Our Garden Tower has Soil

We have had a lot of tornado warnings and crazy weather here lately.  My heart goes out to those who have lost family and their homes.  Due to the combination of weather issues and just being busy it's taken us a while to get the wheels on our garden tower and fill it with soil.  Last night we finally added the soil and worms.  Caden loved helping!  He told Collin several times how he loves working with him and was having lots of fun mixing the soil.  I love Caden's love of learning, willingness to help, and desire to get his hands dirty. I think one of his favorite things was adding the worms.  I'm so glad the worms are out of my house and into our garden tower where they belong! :)  Our curious boy did end up pulling one of the worms apart to see what would happen.  Glad I missed that.  I think he's going to love Biology, he seems to love learning about the insides of things.

 

We used a combination of three types of soils: 3 bags of organic potting soil, 1 bag of organic mushroom compost, and 1 bag of organic compost.

 

Collin poured the first bag of potting soil in the tower.  Then he and  Caden mixed the mushroom compost and regular compost with the potting soil in a pot and then would pour it in.  After the tower was full of soil, I added a zip-lock bag of compost I started in my kitchen about a week ago.  It had potato peels, banana peels, cabbage, egg shells, and carrot peels.  I poured that down the middle compost tube.  Last we added the earth worms.  Blue Rock loved playing with the worms and finding them to put in the compost part of the tower.  Now I just need to look at what will grow during the hot Texas summer in our Garden Tower.  I'll probably start with some kind of leafy greens and beans. 

Empty tower on wheels

Inside the tower and compost tube

We let Blue Rock put the first scoop of soil in the tower

Kinds of soils we used

Mixing and filling the tower

The tower has soil and Blue Rock is mowing the lost soil

Blue Rock loves playing in soil

Bag of compost and earth worms

I'm adding the compost

The guys are adding the worms

Look at this worm!

Our Garden Tower is ready for seeds!

More pictures of the worm and soil fun!

All the bags of soil we used

Are you going to Scarborough Faire?

There's a reason there's a song about Scarborough Faire.  It's a fun event.  I first heard about the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival about 8 years ago.  I honestly at the time had no desire to go.  Now since I've been all over Europe and to England, I have more of an appreciation for history and different historical times.  I also discovered while living in Germany that I love local festivals.  I especially love to see people dressed up, taste traditional foods, and see and ride traditional rides.

 

My best friend, Chase, from junior high invited us to go with her husband and son.  I talked with Collin and even though we didn't have "proper" attire, we decided it would be fun.  Last year we joined them at May Fest and we all decided we'd wait a few years before dragging our kids back there.  I have to say, Scarbourough Faire was a lot more fun than May Fest.  They had musical performers, old wooden rides, that used no power or electricity, elephants and camels to ride on, and lots of things to see and do.  The only downside is, it can get pretty expensive.  But the way I see it, it's once a year and a pretty big event.  We plan on going back and will probably make this an annual event with our friends.

Wooden boat ride that you move by pulling a rope

Caden got his first sword! Corbin got one too.

Some dancers

Chase, Corbin, and Brandon watching the Titanics

Yes, your child could ride a llama.  Caden didn't want to.

Wooden horse ride

Caden, Chase, Corbin, and I riding the elephant

This was the kids' first time to ride an elephant

Chase and I with our boys

Collin and Caden

Caden's End of School Preschool Program

Last night Caden's preschool had their end of the year preschool program and pre-K graduation.  If Caden's class had superlatives, he would get Most Independent.  He is strong-willed and not afraid to do his own thing or challenge someone who thinks differently to him.  There are positives to having an independent spirit but it can also being challenging at times.

 

The program ended with the pre-K students coming down the isle wearing caps and gowns as they celebrated leaving pre-K and going off to kindergarten next year.  All the kids were so cute on the stage!  Caden's school decorated the stage with beautiful balloon displays.  They were nice but a huge distraction to my balloon obsessed child.  Caden stood there and starred at the big balloons the for pretty much the whole time except when they handed out eggs to shake for one of the songs.  He shook his egg and enjoyed that.  I wish they would have put him more in the middle next to some of his buddies.  I think he would not have starred at the balloons as much.  Sadly, they put him on the end where he could easily look at the balloons and be tempted to try and touch them, which he did attempt to do twice.  Thankfully this was just a preschool performance and the unexpected is always expected. :)

 

It's always fun to watch young kids perform.  I really thought Caden would have sang really loudly because he always wants to go up front and sing at church and loves singing at home.  However, he is one focused child and he really wanted one of the beautiful balloons.  You just never know how kids are going to be. 

