Garden Projects

Picked up a Truckload of Mulch to finish off the garden beds. I'll get a pic put up tomorrow. Was just amazed at how large this loader bucket was!!!

Digging potatoes with Cayle

Cayle was helping with the digging. I would find the potatoes and then he would pick them up and put them in the bucket! He loved playing in the dirt.
He face planted and landed in the dirt. Shortly after this it was time for a face cleaning and a nap! He thoroughly enjoyed his time playing in the garden, and we were able to get a full bucket of potatoes in the process. The biggest of which was about double the size of the biggest russet potato I've ever seen. They were HUGE!!!

More Veggies!

Got our first yellow squash... we ate it already, and it was fantastic! First batch of Jalapenos, with more ready to be picked, some serrano, or other sort of pepper, (can't remember exactly what I planted...) but they are VERY HOT!!! and got our first 2 tomatoes.


Also decided to pull some potatoes, just to see if there was really anything growing under there or not...

It was hard work digging the potatoes out, but this is what I got from the smallest plant in the garden!!!
Below you can see the biggest one and the smallest one. Fresh Yukon Gold potatoes!
8 nice potatoes from the one plant. Still have 5 other plants to dig up at some point, so guess we will have lots of fresh potatoes!

Garden Update

Here we are in the final part of the summer, and the garden is producing like crazy! Hopefully things finish growing before it gets too cold. It's already gettting into the high 40's at night. The chillier weather is coming, and the veggies are sucking up the final days of warm sunshine.
Green peppers are growing bigger everyday. I think there is 3 or 4 of them. They grow noticeably daily.
We have been harvesting Basil all summer. Natalie has been using it to make some amazing pesto with lots of garlic. It's delicious!
Shortly after we planted the tomatoes, we didn't think they were going to make. They were really struggling and turning brown. Now look at them, they are growing like crazy! Just waiting for some fruit to ripen. They each have 3-4 tomatoes growing on them.

The Broccoli has some kind of bug eating the leaves, but I can't find anything. That being said, it's still growing out of control! There is a small head forming in the middle of the plant.
In the last month, the peppers have just taken off! The Jalapenos (above) should be ready to harvest soon, just waiting for some "stretch" marks on the shoulders. The Serranos below will be ready as soon as they start to turn red/brown. There are about 6-7 jalapenos growing, 6-7 serranos, and then the couple of green peppers on the plant above. Looking forward to having some peppers and tomatoes to make some salsa!

15 mo. appointment

Cayle had his 15 month check up at the Doctor yesterday. He is getting big! 22lbs 4oz, 32 in long, and 18.5 inch head circumference. That puts him in the 25th% tile for weight, 75th%tile for length, and 50th%tile for head circumference. Doc also said he was doing very well, and is a healthy and happy little boy!

Today before his nap and before we headed to library for reading time (at which there were 12 kids 2 years or younger.... CHAOS!!!) he was out exploring the yard. He has been doing this a lot lately. In the mornings, I go out and check the garden and see how things are doing. I guess he has been watching. Today while I was cleaning the kitchen, I left the back door open so he could go outside and play. I was watching him out the window. He was walking around the yard, the garden, checking out the bird feeder, and generally just seemed to be enjoying himself. He does a great job entertaining himself!
Walking laps around the garden, barefoot of course! Checking out the veggies.
Making sure the sprinkler is set up properly.
This one I caught him just staring at the bird feeder. One of his favorite things to do every morning is watch the birds feeding from his bedroom. I guess he's probably wondering where all the birds are???
Watching me take a picture of him. He is so awesome!

Since it was Tuesday, we headed to the library after his morning nap. Upon arriving, there were several moms already there (I am the only dad with his kid). The conversation was going something like this, "My kid loves watching Barney, I can't even get her to watch anything else right now." To which 2-3 other moms chipped in with what their kids favorite tv shows were. I chose to stay out of the conversation. Cayle doesn't even watch T.V. other than sportscenter with mommy and daddy. The tv is on a lot, but he pays it no attention, he would rather be playing with toys, or playing outside. Do most kids have a favorite tv show at the age of 2 or less???

It was really cute, about halfway through the reading time he decided to leave my legs, he always stands between my legs while I sit, and stride up to the lady who was reading. He then stood just in front of her... about 2 feet away, and just watched the book while she read. He was pointing at things as she read. It was pretty cool!

After reading time is over, the kids all get to play with mini beach balls for a few minutes, and interact with each other. Cayle loves this time, and loves playing with the other kids. Today another kid that is always there, he's about 18 months, came up and pounded a ball on Cayle's head! The kid got in trouble from his mom, but the interesting thing was, Cayle just kind of looked at him with confusion in his eyes, wondering why he would do something like that. Cayle then walked to me and just kept looking at the kid that did it. I didn't really know what to tell him?

We are Gardeners....

I pulled a radish today, just to see if anything was growing on it... It was a mini version of what you see in the picture. It tasted fantastic! I just had a little bitty bite. Natalie tasted it, as did Jeff and Jess... I guess we may be growing a few things after all!! So exciting!

Dad left on Saturday morning, but we definitely had a good visit with him. We did lots of awesome mountain biking, Cayle got lots of tricycle rides, long boarding, relaxing, and some eating of course. Cayle loved spending time with grandpa!

Almost...

Just finished our last FULL week of school!!! Yahoo!!! We finish this coming Thursday with a half day, then the staff party on Thursday afternoon. Monday this week is rafting, Tuesday - Worlds Fair, Wednesday - Field day, Thursday - finish things up and DONE! This week will fly by for sure!
Today we purchased the rest of our garden veggies. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, and a few strawberries for a big pot that we have. Loving the gardening experience so far. We have a few things starting to pop up, radishes will be done soon, and hopefully lettuce will take off as well, so we can have some fresh salads.

Tomorrow we are planning on biking up Vail Pass with Cayle... should be fun!

Love this Concept

Eagle Community Gardens

Especially nice for those that don't have their own land to garden on. It doesn't take up a lot of space in the community, but I think it's pretty dang cool! Not sure what the fee is to have space in the garden. Rained here ALL day! Good for my garden and my freshly planted grass!

Mothers Day

It was such an awesome day yesterday for Mothers Day. I took Natalie and Cayle to Paradigms for mothers day brunch! It was fantastic. I had Cinnamon French Toast with Blueberry Cream Cheese (I don't even like French Toast) and it was fantastic! Natalie had an omelet with Feta, Spinach, and Tomotoes, with a Bellini to drink. We tried to drink the place dry of coffee I think. We were able to sit outside in the sun and just hang out and relax. It was super nice! Cayle seemed to enjoy his fried potatoes, and he offered me some of his eggs and bacon... :) Each breakfast came with a little serving of granola and yogurt. It was so much fun hanging with my beautiful wife and son in our gorgeous little mountain town.
After brunch we went to Lowe's and picked up some garden seed and spent the afternoon planting our first garden ever! Can't wait to learn new gardening skills!

Gardening has begun!

We got seeds into the ground! Early season veggies including lettuce, spinach, red, yellow, and green onions, radishes, peas, and carrots! Within 2 weeks we should see signs of them growing or not... hopefully they grow! :) Natalie and I planted in the 75 degree afternoon sunshine during mothers day while Cayle was napping. It was beautiful outside!

Dirt =

Done! First step of the garden was building the boxes. 2nd was filling them with dirt/manure mixture. The first 2 steps are now complete! Thanks Justin for helping move dirt all morning! Thanks to John for use of his truck for hauling. Thanks to GH Daniels for the dirt! They have fantastic service! Highly recommended!