Garden Progress & Our Cool Fence!

I have been sitting in Octane Coffee House (close to my house) for 5 hours now.  Blogging and belly shots really take time to keep up with my friends. 

I was so behind, I told Ernesto I have to leave the house to get this done.  I do put mateo to bed early every night, but I am tired by then and don't feel like being on the computer much.  We have been so busy during the day- playing gardening, jewelry making that I even missed a few belly shots. Bad blogger!  I did post new ones tonight though, so if you are curious about the growth of my belly (which has been significant the last few weeks) here are Week 27 and Week 31 and now Im finally up to date with Week 32.  Whew!   I can't believe I only have 6 weeks left (mas o menos). 

This is how I left my boys at 530p today.  

 Scooping dirt.  Because our yard has a slight slope we need fill dirt.  Luckily, there is plenty to be had for free if you search Craigslist.  This is load #2 and we will probably get one more.
You can see a little glimpse of our finished  fence there, but I have a lot more to share.

First though,  a special thanks to my mom and dad for coming down to help.  My dad and Ernesto were outside for 3 days building this thing and my mom was taking care of Mateo while I made jewelry. It was a joint effort for sure.

 Ernesto had  most of the posts set so when my dad arrived they started screwing on the boards.

 It went pretty quickly.  Because the boards are going to shrink some we did not leave a space in between each board as originally planned.  This was a decision made by the men.  They guaranteed that the boards will shrink and space out about 1/4-1/2 inch.  "It won't be uniform", I argued.  I lost. Oh well,  I really like the solid look too.

 Here it is coming along.  We used 12 foot boards and 4x4 post every 6 feet.

 Notice above, the sod we laid three weeks ago was coming in nicely (compared to the first few days).
But that is nothing compared to what it looks like today.  We have lush, green grass!

Ernesto had to mow it last week and after all the weekend rain it needs mowed again. 

Here are a few pics capturing the whole yard/fence. What a difference, right?

 We left this corner open because we are planning to build a pergola and patio in that space. The dirt border around the whole fence will be more garden:)

 Here is my hard worker.  I am really proud of him.  He has been working non-stop and it is so satisfying to see everything coming together. You're doin' a good job mi amor!

At the end of the cement driveway we are building a long and skinny shed.  (4x14?)  We are going to have a gate to enter a small skinny garden that will lead to our entertaining paradise. Ha!  Sounds good right?  We will get there. 

In the front yard, my collection of blue pots still grows.  And see the big white elephant to the left of the door?  My mom got that for me at a yard sale and I think it is so cool with the blue pot on top. Thanks again mom!

 What a difference two weeks and a lot of rain can make in a garden.  Just look how everything has grown and spread out.

 I am so happy with it.  My passion for gardening grows too.  I can't resist buying a few plants every time Im at Home Depot, and I love walking other gardens and talking about plants.  I guess I have my mom to thank for that.  She is a true master gardener.  I actually brought home more plants from her garden when I was there last week.  And I bought 2 climbing rose bushes.  Im not a huge fan of rose bushes, but I love climbing plants so I thought I would give them a try.

 I added some stepping stones that lead back to the vegetable bed on the [south] side of the house and planted Creeping Jenny (the chartreuse ground cover pictured above) so the edges will be surrounded with plants.  Im hoping this will fill in quickly.  I may pick up a few more plants to help it along.

 This side garden is what I will concentrate on next.  I have one raised bed where I have already planted 4 tomato plants (Bush Cherry, Grape, Roma and a yellow Sun Country).  I will be adding a few hot pepper plants, cucumbers up my bamboo teepees and a bunch of herbs.

 Whew! Still a lot of work to be done!  I really don't have much time left to work.  I figure after mid June, the garden is on its own.  I did buy a timer and soaker hose for the vegetables.  I will set it to water for 5 minutes every morning at 5am.  Im hoping this will be the key to a big harvest!!