Finished Project: Strawberry Plants in Square Foot Gardens

The weather is warming up, we are finishing up our school year and spending more and more time working on our garden plan for 2015!  Now if it would just stop raining for a week or so that would be amazing!

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Strawberry Beds in the Orchard

I was in the right place at the right time.  I stopped at the Amish salvage store and they had LOTS of beautiful strawberry plants for sale!

Before it got too soggy, Steve had the beds built and we got the Square Food Garden dirt mixed.  All that was left was to find a way to keep the dogs out & the weeds to a minimum.  It all came together very nicely! 

Bear.  He's my tag along helper.  He follows me everywhere.

Cardboard and grass clippings to battle the weeds.

A LOT of grass clippings

Reinforced mesh.  Hubby says it's cheap and it will keep the dogs out.

Done!  Now to get the plants in the ground!

We spent a whole afternoon getting the dirt mixed and then putting up the fence.  Joshua was a HUGE help to his dad!  We used half a cattle panel as our gate.  It is wired to one side and has a hook on the other side to keep it closed. 

Unfortunately it blew over in the night since we didn't have it wired up yet.  The dogs definitely need to be blocked out of our gardens.  I was seriously unhappy with them the next morning but it could have been much worse!

Dark picture but this is from the dogs digging and nosing around.

Smoothed and ready to plant

We really don't want to mow around these beds so we are using hay to mulch the paths.  The bales of hay on the garden are really coming in handy!

We are using the wheelbarrow to slowly move more hay to cover the paths.  Needless to say this is itchy & hot work.  We do a couple of loads a day when we need a break from other tasks. 

This bale had been "peeled" enough that we were able to roll it from one side of the garden all the way to the other side of the house.  

That's a long, long way. 

That's the kids story anyway. 

We did it and everyone survived.

Using the hay as mulch is a great way to use up kid energy, build memories & help them to grow stronger in body & character. 

So half of our Square Foot Gardens are now filled.  I am thrilled to have that part of the work done!  Everyone else cannot wait to taste those strawberries in future years!!

Hay mulch 8-10 inches thick around the beds.  Raspberry plants sticking up out of hay too!

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Learning to drive the BIG mower

I can sit on the front porch and hear the grass growing. 

We caught a dryish day on Saturday and got it all mowed.  It was seriously 14 inches tall.

I love it when my grass is all neatly mowed.

This year Megan is learning to drive the zero turn mower. 

I'm finding that she likes to go fast when she drives. 

That's a lot scary.

End of Our Homeschool Year - 2015

We are so close to the end of the year.  Like REALLY close.

I started this post with funny facts in mind but it has morphed into a serious reflection on our year. 

1.  We all want a vacation.  Me especially. 

What is it about finishing something that is so hard?  I have partly finished projects all over my house.  The reward of finishing one is so sweet.  That said, I like starting projects a lot more than finishing them.  Each school year is no different.  The end of a school year is a much harder time for me than the beginning. 

It takes perseverance to finish something well.  It would be so easy to just give up.  I want to.  I really do.  But there is a bigger lesson in this than finishing a school year.  Both for me and my students.  My children (and yours) are watching us every day battle to do things we don't want to do. 

Don't think they aren't watching.  They are. 

I keep going because I want my kids to be finishers.  Not giving up on hard things is a HUGE lesson to learn.   I want to be a good example of this and encourage them as they work to finish well.

2.   Change drudgery to fun

Daddy science class.  Joshua & Megan analyzing how a cows heart works.

Learning can be a lot of fun.  And it often is around the Brush household.  However the lessons, the grading and the daily dedication is not always fun for the teacher or the student.  We are at the end of our books.  The final few chapters are left.  Every time we finish up a subject there is a mini celebration.  The feeling of putting away a book is glorious!

We use those small celebrations as the incentive.  Then we spring board that excitement into the next subject to tackle.  Once math was finished, we were able to double up on science.  When science is done we will be doing LOTS of literature & history reading.  It's a snowball effect and if we focus on the momentum and excitement of that then the drudgery of finishing disappears!

3.  Whining about Being Behind

I like to whine.  It's more fun to have sympathy than to work.  I want to wallow in the guilt of not being done already.  Blaming myself is easier than buckling down and working. 

In past years, we would shoot to finish in mid-May.  Since we didn't start school in August as planned and I had a cornea transplant in December that has put us WAY behind.  Not to mention the process of getting Elizabeth diagnosed with Celiac disease in December.(when it rains--it pours right?)

It would be easy to just say "oh well we will never finish this year because ____________" 

But we can finish.  Looking at the plans on the calendar I know it can be done.  We just have to work instead of whining about our "situation"   

4.  distractions are . . . distracting

We all want to be out in the sunshine.  Playing in the garden, shooting baskets or riding our bikes.  Elizabeth is home from college and comes up with great ideas for what would be a fun to do.  She's excellent at fun!  My answer to her is almost always "Well, maybe after school is done" 

Sometimes I just say--let's go.  Funny how after we go and have some fun then the distractions are easier to resist and we are more motivated to get back to work and finish the day's to do list. 

5.  List is too long

I've been using the Wunderlist app lately to keep me on track.  Notice I said on track--I don't use it to get things done. 

I never get my to-do list done.  EVER

The kids always have more work they can do.  That can feel so overwhelming if I let it.

It wasn't long ago that I couldn't do what I wanted to do(not lifting more than 5 pounds or leaning over) and that was overwhelming.  Feeling helpless is just as overwhelming as having a long to do list. 

The ability to get up and work on my list is a blessing. That to-do list isn't an evaluation of my day.  If it was I'd fail every single time.  Instead I think of the list is a guide.  Sure I try to check off as many things as possible.  But I know that there are TONS of other things I get done that never even make the list. 

My kids are the same way.  The goal is to do as many lessons a day right now as possible.  But if we can't due to some unforeseen event or fun activity we choose?  Well then tomorrow's to-do list is already started.

Reading history, LOTS & LOTS of History.  He loves this!

The plan.  Each week we check off the work on our assignment sheets.

I'm sure there are lots more lessons we've learned along the way.  These are the BIG ones for us.  We are ready to start the summer and enjoy that time off but we will finish this year well first! 

What lessons are you learning or have you learned this year?

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