Scribbles and Jots: Spring catch-up

Now that it's officially been summer for a few days, I guess it's high time to wind up some reflections and pictures from Spring 2010. (Please excuse the messiness of this layout. Blogger really isn't designed for photosharing.) In no particular order:

For the third year, we carried on what seems to have become a tradition: a strawberry picking excursion. Boy 1 excitedly talked about it all the way there and continued to chatter as he ran around filling the bucket. Boy 2, on the other hand, recognized one of his favorite fruits immediately and abandoned all speech in order to use his mouth for another purpose. Sheer gluttony knows no age limits.

Even when we aren't out on field trips, these brothers are busy all the time with one thing or another (or, more likely, three or four activities at once). Among the latest favorites: playing outside, coloring, and singing with the "pi-NAN-no."

I managed to get the produce garden planted at just about the perfect time this year, something I usually have great plans for but don't manage to get to until it's almost too late. Boy 1--in his own way--"helped" put in seeds for sugar snap peas, string beans, basil, cucumbers, and yellow squash. Boy 2 didn't want much to do with the seeds, preferring to spend his time trampling over the new rows and eating handfuls of soil. (Needless to say, I do most of the garden work while those two are otherwise occupied!) I also put in another ten strawberry root clusters and half a dozen each of established green pepper and tomato plants. The raspberry shrubs came back strong and healthy on their own once again.

The early timing paid off for some of the plants at least. That photo's an early one; the tomato and pepper plants are absolutely monstrous now, nearly at the top of the fence, and heavy with fruit, too. Now we just cross our fingers they make it to ripe before the birds and beetles take care of them. Even if they beat me to it, though, I'll be pretty satisfied. The past three years, the weather has been brutal and left my garden in dismal condition. Looks like this year, it has better than a fighting chance.

The flower beds were going strong this year, too. Wildflowers, honeybee and butterfly mixes, roses, and formal beds all have their place and time in this yard. Color alone is reason enough to love spring.