Spending Labor Day In The Garden

Coffee anyone:-)? It is no secret that I love nature and I'm truly so inspired by it. It is also where I go to 

quiet my mind.  Whether I am pulling weeds, picking veggies, or having some coffee, there is always a sense of calm that overcomes me- it's so therapeutic.  Since putting so much work into the space, we've all been enjoying it! This is where you could find me most of the time during this Labor Day weekend. 

 I bought this yellow foldable outdoor table set a bit over a year ago and it has been left outside, but held up so beautifully!  I might buy another in a different color-maybe this mint green one...

Over the weekend, I pulled lots of weeds and fertilized the remaining vegetables. 

This year I planted chile peppers for the first time and now I have so many! I usually plant what we call scotch bonnet peppers known as habaneros, so I might've gone overboard with the selection of hot peppers! You know us Jamaicans love their spicy food:-)

some of the chile peppers waiting to be picked

I am looking forward to the cool down so I don't have to water the garden as much. I had placed mulch down in the beds before we left for vacation and that has definitely helped, but nevertheless, the cool down will be well received.  

I hope you're soaking up the last bits of this long weekend. Guess what I'll be doing today?-yep you guessed it; more gardening and plant maintenance. Happy Monday friends. xx

images: Courtney Cheatham

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Daydreaming of Greenhouses.

I've been obsessing over greenhouses for awhile now and toying with the idea of getting one. I have so much on my plate right now though so I will have to settle for drooling over these beauties in today's roundup of some amazing greenhouse inspiration. Check them out and let me know if you have a fave. 

hgtv

sfgirlbybay

tumblr

countrylife.co

apartment therapy

image 1

Artist Jean Jullien Adds Whimsy In The Garden

Seeing these whimsical statues by artist Jean Jullien in these gardens is an immediate mood booster.  How fun! I'd love to have that orange one above or really anyone of these would do! You can see more of this installation and learn more about this project HERE.

xx

via elledecor.es

Happy July 4th and Our DIY Garden Tour

You know what's therapeutic -gardening? It's been a couple weeks since my last blog post, but I needed a mental break. I've posted on IG, but even there my posts have been infrequent.  Being mindful about slowing down, unplugging and finding joy in gardening and Summer time pleasures with the kiddos have been priority. So today, I'm going to show you LOTS of pictures of the garden and talk about what we did. This is the area in the yard where the chickens used to live. Unfortunately, they were all killed my either a fox or coyote last year.  With the soil ideally fertilized by the chickens, we thought this would be a great spot for the veggie garden. Those trees pictures exist solely from propagation-we didn't plant them and they provide amazing shade.

Before Pics  and A Bit About The Process

At the beginning of April:

We had some left over wood in the shed and decided to use them to make raised beds. The hubby built the beds, then we transported them down to the area where the garden would be. 

We used soil from the earth in this spot since it was so fertile and mixed it with the store bought soil. We also used newspaper that I had in my hoarding stash in the shed from when I taught 5th grade years ago to line the raised beds. They are great as a weed barrier plus they naturally disintegrate.

And then it was time to plant all the veggies. These pics were taken around April 10th. We planted some kale, squash, lettuce, tomatoes, scotch bonnet peppers(habanero), bell peppers, mad hatter peppers, basil, oregano, corn, sage, thyme, peas, string beans, potatoes, cucumbers, parsley, and we had mint, rosemary, and chives that were from prior plantings

This was taken about a month later.  Since we enjoy coming down here to not only pick produce, but to also relax, I decided to spruce the are up a bit more by laying down some pea gravel. It was a lot of work but I love the way it turned out. The kiddos hanging out here, especially Cheyenne. She is a bush girl just like her Mama. Here are some pics taken at about the 2 month mark since we planted. 

2 months later: 

hubby built a bench addition onto the third raised bed(also pictured above) and it comes in so handy

 We hope you enjoy the long weekend! We'll be staying cool while eating our veggies :-) xx



images- first image and before  pics by me- other pics-Lea Hartman Photography