acreage renovation: a garden for brother + sister bear

This spring we decided to make a garden for our children. We were wholly inspired by “The Berenstain Bears Patience, Please” after reading it to them. They begged us to have their own garden just like Brother and Sister Bear. One that they could till, plant, weed, and water and grow whatever they wanted. Of course we had to agree to such eagerness.

We used my small corn garden for their new garden. It was south facing and the best location in our yard for one. Geoff ripped out the old and temporary fence we had around it to keep the animals out. Then the kids and I each took a shovel and spread our composted food into it. We also moved all of the rocks and heavy stones from behind the garage. This was all hard work but they did very well. Next, Geoff rototilled and worked the compost into the garden, expanding it by a lot. Finally, he built a new fence to go around it.

I spent an entire spring morning planting seeds with them. I planned it out and made all of the little holes in the dirt. They wanted corn, carrots, cucumber, sunflowers, tomatoes, snap peas, watermelon, and flowers.

The kids meticulously filled each hole with seeds. Then we watered it all. They continued to water on the days where it didn’t rain. Within a few weeks we had sprouts. From there, and with occasional weeding, we had a full (albeit somewhat messy) garden!


They are so proud of their work. I am, too! Mostly everything came up, and we snack on their snap peas daily. I hope to do this with them every year until they are no longer interested. It’s such a special and rewarding thing.

Emory

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a week of valentines: heart-y meal

Processed with VSCOcam with hb1 presetHey guys!

Call me crazy, but with Valentine’s Day coming up, I’m thinking that you’re probably going to be sharing a meal with your loved one. Why not make it a delectable homemade dinner? After all, they say that the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach. Or gifts. Wait, the latter may just be pour moi. ;-)))

This meal is guaranteed to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. It’s also perfectly filling for those chilly February evenings. I made this Chicken recipe just after we moved into our new home and before we had gone on our first grocery trip. I had chicken in the freezer, a box of half-opened Shake’n Bake, potatoes that had seen better days, and frozen corn in the freezer. What I also had were a ton of spices. I thought, I can make something out of this. 

This is how I worked my magic:

Chicken

1. Turn the oven to 375°F. In a bowl, combine chicken wings, oil, salt, pepper, and Shake’n Bake. Adequately cover each wing with mixture. Place on a baking sheet and cover with tin foil. 

2. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until wings are golden.

Mashed Potatoes

1. Bring water and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Turn down to medium-high heat.

2. Peel the skins off of the potatoes. Cut them into chunks and put them in the boiling water. Cook until a fork can easily pierce through the potatoes. Drain the water from the pan.

3. Add milk, butter, pepper, and dill to the potatoes. Mash until creamy. Add more spices to taste.

Corn

1. Bring water and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Turn down to medium-high heat.

2. Add frozen corn to the water. Cook for approximately 5-10 minutes. Drain.

3. Add butter and pepper to the corn. 

Don’t be surprised if you have to beat your significant other off with a love stick after they taste this Valentine’s Day feast! Just chalk all of those kisses up to another HSB win.

<3

Emory

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  • Hello! My name is Emory. I am a wife, mother of four (three on earth in heaven). This is our life on the Canadian prairies.
    email: helloscarlettblog@outlook.com

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