blueberries and the start of a garden

I AM DYING WITH EXCITEMENT!!! For my birthday (next month), my parents' gift to me was to buy me some blueberry plants and help us get a garden started. I am super lucky in the fact that my mom is a landscape architect and knows all about these garden things, because I do not! I have never been one to enjoy getting my hands dirty :) ... but I think we may have entered a new chapter because I have a new motivation for getting dirty...the FOOD (that is growing in the garden)!!

First my mom told me that most blueberry plants do not produce any fruit for several years. Of course I did not like this answer. So I started looking on Craigslist, and found a guy out in Estacada who was selling some eight-year old plants that would "produce a ton of fruit this year" the ad said (time will tell...). My mom said this would be our only option for getting a lot of berries this year. So we made the trek out there, brought home three luscious blueberry plants, and started getting dirty! I could squeal with excitement over picking blueberries from my own backyard this summer!

Jeff and my dad whipped out a hefty garden box in just a few swift minutes, and now we even have room for me to plant some tomatoes, basil, chard, lettuce, or whatever else I choose! LOVE IT! Next year we will add another box next to the current one (maybe two :). Why not take advantage of this free land behind us?!

Jeff sprinkling grass seed to fill in the bare spots we turned over...Chloe inspecting the changes to her playground

Chloe: "Okay guys, I think all is looking good! Now if I could just find my frisbee..."

Dad taking a hard-earned break from the manual labor - Chloe is by his side, as usual

She was happy as a clam on this day - before planting we took a two-hour walk to Peet's coffee and back - bliss!