Carmine & Jewel

"God left us the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth. He left the rivers unbridged and the forests unfelled and the cities unbuilt. God gives to man the challenge of raw materials, not the ease of unfinished things. He leaves the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and the problems unsolved, that man might know the joys and glories of creation."

-Thomas S. Monson

Rob's cousin shared this quote on Facebook and I love it!! I wish so badly I could snap my fingers and there would be my perfect little homestead. But, there is joy, valuable lessons, and opportunities for growth on the journey of creating it from nothing. I will have to remind myself of this often during those frustrating middle moments.

This weekend we took one step forward by planting our bush cherries. I want a cherry tree so I can bottle my own pie filling. I am drooling just thinking about it topped on ice cream, inside turnovers and crepes, and most importantly on Rob's birthday cake.

After talking with a few neighbors and the garden store worker, plus lots of research, we decided to skip the tree and plant two Carmine Jewel bush cherries. They grow to 6 1/2 feet, making them easy to net and pick, and they hang onto their fruit. No more worrying about missing the one week the cherries are ripe and needing to be picked before they drop to the ground.

Saturday I put on my new cow boots, cause cute boots make playing in the mud way more fun, and Rob loaded up the tractor with everything we would need to plant our cherries.

I have the perfect spot that will get lots of sun in the summertime, and I am hoping it will not be easy access for the deer. But just in case we also bought some deer fencing to keep the little buggers away from my girls.

Rob found it was quite muddy where we were going to plant the cherry bushes, so he headed to get his mud boots while I watched the kids do tricks on the trampoline. We are loving this little break from winter and trying to soak up all the sunshine we can before winter returns with a vengeance.

I also sat and wondered why in the world won't these stupid weeds die, and why must they only grow in the square that is my berry patch?!?!

Rob got to work digging the holes, cause he is a lot faster than me, and he is the best husband ever.

Once Carmine and Jewel were planted, (please tell me you name all your plants?!?! My teenager is ready to disown me for it) we got to work trying to keep the deer out. It will be 5 years before these girls fully produce and I don't want the deer to make that even longer, or kill them off completely.

The poles for the fence were a little too high, and the stool sunk right into the muddy ground, so Rob improvised by standing in the tractor bucket while I raised and lowered it. I sat there holding onto the seat handle, like it was going to do some good keeping him from falling or the tractor from tipping over, while he just rolled his eyes at how panicky I get.

I am so excited for my little bush cherries, and also a little nervous. Here's to hoping my girls are as amazing as everyone says they are. Hopefully if I tell them I love them, and how they are the prettiest bush cherries around, they will grow nice and big and produce lots of yummy fruit for years to come.