I've got Spring FEVER!

I have spring fever really bad!
I want to get out and dig in the dirt, to go running barefoot with my children. There are so many things to do, springtime really makes me want to get outside in the sunshine and just be. I am a child of the sun, to me there is no other place I want to be than in my yard!

We start planning my gardens in January, we have 4 different gardens that my husband and I plant together.

Here are our gardens
1. Traditional vegetable garden, Green beans, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbages, onions, beets, okra, turnips, carrots, brussel sprouts, tomatoes and zucchini
2. Watermelon garden, completely dedicated to growing two different kinds of watermelon
3. Spring garden, sugar snap peas, snow peas, kale, lettuce, spinach, green onions, and radishes
4. Pumpkin and squash bed, sugar pumpkins, Giant Jack pumpkins, acorn squash, and butternut squash.

I usually do a traditional English style garden, with many different layers and rows. I like to incorporate flowers and herbs among the rows, not only for beauty but as a deterrent for pesky bugs and rabbits.

My favorite thing to do, is to go out to overgrown pastures where the trees have gone wild and gather the fallen limbs and make teepee's for my beans to grow on and fences for our morning glory's to climb.

My mother always said when the Golden Forsythia blooms spring is here! I have a beautiful Forsythia in the front of our yard that we can look at as we sit on our porch.

We are lucky to have a really large yard, it is 3/4 of an acre and pretty open all the way around with our house placed right in the middle.

With spring comes lighter meals, I adore salads and fresh fruit. It feels good to finally be rid of all the stews and casseroles of winter. My absolute favorite thing to make in the spring is strawberry lemonade!!! We drink gallons and gallons of it, and it is good for you too!

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Strawberry Lemonade:

1 1/2 cups Fresh Organic Strawberries, cleaned and left whole
2 cups Organic cane sugar plus 2 tsp. You can use organic agave, it tastes really good too!
1 cup hot water
2 cups fresh Organic lemon juice
1 gallon cold filtered water
1 Organic lemon, sliced

Directions
Take 1 cup strawberries and mash them with 2 tsp. sugar, set aside

Place sugar and hot water in a gallon jar and stir until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and cold water to render 1 gallon. Stir until well mixed. Add strawberries and mix well. I let mine set for about an hour so the flavors mix together. Pour lemonade over glasses of ice, Take a whole strawberry and slice it to fit over the rim of your glass, then place a slice of lemon beside it or twist and insert in lemonade.

If you want to make just the lemonade just omit the strawberries.

This is a really nice, tart lemonade, I sometimes adjust the sugar if I am in a tart mood or a sweetie pie mood!

I think I got this recipe from Paula Deen ages ago. Thanks Paula, sorry I had to make it healthier!

I would like to know, is anyone else planning a garden, and what will you be planting??

Thank you to the people that loaned me their pictures. It means alot to me!!!