In The Garden

"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace."

- MAY SARTON

We've been working in our yard/garden all week, and things are really beginning to shape up!  

There is a hill leading up to the woods in our back yard that until this week had become a bit overgrown with weeds. I'm not one to dig up a good weed, especially if it has a pretty bloom, and so many "weeds" are actually medicinal, so I'm slow to throw them off.  This week we walked through square every inch of that overgrowth and identified what was there to decide what was worth keeping, and what wasn't. We had an overgrowth of a few things, so we strategically kept a few and dug up the rest. If it is medicinal it went into a plastic tote that I'll be processing over the next few days, drying and preparing them to store. It's been so nice to see it start to take shape  and it's nicer still that now it's easy to identify the plants we're keeping, so we aren't just haphazardly weeding out perfectly good plants.

We've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest recently, dreaming about some features we'd like to add, especially if they could be functional, as well. Here are some ideas that we hope to incorporate over the summer.

(l-r) I've asked my husband if he could build this simple trellis as a decorative feature in my herb garden. I'm not sure what kind of vine I'll grow yet, but I'm sure I can figure something out.

We recently had to have a tree taken down on our property and we have a ton of logs, branches and tree stumps that we are going to use for various projects.  One of those is building a taller fence around the garden extension, and some smaller ones along the hillside. 

And finally, we plan to cut a path across the top of the hill and one leading out into the back of the woods and we'll be using various logs and tree stumps to form the natural curve of it. We'll place a few stumps here and there and set potted plants on top. I can't wait to see how this turns out!

We love using various decorative elements as planters, like the old tool box in this picture and we're looking to add more. I've got my eyes out for an old dresser. We went to a yard sale last summer and one of the houses we visited had one on the front porch with the drawers partially opened and used as planters for various flowers and they had set potted plants on top. I knew right then and there that one day, I would do the same. My husband found an old desk for free on marketplace, and my plan is to use the drawers as beds in our garden extension, and the rest I'll use in my work station. We also have plans to go to an estate sale this Sunday, so I'm hoping we can pick up some interesting things there.

I'm excited to see how it all comes together and I'll definitely keep you updated on our progress. Yard work has always been hard for me, because I struggle to find the balance between what needs to be done outside and other things like cooking, laundry, and house cleaning. But knocking some of these projects off of our to-do list is important, so I've decided to lower my standards a bit. The house probably won't be as clean as I would prefer, and I'm keeping our meals as simple as possible. 

What about you, do you have any big outdoor projects you're tackling this summer? How do you balance inside vs outside work during this season? I'd love to hear your suggestions! Meet me in the comments. If you're looking for ideas and inspiration for your own garden, visit my Pinterest board!

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