our normal routine for the last ten years consisted of the men playing golf three mornings of the week while the women make their way slowly out the the water.
     For me: coffee - jog - coffee - shower - beach.
So, with the naive assumption that the routine would remain the same, I packed the jogging stroller. Here is how last year went:
6 AM - wake-up, feed, Steve off for Golf
7 AM - coffee
8 AM - Jog
9 AM - Feed and shower
10 AM -Beach for 2 hours
12 - Feed and try to put Camilla down for a nap, hang out at house by myself for three hours
3 PM -Feed and back to beach
5 PM - in for dinner

So, other than being exhausted, I was only seeing the beach for about 3-4 hours a day while my family bathed in the sun for approx. 6-7 hours.  I was heartbroken, stressed, lonely, and pissed. I ended up snapping at my husband, he got pissed also, and then pouted for a day. Last year = The Worst Ever beach vacation.

This year positioned itself to be more difficult. Now, Camilla is 22 months old and Rex is 3 months old. Double the trouble! I am not an expert, but I have just experienced The Best Ever beach week with my family. What works for me and a family who enjoys planting our derrieres in the sand all day long, avoids amusements, and cooks in each night may not work for others. As I mentioned, don't pin this article as "How to Vacation with Babies," but rather "What I didn't think about the first year...." OOPS.

My 4th of July Sparkler

1. Your life has changed, so change your normal routine. I was so glad to hear that Steve was not going to play golf this year. And, well, I didn't jog each morning. I just did my four minutes of Tabata instead (see the post "I Get It, I'm Overweight").

Rex and I hanging out while dinner was grilling.

2. Think about what schedule is best for the babies. The best time for Camilla and Rex to be in the hot sun is early day. Since we wake up at 6AM, we were on the beach by 8:30 and stayed till the hot part of the day, 12:30. Then, it was in for lunch and naps, avoiding the hottest part of the day.

Camilla's ready to go back to the beach with daddy for afternoon sun at 4:00.

3. If the family offers to help - Take it! My mom, who doesn't really enjoy being on the beach during the hottest part of the day, agreed to come up for lunch at 1:00 each day, after I had fed everyone and they were down for naps. This gave me an extra 2 hours of sun alone (priceless). Then I called it quits at 3:00 when mom would go back outside. If you don't have a family member to help, this is where you and your partner need to take turns to give each of you your own "alone time."
4. Praise your partner for their talents and preferences. I am really good at sitting in my beach chair and doing nothing for hours - so I was really good at "managing" the tent while Rex slept in the shade. Steve loves to wade in the water, sit in the sand, and get sand all up in his swim trunks. So, since a 22 month old also likes to do this I made sure to compliment Steve on his 'style.' I told him "thank you for playing with Cam. She is special to have a father who will get sand in his junk." And Steve told me on day 2, "Thanks for being a great mom." That was all I needed to hear.

Camilla and her chariot.

5. I nursed Rex on the beach. I don't know why I was so determined to feed Cam inside the beach house last summer. That modesty cost me two hours of 'sun time.' This year I just crawled under the tent and covered up with my super cute new beach cover up.
6.  Buy crap from the dollar store. Before we left for vacation I went and bought a bunch of cheap toys that could be thrown away at the end of each day. This way Camilla had something new and exciting coming out of mommy's beach bag to destroy.

7. It is a whole new ballgame - but it doesn't have to suck. Instead of telling a cousin after the vacation how bad it was, accept change before and prepare. It still can be a vacation for you. This year was for me! With a plan and an anticipation of how it would be - I was ready.