Trailer for sale or rent.

This fun birdhouse has been hanging around our garden for a few years now. It was a birthday gift, and is one of my favorite things in our garden.

Creating a garden is about so much more than just growing flowers or food. It's about creating a space to relax, smile, have fun, and enjoy the beauty around you.

Do you have a favorite thing in your garden? What is it?

More garden magic!

When you are down on your hands and knees, getting intimately close with the dirt and bugs, you can't help but notice the littlest of things. For example, water droplets. Water droplets close up thanks to my iPhone and Olloclip macro lens!

Click to see any of the images larger.

You know, I have always said "it's the little things", and truly it is.

Currently Blooming

Spring is the best season in our garden, here are just a few of the things that are currently blooming.  What is blooming in your garden?

In the garden

Gardeners are some of the best people on the planet. Not only are they very nice and helpful, but I think that they are unique in that they notice things other people overlook. When I am out in my garden I often see things that no one else would see. Little things, the kinds of things one only notices because of the proximity of being so close to the dirt.

One of my favorite hobbies is photography, and ever since the iPhone came into my life I have been in love with a neat little attachment called the OlloClip. It helps me capture those little things, and it does an amazing job of it too! Here are some recent favorites in the garden:

From top to bottom: details of an amaryllis leaf, ice, inside of a lily, and a sap droplet.

Do you garden? What little things have you noticed in your garden that you think other people probably overlook?

Photo Wednesday: Spring!

The snow has almost completely melted, the forecast is saying it will be 70F this weekend, and the trees all have buds on them. Spring has sprung!

Welcome September

The days are getting shorter, the weather cooler, and fall veggies will soon be planted in the garden. It's hard to imagine that fall is just around the corner, on September 23rd to be exact. Here at the nest summer has just barely arrived, and already we have to start letting go of it. Perhaps we will have a warmer than usual fall and winter this year to make up for the cooler, rainy summer we had.

Even with the change of seasons my thoughts still turn towards the garden (after all, it is still in the 90s out there)! I found this amazing fairy garden, and have been thinking about making something like it ever since. What is it about miniatures that are so fascinating and lovely?

Source: theburghbaby.com via HeidiAphrodite on Pinterest

Inspiration from Pinterest

Are you on Pinterest yet? Oh it is a fun and addicting way to keep track of all the things you love. Not to mention a great way to find new things to love too! Here are a few of my current favorites from Pinterest.

Source: houzz.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Source: makinglemonadeblog.blogspot.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Source: aimeeroo.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Source: kblog.lunchboxbunch.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Homebody

While I often daydream of traveling to many far away places, I am at my core, a homebody. There is nothing quiet as lovely as being at home. And not just at home, as in being in our house and garden, but there are some truly wonderful things right outside my doorstep! Who needs to travel very far when there are unique and wonderful things to do in your own hometown?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about home, not just the physical dwelling, but the outer area where the home is. Community, natural wonders, small businesses and those things that can only be found where you live.

In my home state we have some very unique features, including a land locked Great Salt Lake, which as it's name suggests is a salt water lake and a nice sized fresh water lake as well. My home state is full of natural wonders. For example, even though I adore visiting zoos and aquariums to see things we don't have here, we even have a fish, the June Sucker, that is found no where else in the world but Utah Lake! It's endangered right now, but people are working to help remedy that.

In our garden planning for spring, I want to learn more about native plants and their uses, and grow more of them. Or rather, let them grow naturally without my interference, as I can already see some that do VERY well (usually known by the name of "weed").

What is unique to your hometown? Are you a homebody, or are you more of a wanderer?

Relax, it's the weekend.

We have a long weekend due to a state holiday. There are projects here at the nest that we could work on, but we are going to take the time to relax and enjoy the time off. It's far too hot to do anything else anyway! Look at this gorgeous outdoor space, oh how I wish our back yard looked this lovely. Can't you just imagine fun patio parties and long summer nights on a porch like this? Dreamy!

Source: elmueble.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Garden project!

Using what we already own, and buying very few things, I hope to turn our backyard into a nice space to spend our summer evenings. In my dream plan this would include installing a proper fence (proper meaning wood or vinyl, not the short chain link fencing we have now).

