Okay, our backyard is not technically a jungle, but come on…

When I’m picking tomatoes and look back and see this? I think it’s safe to say that at times our garden has grown into something like a jungle.

And because Beau complained that I haven’t ever posted a full shot of the new-summer-2011-backyard-patio project yet, here’s one. Finally. ;)

Here’s one from the left side. (And for a comparison, photos from when the plants were just starting to pop up) (Ignore the ugly shed in the back, we’ve got some plans for that poor, unfortunate piece of wood.)

It’s sure been fun to watch Ephram grow up this summer in conjunction with the garden/patio. As Spring arrived and the snow melt, Ephram learned to walk just in time for us to head outdoors (I can only recall a couple of times early in the Spring that he could only crawl on the driveway). And in true toddler form, he helped us dig up the dirt, walked back and forth as daddy hauled rock from the driveway to our new patio, planted plants, and generally just hung out.  He even has helped in the harvesting of our veggies.

Seeing his curiosity in our gardens and exploration of the backyard this year only makes me more excited for next year and how much more he’ll be able to help.

Because he sure is a sweet, helpful, little boy.

Our backyard is filled with green right now.  And I love it.  The growth in the past month is incredible (the backyard about 1.5 months ago)

All too soon the green will go away and that awful white stuff will return. (I can’t even say the word without shedding a little tear)

In the meantime, we are enjoying fresh sweet peppers, patiently waiting for a billion tomatoes to ripen, and loving all the beautiful flowers we have surrounding our backyard oasis.

Oh hey, look! We even have guests from time to time.

I’m so anxious for our veggies to start growing. The plants are growing wild already.

These photos are from about a week ago and show the plants at roughly half the size they are now. But instead of taking photos, we’ve been weeding, planting some old onions found in the fridge (because, why not?!), avoiding the baby robin nest underneath the deck (not so convenient since Ephram’s swing hangs from there), adding mulch to the gardens and other landscaping, replanting a section of flower near the patio, etc.

Hopefully the next round of photos reveals those changes, but for now, here’s more documenting I did last week after E went to bed and Beau and I worked on “prettying” the gardens.

I think Mama Robin had a bit of OCD. Three nests?! Good thing she finally made up her mind…

Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, spinach…

I hope my mom sees this picture of the snake skin! She hates snakes. =)

while we enjoy the Summer evenings in our backyard…

learning to garden…

Intently watching daddy…

and trying on our own.

Slow down, Summer.  Stay awhile.  Please?

Anyways, that’s what we’re doing right now.

Planting – I have to back up a bit with this post.  Ever since Beau and I moved in together, a tiny apartment during college, Beau has grown plants. Like I mentioned before, the tropical ones are his favorite; Hibiscus specifically. And in the three years since we bought our house, we’ve added bushes and trees and flowers and vegetables gardens to our yard, but it didn’t feel complete.

Last year, Beau experimented with several hardy hibiscus plants.  Plants that can be planted here in Minnesota, produce humongous flowers (the size of paper plates!), and return the following year. In the late Summer, he gathered the seedpods and saved them over the winter. A recent trip to Florida resulted in even more gathered seeds, and when we returned, he began to grow them in trays under growing lights in our basement.

Beau is officially the planter of this household. I’m the weeder (and photographer, of course). We’re a good team. Ephram was in bed for this part of the project.  The baby plants above (early-March) are the same ones Beau is planting around the patio in the photos below (mid-May). He has assured me that the hearty hibiscus hybrids will look crazy awesome once they grow taller later this Summer. And we’ve added Cannas around the patio as well.

And the veggie gardens (the rectangles to the right of Beau) have officially been planted as well.  Including peppers, tomatoes of all kinds, beans, peas, etc. Oh, and see the new fence behind our patio area? Yay for a bit of privacy and not in our expense.

Starting to feel a little more complete. Don’t you think?