Apples and Dirt

“Might I,” quavered Mary, “might I have a bit of earth?”

In preparation for our raised garden beds, I had two cubic yards of soil delivered and dumped on the driveway. In my mind, I could easily move that soil to the backyard with just the help of a four year old and eight year old and a good wheelbarrow.

As soon as it was unloaded, I felt like GOB from Arrested Development.

Not to be deterred, I was determined to get the dirt into the backyard and still make Sophie’s ortho appointment and get Elsa to dance practice. I’m the kind of person who goes ‘all in’ on projects and I pride myself on completing them effectively on time.  I wasn’t going to let the soil sit there for days on end, especially since the next day called for heavy rain and wind…hence mudslide down our driveway.

Elsa told me, “Mom, teamwork makes the dream work and one must always be fashionable when digging dirt.”

Soren and Elsa were troopers and helped the entire time. Elsa did point out that it would have gone a lot faster had John Cena been helping. I completely agree.

We hired a local husband and wife team from Free Spirit Farm to produce the soft lumber for our raised beds. All we had to do was position, lock into place and Voila!, it’s a garden…or the beginnings of one.

Our seedlings are starting to grow inside and we are anxiously awaiting word from the nursery as to when the apple trees arrive. We are getting a Honeycrisp tree.

I ❤️ Apples 🍏 🍎 and I also ❤️ The University of Minnesota. Want to know more about the U of MN agriculture program and their apple breeding? Check out this link:

U of MN apples

One of my favorite apples is the Harelson, but it isn’t a common variety outside of Minnesota.  Another much loved apple (I am sure you have heard of it), is the Honeycrisp.  It’s a delicious and perfectly balanced apple.  I highly recommend checking out this Honeycrisp video and how the U of MN engineered the perfect apple 🍏

Honeycrisp