Mud City

Remember last years blog post about preparing my garden with the help of my little boys? And the hose that got turned on, and the garden bed that turned into the worlds best construction site? And the mother (named me) who let her boys dig and plunge in the beautiful muddy wonderland they’d created?

Well, this years garden started out much the same way. In fact, aside from the age lapse in my boys, and that Noah is out there helping (instead of napping like last year), you’d have a déjà vu kind of feeling.

Take a look:

Oh what fun we had preparing the garden bed once again this year! After we turned over the soil and mixed in my organic (homemade) compost, the boys and I headed to the garden store, and bought organic seeds together. We had a great time choosing what to plant. I let the boys each choose one package of seeds of their choice.

Isaiah picked pumpkins. This was the only seed pack that we got a non-organic hybrid seed—because Isaiah read on the package that they can grow up to 300lbs in size, and… well, what five year old (or what homeschooling mother of three!!) can resist something that incredible? I expect we’ll be out there measuring every day).

Joshua picked “waterlemons.” This is what he still calls watermelons, so cute, its become a family joke and even though he knows the right name, we all laugh and smile a little and call them waterlemons too.

And Noah chose bush green beans. Probably not so much because he likes green beans, though he does, but more because that was the package his oldest brother recommended. Haha, such is the life of the youngest one!

Because I’m the mom, I chose the most seeds and picked out bush peas, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, spinach, asparagus, and tomatoes. For herbs, I chose basil, parsley, chives and dill. The cilantro, rosemary and oregano from last year are still growing strong, so no need to plant them.

We got home mixed in some extra manure and peat moss, with the help of some great gardening tools (i.e. dump trucks and front end loaders) and we got our seeds planted in beautiful rows.

And a little water, a little sun, and waaaa lahhhh!!

Actually this picture is from a month ago (yes, I’m that behind on life again!!) and my plants are twice as many and twice as big now. The South is such a perfect place to garden, its amazing how life thrives in this climate. This years garden is just as big and luscious as last years.

Won’t it be fun to show the pictures of next years garden? Not just the mud and dump trucks and the thriving garden, but with FOUR (!!!!!!!!!!!) little boys digging and preparing the soil for me?

Yes! I’m a proud mama to be of four little boys. We had an ultrasound this past week and there was NO doubt about this little ones gender. Haha! We are SO excited, words can’t express. I have found myself feeling very overwhelmed this week… not in a bad or oppressive way, but in an awed and inspired kind of way… to think that God should shine this blessing upon our family and give us the privilege of raising another son in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Wow.

Four boys with an exclamation point is right. An amazing incredible gift that we can’t stop smiling about.

It’ll be so hard to wait.