The garden, we are all about it, and it’s super fun to work on together. Last year Stephan dug out the bamboo grass I planted long long ago that had marched out of control and we replanted the back garden. This year we decided to dig out more grass out front, remove some bushes, replace them with hydrangeas, and also add a lot more flowers into the mix. We are working our way to being as grass free as possible, and made some major headway this year. More on the front yard later. The side yard where I’ve had my raised beds for veggies needed some help this year. 2 of the 3 raised beds were rotted due to age. SO, we decided to completely dig out the entire side yard, put down a path, a patio, and then expand the veggie gardens planting right into the ground. Best decision ever! It’s great because the back yard flows nicely into the side yard now, and we spend a ton of time on the new side patio. We usually take our coffee and some fruit or snacky breakfast out there and we can see both the veggie garden and the back yard. We’ve also focused on planting even more bird, butterfly, and bee friendly plants which I already had a nice base of. It’s really made a difference and we love it. We have several different kinds of butterflies: monarch, cabbage, swallowtail, black swallowtail. All sorts of bees bumble about everyday, and the birds, especially the yellow finches are having a heyday with all the new seeds they can eat. Plus we’ve seen an increase in hummingbird sightings which is also super fun! We love our little city sanctuary backyard. We have so many varieties of birds, some bunnies, big squirrels, lil squirrels, chipmunks, and so many different bee friends. The flowers are beautiful and provide such gorgeous color throughout the season. The veggie garden has been producing so much great food, it’s just awesome. I’ve been busy freezing and making delicious meals with the bounty. We are enjoying: lettuce, chard, arugula, onions, several different kinds of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, green beans, kale, some squash and carrots are on the way, plus we can’t wait to harvest the fennel seed this fall. It’s amazing what you can do with a small space and how much it can provide for both you, and the wildlife friends. It’s good for you and the environment! Here’s a super quick video tour as well! The fence which is usually covered in vines is barren, seems to be a bad yer for some pests so we stripped the fence of the ill plants to control the problem and applied neem oil on the plants. Seemed to work pretty good and we avoided the use of gross chemicals too! Follow me on instagram for more insight into the garden, cooking, studio, fresh vintage finds etc!