Greening up

 This afternoon I told Ashley our weather this week has felt like we're stuck in March instead of the beginning of May. The things growing outside, however, prove we're moving on through spring. Everything is greening up and it's beautiful!

Remember the grapevines I pruned a while back? They're flourishing now! 

I even found the start of some muscadines! As a reference, these "grapes" are currently the size of a pinhead. 

Also gearing up for a summer harvest: blueberries! We have three separate plantings of blueberry bushes and they're all full of green berries. I'm definitely looking forward to these ripening!

Last year the birds ate almost ALL of our blackberries. This year the vines are really loaded down with blossoms and the starts of berries so I'm hoping there will be enough to share with our winged friends instead of me resorting to covering the vines with netting (what I planned to do after only getting to eat maybe five ripe blackberries). 

In the garden, things have really taken off, too. Mason turned 3 in April and he loves being a garden helper. He's standing in front of our potato plants. Between Ashley fertilizing the garden a few weeks ago and a lot of rain, the potatoes have really shot up. We need to hoe up the plants and cover the roots so the potatoes will be protected from the sun as they grow. Maybe we'll get to that tomorrow...

More growth in the garden--left to right: garlic (our first time trying this), strawberry plants, and romaine. Onions are growing towards the back--Ashley harvested a few yesterday just to see the size. It's also our first time growing those. 

Our house makes a great playground for kids. Last week I invited over Levi and Mason's preschool classes after we went strawberry picking a few miles away. We all had fun, picnicking in the yard, romping through the garden, visiting the animals and playing in the sandpile at the fort. 

This picture, in particular, made happy because it perfectly captured a gang of boys (and one mama) having a blast in our driveway. 

And this pan of rice krispy treats doesn't have much to do with spring, other than we celebrated Levi's birthday at school this week (it's not until June but his teachers let the summer birthday kids have a special day, too). When asked what type of treat he wanted me to make, Levi said John Deere rice krispy treats. This is the third John Deere birthday for him. I guess that's fitting to a boy who's growing up in the country and loves that John Deere green!