if you would have asked me ten years ago about gardening, I probably would have laughed out loud. gardening, what is that? and me, no, not going to happen any time soon. in my first years of teaching, I always got my pink slip due to california being in a major budget situation. and every year, the school I was leaving would give me the obligatory plant goodbye. thanks for the year, it was great, fast, and now you are gone, good luck plant. and I would kill it in approximately two weeks.
eventually, I found my succulent obsession when planning the mr.'s 30th birthday party, and when those succulents were still alive on his 31st birthday, I realized I might be on to something. desert plants are my jam. and I've ran with that.
thankfully, I had my in-laws (gardening experts) help me spruce up our yard at our rental we had when ev was just a baby, and I started to get a little understanding of how things grow. but not really a great handle, I was still buying plants just because I liked them, not necessary paying attention to how much sun they needed/wanted, how big they got, etc. and consequently, nothing really thrived too much, but it worked for our time there.
however, all of these baby steps have landed me in our home now, our forever home, a home that I am very proud of the yard I have planted and seen flourish. my raised beds have not a single vegetable, but thousands of thriving succulents and desert plants. my backyard is buzzing with the hundreds of bees that have found a little piece of heaven in my yard this spring. I just stumbled on a video of ev in our backyard when I first started planting it and I almost didn't recognize the space I have now become obsessed with.
I love working on little corners each season, our newest project included turning the sandbox that came with the house that ev never used into another little raised bed. such a fun space to have right next to our
stock tank pool. much better than the pincher bug infested space it used to be. even a nice cover doesn't keep out the tiniest of critters.
but most importantly, I love that I have a space that is truly magical for everly. she loves playing in the backyard for hours. she is always finding some new treasure. like a fresh little caterpillar, or a ladybug like in the photo below, or that time I planted a new little tree and found a huge rollie-pollie colony. she must have had 20 crawling on her arms at one time. I remember how magical yards felt when I was her age, my grandma's backyard and the home I was born in just seemed huge and full of places to explore. I'm glad that I can give everly a place just like that for her to play in!
so, thanks spring, you are really feeling pretty perfect this year. maybe my favorite spring yet.
