2 Kids, a Mini Van and a Mortgage

This was our 5th year to plant a garden. We started in Memphis with just a few tomato plants and some sad little strawberries. Once we moved to our current home, we really started expanding our gardening skills. This year our garden was bigger than ever and produced such wonderful harvest. It's amazing that God gave us the ability to take a piece of land that looks like thisAnd turn it into this

We planted so many things this year. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, corn, potatoes (plain and sweet), greenbeans, purple hull peas, zucchini, squash, butternut squash, tomatoes, all kinds of peppers, onions and asparagus. We have put away produce and fresh tomato sauce and juice to last us a while. Probably enough to get us through spring, when we will start pining for the ground to warm up so that we can plant again. It's a fun little hobby that yields some great rewards.

The best part about it is working as a family to accomplish a single goal. We all play an integral part in the gardening process. I usually get things kicked off. I'm the one who gets all excited about a month before and I am all on board....... for the first month or two. Erik does the majority of the tilling and planting. The girls help us plant the seeds and pick out the plants. They dig for ginormous worms in the freshly tilled dirt. Erik and I work together to put away the first months worth of harvest. Canning, pickeling, drying..whatever the case may be. And then, poor Erik comes in to finish out the remainder of the gardening when I am over it and have moved on to other things. Usually by Aug.1 I am offically done with the garden.

It's our garden, our family affair and we love it!