Some Like It Hot

The first fruits of our garden are making their appearance. We currently have 3 tiny jalapenos on our pepper plant and multiple buds on our tomato plants, waiting to become delicious juicy tomatoes consumed by me. Did I just say that out loud? Cortney and I are beaming with pride right now. Almost every night we walk in the backyard "just to check on the garden", but I think we really do it because we are so dang proud of ourselves that things are looking so good and nothing had died yet! The best part is that we actually pretend like we know what we're doing. We have no clue. Before this gardening season, I had no idea mulch served any purpose other than aesthetics. Little did we know about the many wonderful properties of mulch!

Although we never had a garden growing up, we Slussers spent a considerable amount of time working in the yard and oh, how I hated those Saturday mornings. And I think the only reason I kept mowing the lawn all those years was because of the $5 bill I got when it was over. But now the tables have turned and Saturday mornings are my favorite part of the week. I love it when all 3 of us are out working the land. There's something so satisfying about working in the yard and seeing fresh mowed grass and bright green plants that are glistening with the water you just sprayed on them. And on top of everything else, its such great family time together. Gardening has become a huge confidence builder for Cortney and I, as odd as that sounds. We're already talking about expanding the garden next year and giving a portion of it to the boys to plant whatever they want. A few more weeks and we should actually be able to eat something!