Front Yard Homestead

The Indispensable Guide To Food

Self-Sufficiency

The Backyard Homestead

Will teach you how to:

-prune a fruit tree-dry herbs-bake whole grain bread-

tap a maple tree-make fresh mozzarella-

brew beer-milk a goat-

plant a garden.

Following the sun...

my garden is located in the front yard...

where it can greet all who enter.

That fact alone encourages me to keep-up with the weeding.

Last year, however, I noticed my plants

weren't as happy as they had been in the past.

I took the winter to study up.

My Solution:

Raised Beds.

Proponents claim you will grow more with less work.

(I'm all for that!)

Easier gardening with healthier crops.

(Sign me on!)

Some women ask for jewelry or clothing...

all I wanted for Mother's Day

were raised beds. Motivated by the work at our church's Community Garden this weekend,

we got the plan on paper and headed to

Home Depot.

Creating a horseshoe-shaped garden

to protect the perennial herbs that were already established. Enlarging it just a tad to reduce the amount of cuts.

Then the fun part...

Taking pictures of my husband at work...

screwing

(no pun intended!!)

Nailing.

I'm proud to say, I "manned-up" and used the nailer.

That's scary stuff...

Seriously, I can't be alone on this one...

that gun shot sound is a bit unnerving.

I did help out between pics...

really I did...

but here's Rudy putting on the finishing touches. Part Two: The Dirt. Man, I love that little red pick-up! It always gets the job done. Johnny on the spot! Josh and James are waving Dad in for the landing. The whole gang (and Aaron...who stopped to ride the ramps with the boys...thanks again!) pitched-in to unload...4 times! I was feeling the love! Like that wasn't enough... Sunday morning I woke-up and found another helper in my garden... A Garden Gnome... awaiting to assist in the watering. Wow! What a GREAT family! I will say "thank you" with fresh veggie dinners all summer long. I hope your Mother's Day was as fruitful (pun intended!) as mine.