There are really big balloons over there!

He asked us during the songs if he could have a balloon.

He attempted to get one.

Now he's back singing and shaking the egg.

Caden and his good friend, Jake.

We have trees!

One downside to buying a new house is the lack of trees.  When we bought our house a year ago, we got 2 trees.  Several weeks ago we planted 4 more trees.  We had wanted to plant trees last Fall but could not decide what kind of trees to buy and where to plant them.  We have decided what we wanted and bought three shade trees and one fruit tree.  The shade trees are all drought tolerant once established. The Chinese Pistache and Shumardi Red Oak are fast growing trees. The Chinquapin Oak is a slow growing tree.  I have always wanted a peach tree so we bought a White Princess Peach tree which is supposed to have super sweet peaches.  The White Princess Peach tree is self pollinating.  However, we may purchase another peach tree in the future because most fruit trees do better with a partner.  Our peach tree already has some fruit on it.  I hope it produces lots of delicious fruit in the future.  I'm also looking forward to our shade trees providing nice shade in the future.

Chinquapin Oak

White Princess Peach

Shumardi Red Oak

Planting the Chinese Pistache

Planting the Chinese Pistache

 

Chinese Pistache

Happy Mother's Day!!



My treasure on earth at the Mother's Day event at his school

Growing up, starting at around the age of 12, I started hating Mother's Day.  I did not look forward to it at all.  Mostly that was due to my mother dying when I was 11.  I deeply missed her and seeing all of my friends and their moms made me sad and wish I had my mom back.  Seeing mothers who abused or chose to abandon their children made me angry.  They were given life yet they were wasting it by not being there for their children.



My mother was one of the best of the best.  She had a strong personality, a deep faith in Jesus, compassion for those who were weak and lacking, and loved me and my siblings more than life itself.  I still am not sure why God let her die that Valentine's Day.  However, I do know he has a plan for me.  He also had a plan for my mom.  Even though her heart was failing her, she did not let that stop her from living.  She was never one who would want people to feel sorry for her.  She wanted to remain strong.  In fact, she planned for me and her to wake up early that morning before school to bake cookies for my teachers.  Her love for others lived o

ut in everything she did.  Her death shocked us all.  Like I said, the morning before she died we baked cookies together.  I think it's almost perfect looking back that God took her on Valentine's Day.  People celebrate love on that day and what a day to leave this earth.  A day many give cards to their loved ones expressing their love for them.


My two loves at breakfast!  Look at Caden's sweet face!

Fast forward 18 years later, I started having miscarriages.  I am still shaken that I have more babies in Heaven than I do on this earth.  Four of my sweet babies are in Heaven with God and Jesus.  I know my mom was one of the first to welcome them there.



God blessed me with Caden before I lost my other babies.  Every year on Mother's Day he and Collin remind me how wonderful and special it is to be a mom.  Being a mom is hard work!  It's the most tiring job I have ever had!  It is also the most joyful!  They blessed me with wonderful gifts and a fun-filled day.  I got a wonderful gift card to one of my favorite restaurants, a pedicure, and a fun weekend.  Collin really goes out of his way to make me feel special and loved.  He is my best friend and a blessing from God. 

 

Collin gave me a Mother's Day weekend which started on Friday.  He took me to an awesome German restaurant.  They use 100% organic ingredients in their dishes.  It was authentic and delicious!  I went to Caden's school for a Mother's Day cupcake celebration.  On Saturday he and Caden surprised me with Marble Slab Ice Cream, my favorite!

 

This weekend Collin gave me a break from the kitchen.  I didn't cook at all!  They took me to breakfast yesterday and today started off going out to eat breakfast before church.  They took me to a restaurant called Yogi's.  We even made it to church a little early.  That's what happens when your child is up early and you didn't prepare for the class you're teaching the night before. 

 

After church we ate lunch at Macaroni Grill.  Then we visited my maternal grandmother.  She's living in an assisted living community.  We took her a card and Caden wanted to give her a balloon.  She is one of my favorite ladies.  She was there for us and stood strong for me and my siblings after my mom passed away.  I am truly grateful to her.  When my sister and I needed to buy clothes, she took us.  She provided so much for us.  Her deep faith in our Lord was always inspiring to me.  I loved how she loved God.

 

Then we took Caden bowling.  He has an accountability chart and once he gets 10 stars he gets to go somewhere fun.  He's been wanting to go bowling.  I used to take him a lot when we lived in Germany, it was so cheap!  This was my first time to bowl since we lived in Germany.  Our scores proved it.  Caden won, I came in second, only because I had the gutter blockers, and Collin third. =)  He didn't have the gutter guards up and he let Caden bowl for him a few times.  Usually Collin wins.