This is especially on my mind recently after a particular neighbor took it upon themselves to reach through our fence and kill off some grass we had growing in a empty space between our concrete pad and our fence. Not exactly the nicest thing to do, right? I think they thought they were being helpful, but honestly, I was shocked.

However, a proper fence is not in our budget, so at the very least, I want to get some of this bamboo fencing for that particular corner of the yard. It will keep nosy neighbors out, and hopefully block headlights from the other yard as well.

The concrete pad is my main concentration of effort this year. For awhile now it has been a bit of an eyesore, with a mishmash of items plopped on it as both a storage space and a makeshift patio. I intend to change that this year. At the very least, it should be tidy. At most I would love for it to function as useable space, even if it is in a very odd place in the yard.

Project "clean up the corner" is underway! What home projects are you working on?

Late Start

Due to the extra wet and cold winter, everything is running behind in our garden this year. The flowers that are normally out already are just getting started. I'm not sure what this will mean for the food we planned to grow this year, but we are hoping for the best. Here are some of the flowers that are blooming right now:

What is growing in your garden?

Weed garden!

With rain, rain, and more rain, the weeds have all but taken over our garden. The other flowers and plants have loved all the rain too of course, but my how the weeds have grown! Maybe this year we will just grow a weed garden! It's not all bad though, did you know that a lot of common weeds are edible? I'm almost tempted to keep some of them around!

With such a wide variety of free food in my yard, why should I bother weeding at all? Oh yes, because it looks much nicer. Also, in our yard, the "weed" that has taken over the majority of our flower beds is grass. Time to buy a goat!

 I wonder if these little guys are edible. They are all over the place in our lawn. What is the weather like in your part of the world? Have you been able to get out and start gardening?

Of weeds and rain.

We have been having non-stop rain for the past week. Yesterday we had a brief moment of sunshine, which of course sent us out into the garden to tackle the weeds. Weeds love rain. Here is a "before and after" photo:

Even with the ground being nice and wet, the weeds put up a mighty good fight. Oh, and check out all the other flowerbeds that are being over taken by weeds in the background. Yes friends, there is a lot to be done. The bad news is there is nothing but rain in the forecast once again. At least until Wednesday.

Growing food.

Growing our own food is something we enjoy doing a lot. You don't need a lot of space, or even a dedicated garden area to enjoy growing your own food.

For the past few years we have used containers, especially our EarthBox containers! We have had a lot of success with growing peppers, and even strawberries, in the Earthbox.



Another thing that we do is utilize the area in our flower beds. We grow pumpkins in our flower beds, not only because of the great sunlight they get in that part of our yard, but also because the pumpkin leaves are quiet gorgeous as a backdrop to flowers. Here is an example of one of our pumpkin plants mixed in with the flower bed:



We have also mixed peppers and flowers in pots, and grown luffa gourds up our old satellite dish.



Creativity, and a willingness to use spaces that aren't traditionally known as "garden spots", is a fun and effective way to get started with growing food. I am already making my plans for this coming season. On the wish list; peppers (hot), strawberries, broccoli, zucchini, pumpkin, beans, and more!

Do you grow food in your garden? What are some of your favorite things to grow?

DIY

Do you enjoy DIY projects? Around our house we absolutely love them. Besides being fun to do, one of the reasons we love to DIY is to save money. So many of the things that we have changed about our home we wouldn't have been able to change if we had hired someone else to do the work.

With spring arriving (even though it's still snowing today), my mind has been filled with DIY projects that I want to do in the garden. Number one on my list is to build some raised garden beds for square foot gardening. Second on my list is to create an outdoor "living room" of sorts in the back corner of the yard.



This corner now has a poured concrete pad, but as you can see, it's the perfect spot for an outdoor living room! Plus, like I said, we sure love a good DIY project!

A fresh start.

Much like spring, sometimes losing can actually be winning. A chance to start fresh, try new things, and move forward. After all, life is all about NOW. There is no other moment except for NOW!

I am so excited about spring. It's trying it's best to show up here in the mountains, and while we do have snow in the forecast, I have crocus blooming all over my yard.



Seed and garden catalogs have been arriving almost daily. There are many things that I want to buy, including "red, white, and blue" potatoes, and a type of corn that claims to be great for growing in small spaces. Oh the possibilities!

What is the weather like where you are?