Yard Work: Before and After

 I love yard work. I really do. I think it is so fulfilling to work and work and then see the final result. After we've worked a bunch in the yard I like to just sit in front of our big window and just admire our work. It's kinda like staring at Quinn after he gets a hair cut. It just looks so trimmed up and nice.

It's frustrating working in a rental yard.  There are certain things we would love to change or fix that the owners don't want to fix.  Bushes could be pulled, landscaping borders could be updated, new weed fabric could be put down and so many other things.  We are probably luckier than most though, since they let us fence the back yard and dig up some of the back yard for a garden.

This corner of our yard has always been such a headache for us. It's big and it's such an eye sore. There is plastic laid down to keep the weeds out but it is really old and it has been so torn up that it doesn't work anymore. The weeds are so hard to pull because it's more like grass than weeds. This year we had had enough. We bought some inexpensive weed control fabric from Home Depot, laid it down, and then Quinn found free bark dust on craigslist. So we borrowed some friends truck and got a whole bed full and VOILA!  We have great before and after pictures to share. I love looking at them.

We both like gardening but it is a challenge with so many little kids. Our problem is we finally get around to buying the seeds and plants and then it takes us a week or more to find the time and get the garden ready. So on May 16th we got our plants and seeds. After we got home and ate dinner I said to Quinn, "Lets just do this tonight so it's over with". The twins were asleep, McKay and Gensie got to watch Paddington for the second time before we returned it, and Avonlea helped Mom and Dad. In two hours Quinn and I had the garden going from this to this. We make a good team. I even had to stop to nurse.

We planted tomatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, and carrots.