Smile And Wave

Backyard Living

I haven't lived somewhere where it's nice enough to eat dinner outdoors (cool temperatures, zero mosquitos and flies) in years so I feel like I owe it to myself and our family to enjoy it as often as realistic. I've had an insatiable urge to finally give our backyard some attention so I've been busy pulling weeds, spreading mulch, hanging things from the house and the tree, and hammering away at some diy's that I'll share soon. Pinterest and a limited budget have been all the inspiration I've needed to come up with some solutions for our space that are not only practical but beautiful. 

Brett bought a new basketball rim off of Craigslist this past weekend which has already been more fun than I imagined. He beat me at a game of PIG because he can slam dunk and I can't. Cheater.

Oh, and Sebastian hits almost all of his shots. For not having had regular access to a hoop before, he's pretty consistent. The kid got the good hand-eye coordination genes! Woohoo!

Have you been digging in your yard lately? Any big projects this summer or are you keeping it simple? 

-Rachel

Our West Facing Kitchen

Our sunny kitchen window sill and counter are suddenly filling up with store bought flowers, plants, produce experiments, and blooming branches (not shown). I love having a West facing kitchen because it's usually bright and cheerful during dinner prep.

I'm not sure if I first saw the green onion regrowth idea on Instagram or Pinterest but about three weeks ago we had teriyaki chicken and I had myself some green onion stubs so I stuck them in a jar of water and gave them a home in the window. It's been so fun to watch them grow a little longer every day! My first batch were overachievers and I had full length onions in about two weeks. I cut them back again and they've slowed a bit so I'm tempted to stick like five jars full of onions up there to keep the kitchen stocked. Ha!

The Venus Fly Trap was purchased at Lowe's and is doing well. We've tweezer fed it an ant and a fly and the kids have both loved seeing something happen right before their eyes! We're getting pretty exotic up in here.

Brett has been making it a regular habit to bring me flowers since we've moved here and I'm truly enjoying it. Tulips are just so happy, don't you think?

-Rachel

> DIY: Wire Basket Into Strawberry Planter

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Since we're probably only renting this house for one spring season we're not planting a traditional garden in the backyard. I still wanted the kids to be able to enjoy the process of watching something grow and bear fruit though so Sebastian and I went to our local Ace Hardware and picked out four strawberry plants. They're going to live on our porch where we can keep a watchful eye on the hungry birds and squirrels. Or curious little fingers that like to pull things out of their pots!

I didn't want to spend more money on a long planter so I hauled out some wire baskets that have been sitting around since the move and picked up some coconut liners that go with wire planters. I could've used a bigger one for the wide basket. I pushed it down into the basket and trimmed the rounded edges. Then I stuffed those in to make up for the shorter ends.

Then I added my fertilized dirt and berry plants and gave them a nice long soak to get the air bubbles out.

Pretend you don't see the strawberry plant having an accident. It got a little excited.

I added a smaller coconut liner to the round basket after cutting a triangle shape out for an easier fit and put our last plant in a pot that has a big old crack in it from the winter weather.

I've added a few new flowers to the set up this year. My favorite being this English daisy mix. I'm also hoping for Ranunculus bulbs to bring me something pretty in a few weeks!

Have you planted anything yet this spring?

xoxo,
Rachel

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