This years garden

Well...I started this blog to help me keep up with my garden.  The good news is I've been doing a much better job of the garden (although I'm still behind).  The bad news is now I am not keeping up with this blog :)  Anyway, in lieu of actually spending time writing something interesting here is a photo/point form list of what I've been up to in the garden:

Plant Fruit: One of the big motivators for me to garden was sharing it with my kids, especially my son who seems to have really taken to it.  They both enjoy helping me in the garden and their favorite activity is picking and eating fruit.  Until recently all we had was a grape (which the raccoon ate), raspberries and strawberries.  These all got a lot of attention, but I figured we needed to diversify.  So this summer (and some of last), I spent my family savings trying to squeeze more fruit into our sun deprived yard.  We've now added currants, haskaps, hardy kiwi, blackberries, gooseberries, a dwarf cherry bush, and a peach tree we are hoping to fan out against the deck railing.  Of course few of these have actually provided us with any fruit and my husband is skeptical that the money was well spent.  Probably they will start producing well just when we are ready to move out!

Peach tree in the back yard.  Next spring I will prune it so it is a fan shape against the deck.

Backyard garden

Add a play set:  I want to dedicate a post to this, so I will mention it only briefly here.  We've been trying to build a proper play set for our kids out of scrap wood.  Until I get around to writing something substantial on the issue this "half-way there" picture will need to do.  Eventually the play set will include a large swing, trapeze and baby swing as well as "rock climbing" around the tree trunk and nets for hanging out in the tree branches.  Max also wants monkey bars to the sandbox, a water wall and a mud kitchen.  One day!

Finish demolishing the front lawn:  This year we finished getting rid of the front lawn (except one small patch that requires more soil).  It looks absolutely awesome and has given us tons of space to grow more veggies. What use to be wasted space that no one used, now provides us with a spot for 4 different fruit bushes, rhubarb plants, an asparagus bed, many herbs (basil, oregano, bergamot, sage, thyme, lemon balm, garlic) and veggies (carrots, tomatoes, zuchinni, swiss chard, spinach, beets, peppers, peas and cauliflower!).   I'm not sure the all the neighbours care for it, but we love it.

Front yard - Before

Front Yard - After 1

Front yard - After 2

Solar dryer- Alas...this project was actually started last year.  With any luck I will finish it in time to actually dry something in it.  I will post picture of this soon.