Garden update #1

So... Gardening is not very easy I've discovered. At least not for me. It's been less than 48 hrs and our plants look very sad, despite Dave and I giving them the attention we would give a new born baby. ("How do you think they are doing?" "No they prefer to be watered like this." "I think they've grown already!" "What's wrong with that leaf?")

We've learned a few things:

1. When planting for the first time, do some reading- books, the instructions on the fertilizer etc... We were so excited we planted our vegetables right away without doing much planning. It remains to be seen if the plants will survive.

2. Don't transplant your fragile young vegetables into a garden on the hottest day of the year, at mid day, and then leave them in the scorching sun, on the black top, to fry. (Wow, that should have been common sense.)

Thank goodness for mothers and sisters and sister-in-laws that have green thumbs. I unfortunately, was born with a grey thumb. I have often joked that I'm the hospice of gardeners- where plants go to die. But I'm working on it! I'm determined to keep my garden alive!  

3. Fertilizer often = poop. We found this organic fertilizer that we mixed in (we winged it, again, we didn't read the instructions). It looked dry and sort of pellet-y when we scooped it out of the bag, but once watered, it reconstituted itself as poop. And it stinks. And the flies have arrived. And we discovered that our drainage holes work as there is now liquid poop pooling on the floor of our garage that now smells like the sewer. What a pleasant surprise!

At the advice of others we have moved our plants to the grassy/stone area in our yard that will be much cooler than the pavement. Hope it works! Hope they are still alive in the morning!

The Berrys' Mini-Garden

Many thanks to my sweet husband for making my dreams - both big and small- come true!

Earlier this spring we were under contract to buy our first home. It had a sun porch, a pool and a garden, and I was over the moon about having our own little place to  settle in. As I'm sure many have experienced, life doesn't always go as planned. Things with Dave's flying career became uncertain and we had to back out of our home purchase. I was crushed, but I know that there is a wonderful house and stable job situation in our future if we continue to pray and be patient. 

One of my biggest disappointments was that I had already figured out what I wanted to grow in the garden and I was sad to have to put those plans on hold. Our townhouse doesn't get sun in the back yard and the front is governed by a homeowners association so I didn't think I'd be able to plant anything.

But my creative and thoughtful husband was not oblivious to my gardening dream. He surprised me with a trip to pick out some plants and he plans to build me a garden on wheels! We are going to purchase a little wagon so that during the day we can wheel the plants out front for sun and then take them to the back yard at night. 

Here is our first little garden- cherry tomatoes, peppers, basil, dill and mint! Check back in for updates :) 

Ps. It's Memorial Day Weekend, make sure to pause from your BBQs and fun plans to remember the men and women who have lost their lives defending our country, and their families who continue in without them. 🇺🇸

Update

Hey everyone!

So sorry for not writing in such a long time. This has been a roller coaster of a spring so far. Unfortunately in my stress, I stopped following through with my workout routine. I'm disappointed in myself but hoping to feel motivated again to get back into it. 

I won't get into specifics, but in the midst of our stress about the future, God has shown us that He has a more perfect and beautiful plan than we ever could have imagined for ourselves. Trusting and waiting for his timing has proven to be both incredibly difficult, and immeasurably rewarding. God is good, all the time! 

Kendall