You harvest what you plant whether it's in your garden or in life

If you haven't planted garlic before, please don't be afraid of it. It is wonderful and easy to grow.

In the Fall (after your garden had been tilled)

#1 separate the pieces of the bulb
#2 plant the larger pieces (there's no decision making with hard neck garlic because all the cloves are large)
#3 dig a trench about 3 or 4 inches deep
#4 space the cloves 3 inches apart
#5 cover the cloves with soil
#6 water regularly all summer (I use a drip line and timer) and when the soft neck garlic starts to fall over around the middle or end of July, pull it out of the ground.
#7 dry in a place out of the reach of birds (they'll peck holes in them - um just trust me on this)
#8 store in a cool dry place, saving a few cloves to plant next year.

Just a note: unless you have amazing soil make sure to fertilize with a great organic bone meal. (Always test your soil before adding anything to it)

So how does this compare to my regular every day life. In the fall, we think about putting our gardens to bed for the winter. But there is something about knowing I've got garlic growing. Knowing is going to pop up in the spring. Usually when it shows up I know it's time to plant peas. It's a motivator to start gardening again. 

The Daily, weekly, yearly stuff can become mundane. Sometimes we just need a little something to get us going again. By planting something good in my garden in the fall, I'm more likely to plant other good things in the spring. 

A few months ago, I held a baby during church so a young mom could get a little more out of the lesson. Today that mom put her arm around me and gave me a hug when I cried during the closing hymn. It's those moments of kindness that keep us going. 

You harvest what you plant whether it's in your garden or in life. Let's be more kind, thoughtful, and willing to help others, myself included. 

Fall Family Photos 2010

We photographed a cute family here and then the next night we ran over for our own.

Sorry Melynda but I couldn't resist. At least we live far enough apart.

Tyler set up the tripod and Grandma made the kids laugh and look in the right direction.

I love my daughter's joy in this photo.  She is so fun of life and loves to have fun.

She amazes me all the time.  She just looks like she is having so much more fun than the rest of us.

We can learn from our children all the time if we just watch them.

And of course this is the new 20x30 for our mantle this year. Hopefully it will not look as red as it looks on my other monitor. I was thinking about making it a 30x40 but we used the smaller camera.  So I am on the look out for something to replace that 30x40 -maybe a family photo, maybe a piece of art.

Fall Festivities

So a few weeks ago for our Family Home Evening, we proceeded to our backyard to pick the last of the pump-ke-mon pumpkins and picked the first of our jack-o-lantern pumpkins and jack-be-littles. Daddy helped us carry the bigger pumpkins to the front of the house. The kids arranged a pumpkin display. We have way more pumpkins out front than we ever would have had if I were to purchase them. And our children were happy that they helped plant and water them. It's extra fun because my daughter has been reviewing how pumpkins seeds sprout and grow.

I love how festive our entry is now. We have a stack near each one of our wood beams. And the orange goes well with our stone entry and wood door.