This month is brought to you by my new (to me) iPhone! Finally I have a quick and easy way to snap shots of our daily life, and I have been sharing lots over on Instagram. My user name is @tamibrundage, I would love if you joined in following my adventures there too.

May is always a busy busy month because it warms up enough to really get going in the garden department. This year was no exception, as we have had too many nice days to count!  I even was able to get my tomatoes in to the ground a bit earlier than usual.  There is this standard in Western Washington to plant tomatoes on Mother’s Day, after the danger of frost has passed, however I have gotten burned and lost whole crops in the past so I error on the side of caution and usually plant the warm weather stuff (tomatoes/peppers/tomatillos/basil/zucchini/beans) the last week of May or first week of June.  Well, with temps already into the 80’s in mid May this year I took a chance and we planted our little seedlings (along with a few larger heirloom starts we purchased)on May 12th.

I am so excited how our tomato starts are doing after I nearly killed them at the beginning of the month….I thought it would be a good idea to fertilize them according to the back of the seed packet. Well, I guess I fertilize how I cook – without measuring! I made the fish emulsion mix too strong and burned my poor tender plants.  They all wilted and had to be transplanted into new pots deeper down so the stem could root.  Avery and I jokingly called it Operation Save the Tomatoes. Did you know tomatoes can grow roots from the stems and it helps make a stronger plant?  Whenever we plant ours we bury the stems about 6″ down below the soil level, give it a try and see if you plants grow stronger this year. We also use DIY cloches, as pictured above, to keep a little extra heat on our sun lovers until mid June or so.

We had our first salad from the garden this month.  It included baby spinach and lettuce, chives, baby carrots, french radishes, and some edible pansy blossoms. So, I hear you asking yourself…what does an edible pansy taste like?  Well I say give it a try! They are a little sweet and earthly, but not a powerful flavor.  They really just look pretty on the salad more than anything.

This month it was time for Sawyer to graduate from our mom & baby yoga class – he was all over the place and no longer really going with the flow.  He loves crawling over and visiting all the younger babies (the babies range in age from 6 weeks to 1 year) which was super cute but he doesn’t always remember to be gentle.  I ended up having to chase him around the room for 75% of the class.  Not so much yoga for me.  Its ok, they have just the class for him called Wee Ones at Source Yoga, and we will be starting that in June. Sawyer has really enjoyed being outside and it fascinated by our chickens. Lucky for them he isn’t walking yet and they are still faster…for now. He is also a great helper in the garden. After the first few times of eating dirt, he has decided it doesn’t taste that great and is more content to hang out, crawl around the grass, and watch us work.

Avery has been more of a reluctant helper in the garden.  Once you get her outside and going she has fun, but it is the getting her out there part that is difficult. I picked up a book on Amazon called The Nature Connection to encourage her to engage with the outdoors. So far she has loved the book and I do see a renewed sparkle in her eyes.  The winter is tough to shake off, and clearly we allowed a little too much time on the electronics. I have been more intentional with spending time with her this past month.  We went on a few nature walks, to the beach, and took her to swim lessons and horse back riding lessons.  She really loved horse back riding.  Maybe we need to consider adding a horse on to our dream farm list.

I also figured an update was in order because I mentioned back in March that my husband Chad was starting college. Well unfortunately after a valiant effort he could not get into the over-full class he wanted to take.  So he decided to defer admission and start in the fall.  Its not such a  bad thing; I have been super busy with work and this does give us a little more time to plan and prepare.

Well that is our life in May. Thanks for joining me again this month for an update on our life and adventures around the Brundage Homestead. Catch up on what has been happening the past few months here.

Do you have any favorite books or guides for encouraging your children’s love of the outdoors, gardening, nature, etc.? I would love to hear any suggestions in the comments.