Down on the Fake Farm cont.

Look close. You can see one of the first carrot sprouts. It's a strong one so hopefully one day we'll eat it!!

Down on the Fake Farm

Things are happening here on the fake farm. I had to replant all the cucumber, lettuce, carrots and corn because as soon as I planted them in the garden bugs ate them. It is fun to check everyday to see what has sprouted and if you look closely you will see something. It's been a good lesson in patience because you have to wait for the seeds to grow and there are several days when it seems as if nothing is happening. There's a part of you that doesn't believe that something is going to grow and you're amazed when you see that first little green sprout peeking through the dirt, then another, then yet another. We planted all the seedlings in empty egg cartons and set them in the dining room next to the sliding glass door so they would get the light they need, we could watch them and make sure they had plenty of water.

We planted 6 tomato plants in pots since they did way better last year in the pots than in the garden. I love home grown tomatoes and so does everyone else so we decided to grow alot. We also have about 6 strawberry plants in the garden that we've had for several years but haven't ever really produced a good supply of strawberries. I found out that strawberries are like corn, they need to be close together and there needs to be alot of them. I'll be heading out this week to get more strawberry plants to fill in the holes between the plants. I love strawberries.

We went to a Civil War Reenactment today at Forest Home Farms here in San Ramon. Forest Home Farms is a historical farm that has been preserved and is open to the public for various events such as this one. Marcus is very interested in the Civil War and we thought it would be fun to go as a family. It was so nice to have something so close to us. The costumes were great and the cannons were extremely loud. Sometimes you could see a ring in the sky from the cannon and if one went off and you weren't ready it rocked your whole body. They had several tents set up and various displays but the one that caught the boys attention was the hospital. They had fake hands and feet laying on the ground under the table and a tarp that looked like it was covering those who didn't make it. I feel sorry for the guys who had to endure that type of surgery. It was very moving to see how some of the combat was done and how close they were to each other while fighting. After the battle we were able to get up close to the cannons and talk to some of the guys who were "soldiers". This particular cannon weighs about a ton and sometimes they move them around on the battlefield. Marcus wore his Civil War hat and I dressed Breanna in her prairie dress and braids. The weather was beautiful and it was a very fun day. I'm glad we got to go.

We always color Easter eggs on the Saturday before Easter. This year we tried to go a little more natural and use food coloring and vinegar. Well, I didn't have regular vinegar. All I had was apple cider vinegar and I was too tired to go to the store so we just used it. The colors turned out so vibrant and they were instantly colored. We didn't have to wait the usual 10-15 minutes checking our eggs over and over to see if they were colored. We were done dying our eggs in less than 15 minutes. Now that's a record for us! The brown one in the lower corner was a mistake. We tried to make purple but it obviously didn't come out right. Oh well, we're still happy with our eggs.
The family came over after church on Easter Sunday. We had a great time eating, hiding and finding eggs, taking family pictures and playing the Wii. Bill, Kathleen, Randal, Alyssa, Lauren, Lizzy, Sami, Alan, Verena, Shea, Anna, Ava, my dad and Aunt Peg were all here. We love being together and we are so fortunate to have such a wonderful family. We had ham sandwiches, potato salad, macaroni salad, fruit salad, cookies, chocolate and Verena's famous trifle. A great time was had by all.

Spring has sprung down on the fake farm

Spring has definitely sprung around here. The lavender was the first thing to bloom, okay the only thing to bloom but it was so nice to look out our living room window and see color. The grass is so green, the roses are growing fast, the grapevine is sprouting new leaves every day, it's all so much fun. This lavender plant is just outside the classroom out back. We planted our seeds on Friday March 27th and we notices our lettuce was sprouting this Wednesday. That was fast. This morning we noticed our corn was sprouting. It's so fun to watch things grow hour by hour. We planted corn, lettuce, watermelon, cantelope, carrots, cucumbers, and pumpkins in egg cartons in the dining room. I've planted seeds in the garden before but I always forget to water them and then when they did manage to come up out of the ground they were promptly eaten by bugs in the night. This way they're protected and we can watch them as they grow.