The Front Patio

Our front patio is enclosed.  We have a front gate that can open up to allow a car to be parked inside.  It has a normal sized door in it so you can just walk on in {with a key} without having to open up the big double gate. The area between the front gate and the front door is where our Doberman, Rojo, patrols faithfully.  

Once in the front gate, if you look to the left, there is a fence Rafa and I built about a year ago.  At that time half of it was divided off as the chicken yard and the other half left for a little garden area.  Now once you pass into the fenced in area, this is what you see....

In the foreground is a fire ring Rafa is working on.  We hope to have it done within the next couple of days in order to be roasting hot dogs Sunday afternoon. Along the back wall are my buckets of roses.

Turning to the right {towards the house}  you see where my old garden area was.  It has been made a bit smaller.  It is almost always shady here, so this bed will be for the cooler vegetables, like greens and lettuce.

 To the left of the fire pit is our new raised bed waiting for something to be planted in it.   This is where the chicken yard was before, so lets say it is well fertilized.  I hope to grow sunflowers along the wall and other things like squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a variety of beans in this bed.

 Seasons are fickle here and do not follow a "normal" four-season year.  We also live high in elevation, so its chilly, but close to the equator so there is a good bit of sun.  Sun but not hot?   I'm still trying to figure it all out.  The fact that my thumb is anything but green, doesn't help matters either.  I have dreams of an abundant garden.  One day.  One day.

 The best part of the new set-up?  There is room to move around.  Sit.  Be together as a family.  Have a picnic lunch.  A place for children to sit in the dirt and pull at lettuce leaves.  To work on your standing up skills by pulling yourself up to peep through the fence at Rojo.

And maybe, one day soon, it will be a good place to learn that one foot goes in front of the other and you are walking!   But that's just a maybe.  Until then, we'll enjoy the sunny, but not hot, patio.