 

After bowling we went to see my paternal grandmother and wish her a happy mother's day.  She was always very kind to us growing up and would join my maternal grandmother at all of our sporting events.  She loves Caden just like my other grandmother.  She is younger and in better condition so she's able to talk with him more. 

 

We came home briefly then joined my dad and step-mother for dinner with my paternal grandmother and uncle.  It was nice seeing my step-mother.  I have always loved her and accepted her as my dad's wife.  However, she parents very differently than my mother did.  She's more of a hands-off kind of parent and an introvert who doesn't like a lot of noise or lots of people around.  She's very smart and I know she loves us even if she shows it in a different way.

 

I got a sweet card and generous gift in the mail from my mother-in-love.  Collin's mom is one of the most loving and caring people I know as well.  She has never forgotten a birthday, anniversary, holiday, or any other important date.  In fact, when we moved to Germany she even got an international calling plan so she wouldn't lose touch with us and could easily call us.  She is an inspiration to me. Her and my father-in-love have been married for 60 years.  She loves God and is faithful to Him.

 

I know I started this post with talking about how I used to not like Mother's Day.  One thing that made it extra hard was that it always falls on Sunday.  Just about every church is going to celebrate Mothers on Mother's Day, which I think is really good.  Mothers are the glue that hold our society together.  After my mom passed away, I continued going to church with my maternal grandparents.  There was no way I would miss attending service just because I missed my mom.  However, it was difficult.  This morning at church I remembered my mother and how much I missed her.  I don't think you ever stop missing someone you love.

 

I want to wish all the ladies who read this a happy mother's day!  Many of you are moms, many of you aren't.  Some may never be, some by choice, others because they are unable to conceive.  I truly think women help make the world a better place.  Since life comes from women, I think we should celebrate this day together.  If you are a single dad, playing the part of a mom, I hope you have a blessed day as well.  I also want to thank Collin again for helping me be the mom I am.  He is wonderful! Thanks for reading.

Our Garden Tower has arrived and pictures of my garden!

We have really gotten into gardening.  I have always wanted a garden and love fresh organic produce right from my backyard.  So far this year we have harvested broccoli and some strawberries.  We are growing lots of blueberries which are not quite ready yet.  However, that has not stopped Caden from picking them from time to time.  He would honestly sit there all day and eat them if we let him.  He's been very good about not picking the green tomatoes but I still have to watch him.

 

In March we ordered a Garden Tower from Kick Starter.  It finally arrived yesterday.  I'm so excited!  We can garden organically vertically.  With the garden tower we can basically grow up to 50 different plants that would take up land of about 25 sq. ft. in a 4x4 space.  Since I've only done container gardening so far this year (except for our lovely peach tree we planted), I felt that this was something I could do.

 

This weekend we hope to put it together.  I'll write some posts to share with you as we try this out.  I'm also planning on prepping some soil for a garden in the ground but have not decided where to put it yet.  The method I'm going to use is called Back to Eden. There's a great film about organic gardening on this website with some wonderful tips on how to do it. 

 

Right now we are growing: aloe vera, corn, okra, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, kale, and peaches which we should be able to eat pretty soon.  We also have blackberries, raspberries, and grapes growing but I'm doubting they will be ready this year.  They are still sticks.

 

In my tower I'm planning to grow all my greens: a variety of lettuce, kale, and spinach.  Also some beans and what ever else is in season and can grow up and out.  In the ground I hope to grow onions, peppers, garlic, carrots, and potatoes.  A friend just shared with me how to grow potatoes in reusable grocery bags, so I may try that as a learning experience for Caden.

 

Some of my garden

I did not grow up gardening so this is all new to me.  After living overseas and living around farms where local food was grow I became inspired to grow my own food as well.  Also I do not like GMOs and have found that organic foods in the U.S. are extremely expensive.  Growing food the way God intended I don't think has to be this high.  Our soil is depleted of all the minerals we need to be healthy which is why they started injected our crops with bacteria so they would survive poor soil conditions and pesticides.  I don't want to give that to my family.  I also want Caden to grow up learning how to garden.  When you know where your food comes from and you see how long it can take to grow I think we have more of an appreciation for it.  Also eating fresh organic food that is freshly harvested locally is a lot more healthy.  Might as well get as many nutrients as we can when we can. 

 

Wish me luck with my new Garden Tower!  I'm so excited!!

 

Watch my corn pop up in rows...or a pot!

 

Here are four trees we bought and have planted. 
I haven't uploaded the updated pictures yet.