Before we get started on our WLW.. we wanted to remind everyone that you have THREE days left to enter into the GIVEAWAY for the wreath that was made by Little Sis! Go ahead.. you know you want to... GO ENTER!!
Welcome to WLW #16. Today I, Big Sis, wanted to show off what we have been working so hard on in our back yard... Our first ever garden! We love it. I have to say my favorite thing is being able to walk to my garden and pick a fresh vegetable out to use for dinner.. I really can't wait until it starts producing more... but we are loving it. What a great way to live a healthier lifestyle as well.. by growing your own food. I know a lot of people garden, so we would love to hear about your tips and things you have in your garden. I am going to let my pictures share with you what is going on in our backyard.
Back in May we took out all of the shrubs that went around our fence. I am not sure what it is about "city" life.. but all of the backyards are lined with plants, trees, shrubs along the fence. Being from the country, this was new to me... as is the whole fenced in back yard.. haha! But we decided to remove them and put in planters. I am SO thankful we did that. Pulling those boogers out was a lot of work that I took on myself while my husband was gone to Japan for a week.. but I was so proud of my work. It is amazing how it really expanded our back yard. After the husband got home, he built two more raised beds and we put them in.. Below you can see what has been going on since the end of May.. Just over a month! Things grow SO much faster than I ever imagined.
This box is filled with zucchini and squash.. which is what you see. We also had a few strawberry plants as well, but only one has survived. I LOVE zucchini and squash ... what you can do with them is endless. We throw them in all kinds of sauces and you never even know they are there. We also love to sauté them with onions and WAM! it is yummy. Even the youngster loves that. Pretty much if you tell our two year old it is from the garden (or it is bacon) he will eat it! :) In this planter we also have cantaloupe in the back.. it is growing really well too! On the right hand side we have our basil and parsley. I LOVE being able to pull fresh herbs out and use them. I plan to put some more out next year... to have more of a variety!
This planter box has shocked us the most. Everyday when we look out there it seems the corn is growing more and more.. especially that tallest one in the back. There are no signs of corn yet, but those stalks are beautiful.. don't you think? We may be learning really soon that we put them too close together. We shall see! This is the box I see directly from my back door and I love it. I love how everything is growing so well and looks so awesome!
Above is our watermelon. I really hope these produce.. they look great. The husband bought a VeggieTales watermelon kit to do with the kid... and these started out planted in the ground. I was worried that moving them over we would have killed them... but they are really growing quite well. Have you grown watermelon? Tips?
This is our okra. I have been told that Okra gets tall... I did not know this, nor did I research it. So this might be another thing that will be a good lesson learned this year. I love okra but the bad part is.. I LOVE IT FRIED! We have eaten it boiled, etc... but it just isn't as good. I am going to have to STAY AWAY from that fried okra.. A good way to turn a healthy food into.. not healthy.
Look at this beautiful corn.. doesn't it just make you smile? This makes us so happy over here at our house... It is just SO pretty. That is about all I can say about it.. because besides continuing to grow- that is what it is doing right now.. being pretty! Little man is going to be STOKED once we start getting corn from it..
Well HELLO carrots. My little man got his gardening gloves on the other day and said he needed to work on his plants. No, he really did. "Mommy.. work on plants?" I said, "ok" and I continued to enjoy a few minutes sitting in the backyard talking with my husband.. Little man was right next to us pretty much, but we weren't really watching him.. until he carefully with only two fingers, covered by his sweet gloves, brought us a small carrot.. It was so sweet. He worked on his garden. We explained that those are baby carrots and they aren't ready to come out until they are big carrots. He seemed to understand. But all you could do was smile. I love how my sweet boy is so intrigued but the garden. He and Daddy shared a bite each of the baby carrot.. since that is all that was there! :)
Bell Peppers and Jalepenos.. We love you. These are beautiful plants too.. The bell peppers are growing as are the jalepenos. We have been able to use a few of the jalepenos and man they are quite tasty and HOT! It is so fun to walk out there and see them growing every few days.. I should have taken a picture of the actual peppers for you.. next time.
This was our first planter box.. It has tomatoes and squash in it. It use to have the peppers, strawberries, and red chard.. We moved the pappers and strawberries, which you saw above. The Red Chard was good. We harvested and ate quite a bit of it.. and just recently took it out. It wasn't our favorite thing to have.. especially since we had WAY TOO MUCH!
Pumpkins! The husband put them in the ground since we had no more room in our raised garden.. Looking great so far.
HELLO TOMATO! I LOVE IT
Now this zucchini.. is so pretty. It is probably ready.. we have been pulling them a lot smaller.. but I wanted to let it grow a little bit longer! I just love them. I hope you have enjoyed the virtual tour of our garden! :)
My husband installed a water system in our boxes that is AMAZING! I will be doing another post soon about that... he did such an awesome job and I NEVER even have to water the plants... I didn't mind it, I enjoyed it... but my brain would forget about it sometimes! So look forward to that post soon!
Also, don't forget we now have a Fitness--Motivation Pinterest Boardwhere we pin a lot of inspiring fitness and health pins, so be sure to stop by and check it out!
Here's our stats for this week:
WLW Stats for BIG SIS:(Cassey)
Starting Weight: 210
Wed. 3/21: -13lbs total
Wed. 4/3: -16lbs total
Wed. 4/10: -22lbs total
Wed. 4/17: -25lbs total
Wed. 4/25: -29lbs total
Wed. 5/2: -32lbs total
Wed. 5/9: -34lbs total
Wed.5/16: -34lbs total
Wed. 5/23: -37lbs total
Wed. 5/30: -36lbs total
Wed. 6/6/12: -42lbs total (168)
Wed. 6/13/12: -39lbs total
Wed. 6/20/12: -42lbs total
Wed. 6/27/12: -42lbs total
Wed. 7/4/12: DUNNO! I have put my scale away for a week!
WLW Stats for LITTLE SIS: (Brittany)
Starting Weight: 170
Wed.3/28: -3lbs total
Wed. 4/10: -6.5lbs total
Wed. 4/17: -7.5lbs total
Wed. 4/25: -7.5lbs total
Wed. 5/2: -8.5lbs total
Wed. 5/9: -10.5lbs total
Wed.5/16: -10.5lbs total
Wed. 5/23: -10.5lbs total
Wed. 5/30: -12lbs total
Wed. 6/6: on vacation!
Wed. 6/13/12:-10lbs total
Wed. 6/20/12: -10lbs total
Wed. 6/27/12: MISSION TRIP
Wed. 7/4/12: -10lbs total
MEASUREMENTS: (I will start doing this every few weeks)
Waist: 31.6inches
Hips: 38.3inches
Thighs: 23inches
Wed. 7/4/12: -10lbs total
MEASUREMENTS: (I will start doing this every few weeks)
Waist: 31.6inches
Hips: 38.3inches
Thighs: 23inches
Our Linky Party has a GIVEAWAY this week!!!
Don't forget to stop by our Naturally-Nifty Party #21 and link up this week!
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