We finally made it down to see my in-laws in Springfield this weekend. Such a welcome break after the crazy semester I’ve had. I snapped a few pics on Sunday, but I’m not sure they quite capture how beautiful their property is. First up (above) are my mother-in-law’s beautiful chime’s.
I think these are Flox? I need to get better at learning flower breeds…
Now these I can’t miss, Tulips! I always get sad when their time is through.
Beautiful Iris. We have these surrounding our front porch. I love them until they get too heavy and fall down. I’ve tried propping them up, but it’s just not the same.
Homemade garden stone.
If you can believe it, this is Neil’s first car, a ’65 Mustang. I wish we could tow it up and fix it up. Such a lovely car. I love the color and always wanted one of these when I was young.
Asparagus. This is a relatively new planting, so no eating for another year or two. Looks tempting! I was so worried Clive would try to snag a spear after his last encounter with asparagus. He loves it!
Some seedlings. Someone must have planted Lamb’s Ear at some point. Do you love Lamb’s Ear? Some people say it looks like weeds, but I can’t get enough of it!
They grow their own bamboo. Here is some that was cut a few months ago. They use it for plant support and garden fencing. So cool that it grows right in the yard!
Strawberries. They couldn’t agree on a single method to grow them, so they each went their own way. Jim’s is the farther, unmulched strawberries; and Janice went the way of lasagna and has mulched and layered paper for hers.
Some onions.
Do you know what this is?
If you guessed grape vines, you’re right!
Roses grown from cuttings. Only at my in-laws, where everything grows like magic…
Speaking of magic, apparently these are a form of Goji?
Eep! Do you think she knows I had Cashew Chicken for lunch?
I somehow caught Clive with his eyes closed. That NEVER happens. He looks like he’s meditating…
Broccoli. My in-laws made a cold frame and grew broccoli and lettuce ALL WINTER!
Lettuce from this winter. It still looks great!
Their massive compost pile and some metal they are collecting to fabricate more cold frames.
Their raspberry and blackberry plots. They are about the size of a professional soccer goal. I say that because they are in fact planted beneath the Kohler boys’ old soccer goal.
Catnip. A NEED if you have about 9 outdoor cats.
A pretty chime.
I thought this was so funny. The chickens actually help my mother-in-law garden. They follow her around as she pulls weeds and till the soil looking for bugs and scraps. They are so tame!
Some cabbage. Remember our HUGE cabbage from last year? Now you know where we got the plants. If only it wasn’t so hard to keep bug-free…
Good work chick.
They really do eat everything…
Here is a shot of the main portion of the garden. Added all together, the whole thing is bigger than our house (roughly 1,100 sq. ft.)
And just think, in a few months, it will be full of fruits and vegetables. I’m so jealous!
All in all, even though it put me painfully behind on one of my final projects. I needed to get out of town. I needed to relax and take a step away. A mental refresh. What I love most about Neil’s parents is that they never sweat the small stuff. They don’t worry about things that aren’t worth worrying about. The next month is going to be crazy, but I hope we can steal away for several more short weekends with them, if only to simply watch their garden grow.
YOU SHIT – you have a “65” mustang!!!!! You do need to put that house to good use and restore it – BUT better think about running an EXHAUST fan to make sure fumes from engines are going out vs. up. Mary Ann
Haha, I said the same thing. Maybe once we get a trailer… Jes
Their garden looks awesome! It’s amazing how much farther ahead their plants are, just being a few hours farther south.
I think they are technically 3 zones beneath us? It’s definitely amazing how much further they are along. I’m so envious of the sheer size of their garden. I’ll definitely take more pictures throughout the year. Once things start going, the amount of food they have is unending!