Our Summer Garden

We have finally planted everything in our summer garden!  It's twice the size of last years, so we are trying some new plants!

This summer we are growing two types of tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, bell peppers, Cajun bell peppers, banana peppers, Anaheim peppers and green beans!

I planted the green beans from seeds about 3 weeks ago and look how much they have grown! 

I can't wait to see how our garden grows this summer!

Under Our Umbrella

After enjoying our new deck, we quickly realized we would need something to provide shade.  We purchased a 9 ft Market umbrella from Academy, it was a great deal for only $35.  It opens easily with a crank and even tilts!  But you can't have an umbrella without a stand.  The stands are $30, so I couldn't see spending that much for a pretty weight.  We decided to make our own!

We got an 18'' planter and filled it with a 60lb bag of cement.  We had left over 1 1/2'' PVC pipe from a plumbing project, which we inserted into the wet concrete.

After that set for 24 hours, we spray painted the PVC, added gravel on top of the cement and 4 little planters.

Much prettier than a weight, right?  And it cost less than $20.