Strawberry Picking 2018

I took the kids strawberry picking at a local place last week. 

We had the best time.  We went to Ditzler Orchard in Rosedale, IN.

I was a little bit nervous because last year Fletcher did not enjoy strawberry picking.  He cried nearly the whole time, it was very hot, he hated the loud tractor and the straw lined fields.  Olive adored it so back we went with high hopes.  This year the weather was cooler and I figured he'd enjoy sampling as he picked.  I was right.  We all enjoyed ourselves.

We pulled up and had the place to ourselves since it was early morning.  The sweet farmers offered to give us a tractor ride or a golf cart ride out to the strawberry fields.  Olive said tractor and Fletcher had a meltdown when we got near the loud ride.  So golf cart won out.  We were dropped off in the fields with our baskets in hand.

I can't tell you how amazing a field of FRESH STRAWBERRIES smells.  It was heaven!!  The air smelled like Summer for sure.  We were just walking around smiling.

We picked a row to get started on.  I gave a little strawberry picking pep talk and we got busy.

Fletcher ate every single berry he picked.  Strawberry savage.

Olive very carefully picked until all of our baskets were full.  She didn't want to sample our berries until we got home.

It came time to go and we headed towards the tractor.  I promised Olive we could tractor back to the stand since she'd been so excited to ride.  Fletcher was terrified.  Insert super kind farmer again.  He called his wife to bring the golf cart for us and asked if Olive was okay with a solo tractor ride back.  She didn't hesitate (later told me she told herself to be really brave) and we met back at the strawberry stand. 

It was so much fun!!

I didn't grow up going strawberry picking, but I'm so glad to have started this tradition with my own kids every June.  This cute orchard has blueberries, cherries, apples and pumpkins.  We'll be back to try our hand at picking all of those this year.

Strawberry Picking 2017
It's always amazing how much things change from year to year :)

It's time to link up with my favorite Welcome Wednesday Ladies.
Be sure to join us with some fun posts from your week.

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An InLinkz Link-up

Polka Dotty Gardens

I am excited to give you an update on our gardens today!

We are going to be talking about Olive's Fairy Garden & our gardens around the yard.

We have been working very hard on our yard for over a year now.  We had very little landscaping and lots of areas of the yard that needed cleaning up.  We are nowhere near done, but our yard is coming together nicely.

Olive's Fairy Garden:
We have the perfect, rooty tree in our backyard to build a fairy garden around.  I found almost all of the supplies back in the Spring at The Dollar Tree.  There are fairies, gnomes, homes, shells, flowers and more.  It's the cutest little garden and the kids play with it almost every day.  Fletcher loves the gnomes and Olive loves the fairies.

Garden Tour:
We are all invested in our gardens.  We all water.  We check on our flowers daily.  The kids count them and care for them.  Fletcher has been hard on some of the plants (stomping, picking and chopping) so we are slowly, but surely teaching him to love not attack the plants.  2 year old boys are WILD!!

I keep track of the plants and flowers we buy in my garden journal.  It helps me to keep a record of what we've planted, when we planted, where it came from and how well it is doing in our yard.  I love flipping through it.  An added bonus of the journal is that I have been able to learn the names of lots of new plants.  I keep the plant receipts in the back of the book in case something dies and needs to be returned or exchanged.

 Let's get started:

Tip: If your yard needs a lot of plants, focus your attention on perennials first.  That way they will come back year after year and you'll be building a great garden foundation for yourself.  These plants are so happy in their spots and most of them doubled in size from year one to year two.

We added hastas in several spots.  I think we have three or four different varieties.  I love the color they add to the landscaping.

Our Meijer store has a great garden center.  Tons of beautiful plants.  Great sales and great deals through their app.  We love their soil, mulch, gardening supplies and plants.  See those light purple flowers??  They are called Blue Moon Phlox and they smell AMAZING.  I'd never heard of them until this year.  I walked by the display and did a double take when I caught a whiff of them.  They smelled so wonderful that I had to buy them.

 These Red Prince Weigela are so pretty!!  They love full sun and are doing so well.

It's so rewarding to brighten up a spot with beautiful flowers :)  I can't wait for these hydrangeas to grow and grow to fill up this spot.

Potted Plants:
I followed my mom's advice and did pinks in the backyard and reds out front in my pots.  I love the colors.  I have always wanted to add sweet potato vines to our pots, but couldn't find them last year.  I searched everywhere.  Meijer came through for me this year and we have 5 or 6 sweet potato vines this year.  The vibrant green color is stunning!!  Impatiens love our deck so I usually stick with those.

My little gardeners watering our pots.  If you've got kids, buy them little watering cans.  They'll be the best helpers keeping your plants hydrated all summer.

What are you growing at your house right now??