Home Gardening- Take 2

 Earlier his week we took a trip to "the house store" as my children call it. My husband is encouraging a healthy love for our local home improvement store in them. As soon as we walk in Thing 1 always wants to look at the lighting aisle. (It's easy to imagine a little bit of magic there.) Thing 2 likes to look at the sinks and toilets. (We're pretty focused on potty training right now, not to mention he would spend all day playing in the sink if I let him.) And I have to admit that I like the place too. While we were there we picked up a $6 part to decrease water waste in our home, a new water filter for our fridge and some supplies for this year's garden. We also looked at the makings of some new home office furniture, but that is a project that will have to wait for a later date.

Thing 1 planting strawberries with her dad.

 Last year we spent $50 on plants and supplies and got 2 pathetic strawberries out of it. Pretty much a failure. I don't even want to add up how much we have spent this year. (It's more than $50.) But we've done a little more research and hopefully this time we can at least break even for the annuals. We've planned, loosened the dirt, removed a few random buried chunks of concrete and fertilized. Here's hoping. So far we have planted one red pepper, one heat-resistant tomato, one Anaheim pepper (two words: chile relleno), one sugar baby watermelon, one pomegranate tree, two raspberries (if they take we'll plant more) and 39 red onions. If I feel like we can stay on top of this maybe I'll plant an herb garden too.
 Now I'm sure that if I took the money that I have spent on plants and accessories, I could buy a lot more food storage than this garden could possibly produce. I can't kill food storage, or at least not as easily, and it is not nearly as demanding. However, we are planting a garden  because I feel there are important lessons that can be learned from it. We are teaching our children patience, the value of hard work and how to work together. Or at least that's the plan. So far they have been excited to be involved in the process and loved digging in the dirt, if we can just maintain their interest.... Of course there is also something very wonderful about fresh produce from the garden.