Building a Bean Fort

via pinterest

Have you seen all of the adorable bean tee-pees on pinterest lately? As soon as I saw this I knew I would just have to come up with something for my own little gardeners to play in during the warmer months. This perfect combination of  whimsy and organic gardening, I set to work figuring out just how we could fit our very own bean hut in our small back yard.

Because of our soggy North West climate we decided to use a sturdy oak pallet for the floor of our hut. We also decided to plant the beans in pots rather than directly in the ground. This will be handy at the end of the season since we can just disassemble the entire thing and store the pots until the next growing season. Also, in pots the plants will get warmer, and hopefully have more growth in our very cool climate.

A Bean Hut for the Kiddos

Rather than build a round tee-pee we opted to build a rectangular hut around the shape of the pallet. We are hoping this will make the interior of the fort bigger (so more monkeys can fit inside) without damaging the bean plants or taking up too much of the lawn. 

 With our location chosen we gathered our supplies- a pallet, 6 bamboo poles, twine, (4) 2 gallon pots, and 2 packs of seeds. We decided to plant both sugar snap peas and pole beans since we would have ample growing space for each.

First we leveled the pallet and made sure it was snug. The we leveled the ground under the pots to assure the finished hut would be sturdier and able to handle the kiddos knocking it around a little.

The best part about this project is that the little ones can help with every step. Here is my little helper mixing my soil and planting the seeds with me.

While Masie and I played in the dirt, Jess and Orion added the bamboo poles to the pots and lashed them together with twine. The boys also strung twine between the poles for the vines to climb up. we even got got some instant gratification by planting the little bean plant my son had been growing at school.

Be sure to tie your new little sprouts to the bamboo pole to show them where to climb then sit back and watch them go!

I cannot wait for the boys to enjoy their hard work. I can just see them now playing in their hut and snacking on fresh beans in the summer sun. 

What gardening fun have you been up to?

& peas

Cowboy art

What better way to display my dads old belt buckles

than to paint a few canvases with brown, gold, bronze and crackle medium

 and affix the buckles with hot glue

So simple and nearly indestructible

perfect art for any little cowboy's room

It only cost me $6 bucks and now my boys can share their rootin' tootin' papa's mementos

Thanks Daddy!

*If your dad does not have a dusty old box of buckles they can easily be found on ebay for just a few bucks each : )

Peace Partner!

Bad Mommy

Oh white slipcovered sofas I love you so! 

So much in fact, that I spent loads of money on a nice slipcover for my burgundy colored sofa about a year ago.

yep, I'd say about a year ago was when this lady lost it all together!

The lady with 2 little boys, a geologist (read: dirt covered) husband, 2 cats and a dog has a white sofa.

Pretty much only the lady is allowed to sit on the sofa now, even though she spills more than anyone else.

but oh, how lovely the untouchable white sofa looks amidst all the other "boy" junk in the house, or at least the lady thinks so!

But the lady's love, and the white slipcover could not stay untarnished forever. 

She herself was the one that splattered white paint on the white slipcover (which you'd think would not be all that visible but it was)!

One time when the lady washed the slipcover the little metal D rings that hold it snugly to the ugly sofa rusted in the wash and got rust all over the white slipcover. 

The lady was so sad to be stuck with the burgundy sofa again, but at least the lady could drink red wine on the sofa again, that was nice. 

So the lady took it back and got a new one, from another nice lady at target, for free! Just like that the lady and her white slipcover were back together, given another chance, and the lady was happy. This time, however, the lady had added a new love to the relationship. It was the lady, her white slipcover and Scotch-guard! 

For a while the lady felt badly about spraying chemicals on her furniture, chemicals that might be harmful to her children. Then she remembered that the children are not really allowed to be on the sofa anyways so they wouldn't be absorbing all those nasty chemicals. 

The lady was once again happily lounging on her white slipcovered sofa...sipping white wine, and feeling like a good mother for not exposing her children to those nasty chemicals!