spring projects

Our house is small, but we
have an awesome yard. There's
this super cool tree with a kid-
sized doorway. I've finally
eradicated all the poison ivy within
the yard--knock on wood--and now
I have big plans. Through this
natural arch I'm going to make a
secret picnic spot, with a
fieldstone patio and this picnic
table. It's been out of stock since
I saw it online last summer, so
I'm impatiently waiting until the end of April when it's supposed to be available again. It will seat 8 kids, plenty of space for my 4 plus some friends. I'm hoping they can enjoy summer snacks and meals outdoors and give the grownups a little space at the big picnic table.

Some of my other ambitious projects will be a large stone sandbox, stepping logs, and of course landscaping for the lot. I'd like to connect our property to the rail trail with a japanese-style garden bridge, plant more berry bushes, and get a stone or wood bench. I'm going to try to find my own stone (like I did in Vermont when I built a stone garden wall, hauling rocks off the mountain 1 or 2 at a time), transplant my ever multiplying hosta, lilies, and lilac bush (that I planted when Ryan was a baby, now taller than me and requiring much pruning).

I'm taking it upon myself to maintain a section of the railtrail, starting with some pruning and poison ivy spraying. We've already made a path up to the school playground fence that the boys call the "war hill" despite my insistence on it being called something more benign like "adventure hill". I'd like to find a nice bench and trash receptacle for the nearby brook that can be enjoyed by any of the trail's denizens. Add the purple marten birdhouse that my mother-in-law donated, more digging to drain the swampy area near the brook, and continual purchases of mosquito dunks, and maybe we can survive without our maintenance-money-pit Mosquito Magnet.

My husband wants fruit trees--not sure where we can put them though. I've already abandoned our garden in anticipation of a new garage in its place (when we eventually have the money for such construction). Maybe I'll get some of those nifty spire apple trees that don't take up much space--we only have 1/2 an acre.

What are you doing to improve the outdoor space in your part of the world?

in other news...

...I sent AJ to school with
just a Luna sunrise bar today,
and everyone else is home
sick, so no bentos...

...and I'm down to the very
last shallot from our winter
farm share...just used up the
garlic...so time for a shopping
trip to BJ's wholesale club I
think, sigh.

But check it out, the Obamas are going to plant an organic veggie garden at the White House! Apparently they'll be planting plenty of hot peppers because they like Mexican food best.

Our Wild Life

AJ asked for "gingerbread men" cookies when it was his turn to bring snack to camp, so we made gingerbread men and handprint shaped sugar cookies instead. Unfortunately his camp was rained out 3 times in a row, so we decided to eat them ourselves. I'll have to come up with something else for next week.

Sunday:

Boys' lunch: roasted
vegetable pizza; banana;
carrot; cucumber.

Trader Joe's makes an
inexpensive frozen
dairy-free roasted
vegetable pizza that
we love.

Monday:

Lunch: cinnamon toast;
blueberries; cucumber;
chickpea salad; carrots;
blanched spinach.

(Yes, that is toast on
Nate's fork in his left
hand.)





Ryan decided to make
one of his Iron Chef
creations again. But
this time he wanted
to plan out a recipe
first. He drew this
chart with ingredients:
2 Craisins, cucumber,
yellow wax beans,
grapes, black sesame seeds, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar.

He loves to
pose with
a very
serious
expression
whenever
he shows
off his
cooking.

We all
tried
some
and it
actually
wasn't
bad!


Dinner: corn on
the cob; mashed
potatoes; spicy
baked tofu;
ratatouille;
stuffing.



Tuesday:
Husband's lunch: mashed potatoes; spicy eggplant; grapes; stuffing; cashews & Craisins; tomatoes & cucumbers w/balsamic vinegar; baked tofu.

Farm share: 2 dozen stems kale, carrots, 1 onion, 1 watermelon, 1 cantaloupe, 1 purple cabbage, 1 bunch scallions, 1 pint orange cherry tomatoes, 1/2 pint blueberries, 1 orange tomato, cilantro, 2 hot peppers, 2 green bell peppers, 3 small eggplant, 5 ears corn.

Wednesday:

Nate is ready to go!
We are very fortunate
to live less than a mile
from the New England
Wildflower Society's
Garden In The Woods.
We met a friend and her
boys there and walked
the trails.


They are currently
showcasing the Big
Bugs art exhibit.

Here's Ryan with
a giant ladybug.



The afternoon mail brought some new bento box goodies! There are some flag food picks, fruit sauce containers, small square rice ball shaper, Chip & Dale snack bento, sea animal spoons & forks, a mini bundt silicon cup, 3 flower food cutters, and a Thomas The Tank Engine bento for Nate.

Thursday:

Dada & AJ were out
running business
errands, so I made a
"picnic" dinner for
Ryan and Nate to
share: mini vegetable
potstickers; quartered
wheat pita bread;
Nate's meatless
meatballs; carrot sticks; cherry tomatoes; diced pineapple & mango; blueberries; cucumber.

While they were out my husband picked up a Rubbermaid ice blanket at REI that I can cut into small portions for the boys' lunchboxes this fall. So cheap too. Hooray!