planting seeds

Sometimes lasting memories just happen out of everyday life. Like the time that I raced my sister down a nearly vertical ski-slope, went the stupid way down, and ended up laid out center-slope underneath the "X'ed" skis signaling to everyone the injuries to my head and my ego. Then my mom says, "Quick! take some pictures! She'll be glad later when this is funny!" Then she gets a little worried when I can't move, they wrap me up in a yellow-burrito and ski me down to the infirmary. Then another friend in our party falls off of a ski-lift as the family is trying to get to the infirmary on skis, and she and I ride the ambulance together. In the ER, my uncle meets us there, his daughter becomes ill suddenly, and my family takes up 3 adjacent rooms in the ER. We still laugh about that story... I don't think any of us will forget it.


Sometimes memories for me come out of specific planning, and it has almost become a personal hobby to think up different ways to put my family in these scenarios. Last weekend, my idea of letting Jane Bradley plant her own garden came to life. 


Brad and I took JB and B to Lowes, and we bought all of the ingredients to build and plant our own mini-garden. It's been a hit for sure. Here's the photo-story...


Here's the site we chose that gets the most sun. Not that it's that interesting, but I figured I'd start at the beginning.

Brad got the job of hauling all the stuff from the car. Jane Bradley hopped on for the ride. 

We bought a big gardening box, but when Brad opened it, he realized the box actually contained his nightmare - a thousand little pieces of wood. We laugh at Brad that he can sew your head back together, but he cringes at the sight of a box full of random parts that he has to assemble. 

He likes to read the instructions all the way through before he starts, which I think is smart, but unusual for most men I know.

 He started on the construction, and after I took pictures of him, I jumped in to help solve to puzzle. 

Turned out to be perfect! Then Brad and Jane Bradley planted rows of zucchini, yellow squash, jalapenos, eggplant, basil, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Even though it was just a garden in the backyard, it was real and special.

Here's the finished product! 

Funny thing of the day: Last summer, I planted a small container garden of pretty flowers. I love sweet potato vines to spill over the sides - I think they are the coolest shades of dark purple and  green. I made them spill over in stripes last year, and I loved it! Well, this weekend I cleared out all of the remains of the dead plants from the pot to plant our new ones. I was super surprised when I found my pot FULL of huge sweet potatoes! Who knew? I really thought it was sort of like planting those big banana-leaf trees - it was just what they are called - they don't actually grow a fruit or vegetable. I had no IDEA these actually grew sweet potatoes... (I really don't have a problem telling this story, I have tons of stories like this about myself... I'll have to jot those down too in the future)...

Here's a sample of my crop!

Here's my newly re-planted flower pot for the summer - Maybe my thumbs aren't so black after all :)

I hope your weekend is as fun as finding a pot full of old sweet potatoes :) And Happy Easter!