since i post a lot about the gardens and gardening that we have, i get asked a lot, "how do you garden with three little boys?" first, a disclaimer: our gardening isn't extravagant. remember those perrenial gardens i post a lot about? they're mostly weeds with a few gorgeous flowers here and there. we just don't have time to weed those beds. at least not this year. we do put time into the vegetable garden.  the day we put in the garden, we worked while adam napped. the older two boys love to help us, or walk around the yard making sure all the chickens are still alive (rowan especially), or play in the sandbox. so it's easy to work with them. it wasn't so easy with a baby who wanted to be held constantly. but recently, he's learned to crawl, has taken a few steps and all he wants to do is be on the ground moving around himself.

so before baths tonight, we decided to do a bit of weeding and watering since it hadn't rained in a few days. we also spread some straw around the tomato plants and caged the rest of them. we continue to harvest leaves from the lettuce bed nearly every night for salad. the leaves seem to grow overnight from a harvesting. everything else is still growing, getting flowers or small buds of fruit.

here's our little helper. he "weeded" (or picked newly sprouted lima plants - oops!):


...and was very helpful chasing the chickens out of the garden:


and for the record...i'm the only one around here that doesn't go outside without shoes. i slip on my crocs every time i leave the house. the chickens are everywhere. and so is their poop. nobody seems to mind this but me. i love those chickens. i don't love their excrement.