Friday, June 24, 2011

Landscaping with a small child

I like digging in the yard with AwesomeCloud. He likes to be outside, and he's getting used to hearing me say, "I can't help you right now; I have a shovel in my hands." Sometimes I do drop the shovel and help him, but if I did that every time, I wouldn't be doing anything anyone would call 'yardwork'.

What I've been doing in the yard, however, hasn't really been landscaping, due to a lack of time, money, and inspiration. I'm working on the inspiration part, and trying to dance around the money issue, but landscaping on a tight budget often involves a lot more time, as you do things by hand with small tools that could be done more efficiently by paying a professional with large tools.

However, if I pay a professional, I don't learn anything. I'm hoping to save money AND learn something. I'm hoping to teach AwesomeCloud something - like, digging in your own yard is normal, and it's okay to play by yourself in the driveway with only half of Mama's attention on you.

The vegetable garden isn't doing very well this year, partially due to neglect, but maybe if I rearrange the yard, I can give myself more vegetable-growing options. One of my primary aims is to greatly reduce the amount of lawn we have. I see no point in growing grass in a yard as small as mine, with oak trees all around the edges. Grass is just a big, fat waste of resources. The strawberries have been doing pretty well, though, and the oregano has grown like it owns the place.

I guess I'll keep digging, and maybe something interesting will sprout up.

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