Spring has sprung and I’ve been doing a little work around my patio. We love sitting outside when the sun is setting (did I mention I love these longer days?!?!) and enjoying the cool breeze of spring. Judah loves to run around in the grass and play ball and blow bubbles and I love being outside with him!
About 3 years ago we bought a set of Better Homes and Gardens patio furniture and a fire pit from Walmart. Each year as winter sets in I haul the cushions indoors so they’ll be good another year. And, for another year, my patio furniture still looks great! If you don’t have patio furniture they have some really great pieces again this year. We’re building Judah a sandbox in a few weeks and I have a feeling we’ll be spending even more time outside. So, this year I’m thinking of adding a umbrella so I can sip sweet tea in the shade while he digs his little heart out! Walmart has some pretty colorful umbrellas for about $60 I think.
See those planters in the picture? I’ve had them for the past three years too and this year I have different plans for them. In the past years I’ve planted ornamental plants and flowers – and they looked great! But, this year, I want to use them to plant edible plants for the first part of the season!
Since Judah and I are the only ones in the home that eat salad, planting a salad garden is a perfect solution for my container garden. First, I located some seeds for my garden, including some organic varieties at my local Walmart. I planted romaine lettuce, swiss chard, 2 varieties of carrots, and one plant just for beauty – petunias. My container already had some mint growing in it, and I left some of it – I love to add it to iced sweet tea in the summer.
First, we cleaned out the containers from any weeds that had been growing in it over the winter/fall and removed some of the mint that had taken over. Then, we planted the seeds for my new container garden. It only took a few days to see the sprouts coming up out of the dirt!
Now, with a little care and water I’ll have a few veggies to make a salad with!
What I love about my container garden is that it is easy to take care of. I am not really a green thumb – I didn’t inherit that trait from my mom apparently. But, I do have the desire to learn, so I figure this is a small step in that direction. This year I’m taking on the small container gardens and we also planted some blueberry bushes in our front yard earlier this year. We’re putting our focus on edible plants this year. If I’m going to put time into growing them, they might as well give something back! =)
Judah loves blueberries and buying organic ones can get really expensive, so hopefully we’ll save money over the years by growing our own. Plus, I know they are “organic” since I won’t be using any chemical fertilizer or pesticides on them. If this goes well, I just might expand my little garden next year. =)
What are you doing to get ready for spring/summer this year?
I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for my time on this post. Participation in this program is voluntary. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.
