How Does Your Garden Grow?

One of the many methods we use to cut down on groceries is our garden behind our house. In warmer weather, I tend to think of parts of my garden as additional “rooms” in my house, too, and an extension of my homemaking.

Towards the front side of our house, there is a small seating area which is a very cozy place to sit, enjoy a cup of coffee and a book. Frequently one of my kids (or a few of them) are out there in nice weather, sprawled out with books and water bottles. I’ve surrounded it with my favorite flowers, and have tried to make it as cozy as possible. My oldest dear daughter helps me keep the weeds down in that area too.

I welcome visitors with a shady archway we built out of 4x4s and scrap wood, with a lovely wisteria vine growing on it. The wisteria has started to take on a life of it’s own, so I’ll be trimming it back again soon, but it provides shade for part of the seating area, and fragrant blooms for us to enjoy too.

The backyard has a large vegetable and fruit garden, with fresh fruit trees, grape vines, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, fresh herbs, flowers, and vegetable plants. In my back garden, I have raised beds made out of bricks someone gave us (they were going to throw out a pallet of bricks!), and I try to keep the pathways clear of weeds through mulching, weeding, and putting down organic weed preventer on the ground. There’s still some weeds though — probably unavoidable with the last few weeks of high temperatures and rain.

This past week, with my teens gone to camp, the younger ones and I spent a few hours each day outside in our garden, pulling weeds, picking pea-pods which they enjoy eating right off the vine, and harvesting whatever else we find growing, including the thousands of raspberries out back right now. More than just a place to work, though, our garden is a pretty cozy spot that we enjoy just hanging out in, talking, enjoying each other’s company, and spending time together. Many great conversations have occurred out in the garden together.

So, how does your garden grow?

About The Author

Kimberly Eddy has written 19 articles on this blog.

Hardly the drudgery she originally feared it would be, Kimberly Eddy’s life at home has been one big adventure in mothering, wifeliness, and walking with the Lord. Kimberly has been Martin’s wife since 1992, and a joyful momma since 1993. She and Martin have five children ages 10-16, and have home schooled their children from birth. Kimberly’s love for art and writing has bore fruit with a daily blog, a nature journalling blog with her daughters, several books and ebooks, as well as articles published in various magazines.

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