it certainly is that time of year again...the time to dig in the dirt and enjoy the mess. warm temperatures and sunny skies have been dominating the cloudy weather lately. i can't wait for this book to come out next month. i plan on finding some fun stuff to do outside all summer long!

kenny's been wanting to plant trees for a while now, so we spent yesterday evening planting three new fruit trees in our yard. our orchard trees are old and produce maybe a pear once a year or so. there are three diseased trees, so we're cutting those down and we replaced them with three healthy, brand new cherry trees (2) and a peach tree.

we've been planning out our vegetable garden. if you remember from last year, we had many a critter problem (including our very own beloved chickens!), so the first order of business is to dig a trench and put up a fence. a small one, but a fence nonetheless.  no broccoli or pole bean will go in the ground until that fence is up. we're getting a little nutty this year: we're going to do a few rows of corn and maybe some potatoes, sweet potatoes and soybeans! i'm hoping to really can a bunch of tomatoes and beans and pickles this year.

go celebrate this fine earth we've been given to cultivate! get your hands in the dirt and get dirty and muddy today! happy earth day!