Backyard, Done! Mostly...

Here it is!  After over two years of looking at dirt, we have GRASS!!  Of course we still can't walk on it for another month, but I'm not complaining!

Here's the break-down in pictures:

This large square of dirt in the back corner is ear-marked for a playhouse and sandbox area for the kids.  It's next on our to-do.

There's a few little things that still need to happen.  It'll be a work in progress for many years I'm sure, but for now I'm calling this 'project' D.O.N.E.  I can't wait for the kids (and us big kids too) to run around on the grass!

Here's a few of the plants that have been planted/growing:

My strawberries are going crazy and The Kid can't get enough of them!  At first some kind of bug was getting to them but they must've gotten tired of them because I haven't seen any eaten ones anymore.
Score!

 I still need to steal some straw from Papa's place but I keep forgetting.  But they do need straw.

Papa brought by a tangerine tree a few months back and The Man planted it recently.  I have a hard time pulling the trigger for planting big ticket items like trees.  They seem permanent.  I stress over picking just the right place.

This guy looks a little yellow to me.  I'm hoping I didn't kill it.  I'm watching and waiting...

A friend of mine brought by some raspberry plant off-shoots for me.  The Man planted these for me too (thank you!).  They're doing well.  Kind of small right now, I may not get berries this year, but by next year watch out!

And we planted our vegetable garden!!  I've been antsy for the landscaper to finish our yard so I could get these in.  It's May people!  Running out of prime planting time!

So we've got a few tomato varieties.  (I've been roasting tomato's in the oven for 'sun-dried' goodness in our pasta and salads.  Not to shabby!  Also we planted some carrot and snap pea seeds.  We also have some zucchini and yellow squash and watermelon in the second box.  Hope we have room.  Not too much space for stuff like watermelon.  And The Kid was super-duper excited (ok so was Mommy) to plant some pumpkin seeds.  We shall see how crazy it gets back there.

These last few pics are for my Father-In-Law, since he asked so nice.  Here's our front yard offerings for the year:

Peaches!! They're small but what they lack in size they make up for in flavor.  There's a ton of these little guys and we need to eat them up soon before they go bad.

And I can't wait for the fall when these beauties are ready.  I'm thinking we'll only get a few but that's ok!
Pomegranates!  Aren't they so cute??

And last but not least....MINT!  I love my mint!  I nurse it along all year long.  It's seen some hard times, but now that we have a permanent home I can give all my love and attention to it.  I use it constantly.  Mostly to put in my water, but I do throw it in fruit smoothies too when I remember.  Have I mentioned how much I love my mint??

So there we are!  I love our house.  I love our yard(s).  I love mixing functional plants with non-functional??  Not sure that's even possible.  I think all plants are functional.  Whether you can actually use them in foods or whatever or just too look at.  It makes me feel good.  Plus, we've gotten tons of compliments on our front yard.  And yes, I'm taking all the credit!

Cheers!

Lady Chan