All that to say, I figured I would start small and share the joy of today. The weather here in San Clemente was a beautiful 80 degrees! It was like a sweet gift from the Lord. This year especially, I have been so thankful that God created seasons and has allowed us to enjoy them. And for some reason, this spring has brought so much joy and refreshment to me. So, I decided this would be the spring I would finally plant a garden!
I have wanted to plant a garden for the last several years and I never think about it until we are right in the middle of summer which of course, is not the ideal time to plant a garden. Travis even bought me a really cute "just because" gift last summer that was a box of cute little stakes with the different names of herbs on them to help mark your plants. However, I still didn't get around to planting a garden and I must admit, most everything I plant dies... even succulent plants have died under my watch and care (or the lack there of my watch and care).
Anyway, Hudson is at an age where I think this will be a great activity for us. Plus, thankfully my son loves vegetables... raw vegetables... any kind of vegetable... and I think it will be fun for him to get to pick the vegetable and eat it from our yard. With warm weather on the horizon, we headed out to make our purchases. Then after Hudson's nap, we had a wonderful afternoon planting our very first garden. We planted strawberries, zucchini, green bell peppers, jalapenos, red bell peppers, early girl tomatoes, yellow tomoatoes, cilantro, basil, green onions, green beans, heirloom tomatoes, yellow squash and watermelon. I am hoping we can keep these plants alive long enough to actually get to eat the fruit of our labor.
I took this with my phone on our way out to the store to buy everything we would need... maybe he is a little nervous knowing that I don't have much of a green thumb :)
As I lined up all the plants, Hudson watered each and every plant... his love for water help accommodate for a fun task:
Then we got our supplies out and we were off... Hudson took a quick break to watch the kid across the street on his skateboard:
We did lots of digging:
And of course, we had to add extra soil. Hudson loved this part... he would grab a few hand fulls and then put it on whatever plant he deemed appropriate:
He even added soil to the plants that weren't even planted yet:
Once we finished planting our garden, we headed to the backyard to rinse off. And well, Hudson learned a new skill... a skill I know I will regret teaching him. He now knows how to get the water from the hose to spray. He spent the next hour or so, trying to spray me or Gunner which inevitably got him completely soaked:
He was quite pleased with this new skill :)
Thank you Lord for reminding us through Your creation of our need for You. You are the only reason there can ever be fruit in our lives. Thank you for your grace and love that abounds in our lives. Let this garden be our garden to remind us of You throughout these next few months.
