Home Makeover: Egli Edition - The Garden!

Jared and I have talked about redoing our garden for a long time now. We finally made it happen on Monday!

The first thing we had to do was change out our sprinkler heads. The old ones wouldn't have cleared the new bed. Plus, these are directional so we won't be watering the fence any more!

Next we built the planter box. Jared made it out of cedar and it smelled incredible! 

Then we dug our trench for the underground hose that would lead from the house to the planter box. We are putting in a subterranean soaker hose to the garden so that even if we are out of town, the plants will still get watered. Once the trench was built, we put the box in place on top of some landscaping netting to keep any future weeds out!

Once that was done we filled in our trench and added dirt! We found a local place that had massive piles of dirt you can buy in bulk instead of the 1 cubic foot bags at Lowes. We got half and half for filler and organic garden dirt for the top. I had some sweet peppers going already along with some jalapeños, green bell peppers, strawberries and three kinds of tomatoes. Then, my blueberry came back after dying last year! So I was super excited to put it back in the garden, this time with some more shade. 

One of the most frustrating things last year was that I got one tomato and a bird took a big chunk out of it. So this year, we are adding a cage around the garden to protect it from birds and any other animals that might want to help themselves.

Test fitting the cage

All done!

I'm super excited about my garden and can't wait to see what it can produce this year! I'm getting more and more knowledge about how to grow things and I want it to pay off so bad! I guess we will have to wait a few more months to know!

Garden Update!

So I'm super excited about my garden! It's been a bit of a learning curve but as spring comes around, we are getting beautiful buds!

The blueberry flowers are beautiful and delicate!

Between the herb garden, the blueberries, strawberries and peppers, we are just waiting for the natural processes to occur...as always! 

Strawberries are on the way!

Herb garden is flourishing!

The sad tomatoes

The one thing I'm sad about is my tomatoes. I tried starting them from seed, but only one hasn't died and it's struggling! I'm hoping it survives the hardening off and maybe we will see it bounce back!

Running Your Mind While Your Body Is Running

When I was training for my marathon, I learned very quickly that this meant LONG hours out on the trails and roads. For me, I love music. It makes my heart jump for joy with the right song and chills me out when I start getting stressed. But any playlist, when it goes for hours on end, can get a bit monotonous. When I couldn't find enough songs that made the long hours of running bearable, that's when I found podcasts!

What made me fall in love with podcasts is the part of my personality that constantly loves to learn. Thing is, I don't have time to sit down and read up on all the latest news as I am usually constantly on the move. Then I found out that many of my favorite pastors put their sermons online in the form of a podcast. As I started listening to these, I actually began to crave the long runs so that I could listen to them. By the time I was done with my runs, it wasn't my body that was just feeling refreshed, but my mind and spirit.

Since then, I have started listening to podcasts all the time. I listen to them while I drive, clean, craft, cook, garden, and of course, run! My repertoire of what I listen to while I work has expanded dramatically too. So here's my favorite podcasts and the links so that you can listen to them too!

The Mark Davis Show - a local news talk show. It helps me keep up with the news and issues being discussed in my community!

The Glenn Beck Program - Highly entertaining as it is informational, I enjoy listening to them talk about national issues. I consider it my American duty to keep up with what is going on and be an informed voter!

The Survival Podcast - not only does it talk about good things to be prepared for like ice storms and blackouts,  but it also talks a ton about gardening and permaculture. I learn something every time I listen!

Stuff You Should Know - Purely educational, they bring a different topic to each show and discuss what it is, history behind it and if applicable, the science behind it! They talk about everything from pirates to muppets. You will definitely learn!

Harvest Eating Podcast - Chef Snow talks about how to cook locally and seasonally on this podcast. He doesn't just give recipes, but teaching cooking techniques too!

Brant and Sherri Podcast - by far my favorite of them all. Brant used to be a DJ on a radio station we listen to and his quirky and fun insights into Christianity and the love God has for us always makes the runs I have more awesome!

The Pocket Lenses Podcast - This podcast is awesome as it teaches how to take great photos without the ginormous DSLR cameras people have. From point and shoot to cell phones, my photography has already improved!

PodCacher Podcast - When it comes to geocaching, this is the place to get your news, tips and tricks and fun interviews with other podcachers! Always love their weekly shows!

The Gun Show Podcast - I love this podcast as they don't worry about being "polished" and "radio professional" and just tell it like it is. From training to new guns to news, this is the place I love to listen and learn from!

Breakaway Ministries - Jared and I were shaped by this on-campus bible study while attending Texas A&M University and it is awesome that technology allows us to still listen today. I always learn and grow spiritually while listening to Ben Stewart or any of the guest speakers!

The Mickey Miles Podcast - How can I be a Disney runner and not listen to a Disney running podcast?? This podcast is awesome as they answer listener questions and discuss events and news in the world of RunDisney.

The WDW Radio Podcast - This is the podcast that makes me the happiest on my runs. While I'm digging deep in mile 9 of my run, Lou Mongello is describing and talking about anything and everything Disney. Makes the times I'm not at my second home much more bearable!

Whew! What a list! I hope there is something for everyone on this list that you can add to your podcast repertoire. Now excuse me while I go listen to one as I vacuum the house!

Giving Plants Salt

Last month I talked about keeping focus on the important vision of your dream instead of everything that is impeding it. This month, I've been having to focus hard! While some great blessings have happened at church, the biggest thing that has been my obstacle is fear.

