Not All Plastic is Evil

I'm always struck that when I flip through a glossy magazine's spread of a kid's space, or even many design blogs catering to kids, there's always a noticeable dearth of big plastic toys in the yard.  Sure, it makes for beautiful pictures, but is it realistic?

I have to say that I'm guilty of having many of the large iconic plastic toys in my yard.  Before I had kids I would walk by houses that were littered with toys and would sneer and say that would never be me.  After all, what was wrong with these people.  Why didn't they simply pick up the toys-- how lazy.  Well, with kids of my own, I realize the difficulty in keeping the yard looking clean.  (We do have a large plastic shed to stow the toys if we're expecting guests.  But sadly, the rest of the time, much of the plastic crap just lays where it was last abandoned.)

Even though many of these toys don't fit into most people's idea of a beautiful landscape, I wouldn't trade them for anything.  The joy my children derive from their water table,  basketball hoop, ride-on toys, and countless plastic trucks make it all worth it.  I know it's for such a short period of time.

When Will I Learn?

I can't believe how quickly two toddlers can shred a box of tissues.  Well, actually I can.  They were being suspiciously quiet, but I was enjoying the peace too much to check on them. I have gone through more paper products in the past few years than perhaps in my entire adult life prior to kids.  I try not to be a wasteful person, but having small children makes any environmental aspirations I may have moot.

As soon as I cleaned up the mess (salvaging what I could), it was off to the park.

Where have all of the honey bees gone?

My backyard-- that's where.  I know, honey bees are great for the garden and obviously our ecosystem at large, but I do wish they wouldn't congregate around our patio.  At least they're not aggressive like wasps, but I'm a bit of a wuss and it makes me nervous when they start buzzing around me and the kids. 

Our neighbors have a beautiful passion flower vine that cascades over our fence.  The bees love it.  They're always at least a dozen bees hovering around the area at any given time.

Here's a picture of the vine's fruit.  I didn't even realize these orange balls were part of the vine until a couple of months ago.  They almost look like apricots, but aren't as tasty.

Here's another favorite hangout for the bees in our yard:

This strange looking pod is part of a banana tree.  My four year old loves to yank at the leaves, which always causes a flurry of bees to fly out.  Here's a closer look inside:

I can't complain that much because the bees are doing a wonderful job.  The plants they hang around and pollinate seem to thrive.  And, so far, no one's been stung.

Did I Butcher It?

This orange tree dominates the small area we want to make into a children's vegetable garden.  The garden designer suggested relocating it.  Our only option, on that front, is to build a large container for it on our patio.  That sounds like an inordinate amount of work for a tree we're not sure we even want.  (Plus, the tree might not survive the shock of being transplanted.) So instead, I thought I'd try my hand at shaping it.  I tried to clean it up and open it up more.  I'm obviously not a bonsai master, and I had to deal with countless interruptions from the kids, so I got a little snip-happy at times, but I think we can get by leaving the tree in place for now. 

(The little limb sticking out at the bottom will be removed.  It was too big for the bypass shears and I have yet to locate the tree saw in our disaster of a garage.)

The Fire Garden

So, here are some pictures from the little garden my four year old helped plant:

I've never gone with a garden "theme" before.  But this time I decided to use mostly warm-colored plants, focusing on red, orange and yellow.  These fiery colors usually aren't my choice. I tend to opt for the cooler blues and purples, but I think kids dig vibrant colors.  As a child, I remember marigolds being my absolute favorites.

At first, I wasn't sure if I liked the bright combination of these flowers (clockwise from left, goblin plant, yarrow, red plume gaillardia, and gazania), but as they've filled in a bit I'm starting to like it.  It's gone from an area overgrown with agapanthus (which I do like in moderation) to a cheery little spot, replete with a child's bench.  Of course, as always, there's much more to do.  

More Play Structure Inspiration

The piece de resistance of any playground is of course the play structure.  We have an (unfortunately) small area in our yard which we've designated for our play structure.  I've been obsessively trolling the Internet and wandering our neighborhood for play structure inspiration.  I came across these designs on The Playhouse Company's website:

I like how many of these designs are equipped with an abundance of climbing features and slides, but with an economic use of space.   

This one even comes with storage underneath-- plenty of room to store all of that ubiquitous plastic kid crap.

We've toyed with the idea of building a pirate ship since what kid doesn't love running around yelling "argh?"

Not sure if this one has enough climbing features, but it could easily be adapted.

The difficulty will be somehow incorporating all of the play elements my older son wants (slide, rock wall, gang plank, fireman's pole, and on and on), making it safe for the little ones, and, perhaps most important, making it aesthetically pleasing to us.  A tall order indeed.

The Bountiful Harvest (Well, not Really)

I had no idea how easy it is to grow tomatoes.  I mean seriously, they demand so little attention, yet one small plant yields enough for our family.  Granted, we're not making salsa daily.  But we're using them in salads and sandwiches, and I must say the taste of a home-grown tomato is heavenly. 

Our oldest son, who is beyond picky when it comes to vegetables (going so far as to claim that he's allergic to anything green), will even tentatively eat these home-grown veggies. 

I've always been intimidated with growing edibles.  They seemed so fussy, but this single tomato plant has changed my tune.  This fall I plan on planting even more vegetables with the help of my kids.  The only problem I can see with these carefree edibles is that grabby little hands can do this: