“Free mulch! Delivered.”  Bright and shiny, this Facebook advertisement caught my eye. All I had to do was sign up to be on a list and a friendly arborist would drop a neat pile of mulch in my driveway. The form warned that there might be some leaves in the batch. Not a big deal. What were a couple of leaves when you could mulch your beds for free? I clicked “submit” and sat back, waiting for a pick-up truck of mulch to appear in my drive.  See that lovely little pile of mulch in the picture? That would look lovely in my flowerbeds. Last spring, it took several trips to and from Ace Hardware with my van packed full of bagged mulch to get the job done. Not only would this drop-off service save me trips, but it would also save me money. Win, win!  Weeks passed. In the busy rush of life and raising children, I forgot about mulch and trucks and replenishing my flower beds.   Until one night, there was a knock on the door. A thin man stood before us, face ...

Blueberries from my backyard berry patch Getting dirty has a whole lot of benefits. When the military relocated my family to the South East, I was excited to grow a whole plethora of fruits and vegetables that don't thrive in the Northwest. Citrus trees, anyone?  I was also thrilled that after years of living in base housing or renting, we were able to purchase a home with lots of room for gardening. I was not raised by gardeners, but have always had the urge to grow things. My base-housing porches often hosted a variety of tomatoes and strawberries in planters and I've been known to sneak broccoli and cabbage into my landscaping. Just saying. With the space to grow our own food, it's been an adventure in trial and error. Some plants die. I have no idea why. One day they are fine. The next they are yellow, limp, or squashed flat to the ground by the mysterious character "Not Me." The kids love helping plant new seeds and sprouts. They don't en...