Here’s my take on some super simple garden makers. I like my garden makers to all look the same because I feel like it creates some visual continuity among all the variety of plants.

1.) Gather your supplies. You’ll need: craft popsicle sticks ($2), pencil, and wood burning tool ($14). 2.) Draw/sketch out how you’d like to write your names. If you’ve got different tips for your wood burning tool you can basically create your own font. I could only find one tip, so I had to go with simple block lettering. 3.) Burn your names into the sticks. 4.) Admire your work. 5.) Place in your garden. You can also easily burn the back of the stick so that you can view the name from all angles if necessary.

 This post has been a llloooonnnngggg time coming. If you’ve been with us for awhile you might remember this post on my Lane Cedar Chest that I found back in June. The day it came home, we removed the base because it was falling apart and in disrepair. So, for the last, oh nine months (9?!?!), it has sat in our living room like this:

Not bad, but also it kinda drove me crazy because  it was just a big box. I was basically waiting for the time to stumble acorss the perfect set of legs that I didn’t have to pay too much for and so I found this lovely little bookshelf with the perfect legs.

This weekend I had the time to remove the legs and clean them up a bit. Now, they’ve got a new little home on the cedar chest.

Cute, right? Honestly, I feel like the original base looks much better but since there really wasn’t a way to keep it, the little tapered bun feet are perfect!

It totally changes the way that the piece looks and how it fits into the living room. I’m pretty happy with it.

What do you think?

Last week in this part of the world it rained for 5 days straight. I was really appreciative about the weather because there’s almost nothing I like to see in the forecast more than rain, an opinion I’m sure not many people share. The downside (or upside?) of the rain is that all of the grass and trees and flowers loved it too and now everything is growing like crazy and our lawn needs more maintenance than usual so early in the season.

That means we have to take care of a little crabgrass problem that is partially inherited and partially our fault. When we were doing demolition at the beginning of our remodel, the dumpster we rented from a company I would never go back to, got picked up a day early right after a heavy rain so it basically scraped grass out of our yard that fall. We stayed busy remodelling and didn’t take care of it so last year it just filled in with crabgrass.

I guess I didn’t mind it so much last year because the grass and crabgrass both greened up at about the same time and if you didn’t walk on it, it wasn’t so noticable. But this year, we have tall green grass and a bunch of dead crabgrass. It’s not pretty at all. I’m even too embarassed to use non-stock photos. It really looks awful.

The other problem is that I really don’t feel that competent about lawn care. I’m not even the one that mows and as soon as I started working on the lawn, I kept getting nervous that the neighbors were watching out their windows and laughing at me.

I guess I just need to think positive thought, rely on google and other blogs, and read instructions well!

My current plan of attack:

• Pull up the patches of crabgrass in the yard
• Spread fresh grass seed
• Add Scott’s Turf Builder fertilizer
• Water, water, water
• Hope, hope, hope

Hopefully soon, we have a beautiful lawn that is great to walk on — or even lie down in.

Yay! I’m doing a small happy dance because my plants are FINALLY in the ground. I’ve been doing so much prepping just waiting for the hypothetical last frost date to be in the clear, so that I could put the little vegetable lovelies in the ground. We gotten lots of rain here and so it was the perfect time to work in the soil. TIP: If you plan on planting anything in the ground it’s best to work in your garden/yard right after it rains. It’s so much easier and when there’s less energy being used it keeps you happier. Therefore, wanting to get back out there again and again. If you burn yourself out, you’ll not want to keep it all up.

Two weekends ago, I made my way to my home town to spend some quality time with my family. Close to my parents, my grandparents’ happen live on the same 200+ acres for the past 50 years and so they’ve got loads of materials they were willing to part with for my garden. The biggest thing was all of the white rocks you’ll see. I’m a bit surprised how sentimental my backyard is quickly becoming, it’s not something that I expected. Doing all of this work and acquiring the materials, really makes your space feel like something that needs to be loved and cared for.

Just for some reference: Here’s what I started with BEFORE: 

And here’s the progress I’ve made so far-

It’s looking much better! Like I said, we’ve had lots of rain lately so my grass needs a good trimming but that’ll be ongoing. The water trough behind the picnic table I’ve got big plans for so stay tuned for that!

This cute little bunny was my mom’s. It was gifted to her before I was born and it is holds an Easter Lily from my grandparent’s backyard.

These irises are great for hotter, drier climates. They are super hardy and come back every year. I pulled these up from my grandparent’s backyard and where they were started 50 years ago. So, these are off springs from their original irises from when they moved into their house. Also, since I rent, this was a great FREE option to add some extra flowers to my backyard. And because they can be transplanted so easily, when I move they are coming with me!

Here’s my little herb garden. Right now, I’ve got thyme, basil, oregano, Italian parsley, and English lavender. The oddly placed rock on the side there is marking where my chives will be going.

In the veggie garden are my bell peppers. I’ve planted red and sweet orange varieties.

And here’s one of my four tomato plants. I’ve got Romas and Super Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes. The super sweet ones are recommended my Martha Stewart as being delicous and easy to grow.

My vegetables include:

Red Okra, Dwarf Peas, Carrots, Pickling Cucumbers, Roma Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, and Bell peppers. Also, I’ve planted some Marigold seeds because they are a great flower that helps with pollenating and such.

The pine needles you see placed around the base of each plant serve as a mulch. They protect the roots of the plant from drying out and help the soil to retain moisture. And they are also from my grandparent’s pine trees. See what I mean by sentimental?

I’ve got more work to do, but lots is happening back here. Hopefully in the next couple of months, I’ll get to see some fruits of my labor.

Sorry, my Instagram (follow me at mlmarcum) photos are kinda dark. Boo. Didn’t realize that. 

Follow my graden progress and list of to-do items here.