I actually thought I had gotten past this. My first few months of marriage I dedicated myself to trying things that I was fearful of to show myself there is nothing to be afraid of...ironically including gardening. However, I am discovering that I am a person driven by fear when push comes to shove and it takes a ton of mental focus for me to overcome my instinctual paralysis. The fears vary. I don't like disappointing people. I don't like disappointing myself. I don't like failing at something I have tried. I don't like not being able to help people. But if you look at the majority of my fears, they are self centered. It's me feeling bad that I'm trying to avoid. That fear can keep me from reaching out to others who are desperately wanting to know what hope there is in world.

What I am specifically struggling with now is I feel like I am getting advice and listening to people much wiser than me tell me how to most effectively run my ministries. I want and yearn for their guidance. Yet as I desperately try to follow these guidelines I get frustrated when they don't seem to be working. I get so passionate about my ministries, that I want to see instant results!

Yet God doesn't work that way. In fact, God doesn't work in any predictable manner whatsoever.

I LOVE listening to podcasts. I remember growing up I would listen to Adventure in Odyssey all day long for years on end whenever I was in my room, changing out the tapes every thirty minutes. I'd clean my room. Work on crafts. Do homework. There was just something I loved about listening to something while I worked, especially something encouraging or informational. I've recently stumbled across a podcast on survival. It's not your typical survival podcast, like, how to survive in the middle of nowhere while camping or hiking. It's also got things on how to make your home self-sufficient. While I might try a few of the things in the future, one topic of podcast actually caught my attention as it talked about aquaphonics. It's where your fish tank system helps grow your plants. The nitrogen produced by the fish gets dissolved in the water. You then take that water and water your garden with it, providing much needed nutrients to your plants. The plants then filter the water through the ground and root system, making the water purified for your fish. I had actually studied a bit of it in school and it's an ingenious system, especially if you are farming fish. However, one important note: you can't use saltwater fish because the salt will kill your plants.

Couple that with the passage I read this morning:

The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the city has a good location, as our master can see. But the water is bad and the land doesn’t produce crops.” Elisha said, “Get me a new jar and put some salt in it.” So they got it. He went out to the spring and threw the salt in. Then he said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have purified  this water. It will no longer cause death or fail to produce crops.” The water has been pure to this very day, just as Elisha prophesied. ~ 2 Kings 2 19-22

Can you imagine if you were a farmer and you saw Elisha put salt in the water and proclaim it purified how perplexed you would be? No flashy magic-y sparkles flew out of it. No parting of the heavens with a hallelujah chorus. No indication that it wasn't just salt water. And he put it in the spring so the whole thing was contaminated! If I were a farmer, I'd be angry that he just put salt in the water that I'm supposed to try to grow my crops with!

There's no textual part that explains what happened after Elisha put salt in the water. But I can imagine he left and the farmers surrounded the spring and said to each other, "Well, it was bad water in the first place. It was worth a shot." Some might have said, "What the heck are we supposed to do with salt water?" But can you imagine that first farmer that decided to use the water on faith? Watering their fields wondering if the water would work or not, knowing they wouldn't eat if it didn't?

Sometimes in ministry it seems like we are watering our fields with salt water, wondering what the heck we are doing and thinking it will never work. But imagine the farmer's surprise when the crops started growing and growing abundantly because it was water purified by God. In ministry, we are told the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. I wonder if this is because many don't believe that God can take whatever is salt water in our lives and use it make plants grow. Those salt water moments cause us to fear and paralyze us to tell others the Good News about Christ.

I know I have plenty of salt water moments in my life where I wonder how in the world God is going to use me for ministry. But if I let my fear hold me back, I will never get to see God work in the lives of those around me. I have no control in what happens in my ministry except my obedience to the authority of God and those he has placed over me. So, until I see my crops grow, that's what I'm going with. I'll get back to you when I start seeing buds!

Day of Rest

So today there was no workout. Isn't it funny when you aren't supposed to do something, it's all you think about? So this morning, after Jared and I slept in, all I wanted to do was run. But since I know that my body needs the rest, I just read about running haha. Spent some good time perusing Runner's World magazine, The Marathon Method, and The New Rules of Marathon Nutrition. Great reads so far let me tell ya!

After Jared and I took the dog and went geocaching, but miserably failed finding anything. Duchess loved the walk though. Then we went and ran some errands, which included the grocery store AND the plant store!

I was super excited as my garden has been taking off in some places, and had died in other places. My top half of my lettuce is doing great! The bottom part of the planter, not so much haha. So I replanted some lettuce.

Garlic is doing great. I hardly have to do anything for it!

Then my sunflowers didn't make it, but I realized this last month, what good Texas girl DOESN'T have bluebonnets in her garden? This girl now does! I love them! They are my favorite!

My green bell peppers are growing fast!

And I planted some cilantro today! I'm gonna have to make some sort of shade for them so that they aren't in the heat as long.

Jalapenos are holding on. I keep praying for the one in the back haha.

Then I finally have BASIL! Just the smell makes me hungry!

The last thing that didn't make it was my onions. So I'm re-starting those in little seed starters next to my mint (which of course is thriving).

 

Waiting for my parents to come in tonight and we are going to do Mexican of course! Can't wait to see them. Brother comes in tomorrow! Yay!