Human Food or Deer Food

Sutton came this weekend by himself and wanted to earn some money. So, we embarked on a big project. We planted a Strawberry Garden. It was just grass; so it wasn't just digging some holes and dropping plants in the ground.  We figured out a good place to put his garden and started digging  out the existing soil. We dug down 10-12 inches.

 It was back breaking work. Luckily, no rocks, just one concrete overpour. He learned the meaning of the saying "working your fingers to the bone". Yes, you see him wearing house shoes to do this tough job. Last weekend he sliced his heel and is not able to wear shoes yet. He finally put on a pair of my tennis shoes to have a solid sole. Sometimes men, even at 8 years of age, just have to try it themselves before agreeing with a woman.







 We left to have lunch in town with Bill who was working on a rent house. Since we were in town we bought the plants.  He loaded his 4 Wheeler with all the plants and brought them to the work area. We were still hours away from time to plant.

 Botany lesson of the day. That little flower will be the strawberry. The plants had about 4 stages of strawberry development for him to see.











After digging out all the dirt he had to put in landscaping edging. To make the corners he learned to use a hacksaw to make miter corners. Cutting out some of the plastic let him bend the edging around the corners.














Then he had to level the border.

Now, it was time to create our super secret special strawberry mix. He used top soil, sand, and compost. He was allowed to drive the big 4 Wheeler for this project. Only, because I was right there with him and no one else was around. Just do the job, no extra joy riding.

 Sometimes hands work the best to mix everything together.

 Dig a hole and fill it in. Sutton learned that some jobs feel as if  you are spinning your wheels. We talked a lot about sayings today. He completely lined the bed with landscape cloth before adding the special mix. We tried to think of everything we could to slow down the creep of Bermuda grass.

 He made a beautiful garden!!!!!

 Time for plants. We are hoping the deer leave enough strawberries for us to have some. He chose the ever bearing variety instead of the one time harvest to give us more of an opportunity to enjoy some berries. He went online and researched plants deer do not like and decided on which ones we will add to see if that helps. Love our deer but sometimes they can be an issue. We planted Dusty Miller and later we will add Snap Dragons and Wax Begonias.

 Everything is planted and time to water.

Can't wait for strawberries eaten straight from the garden.