Outdoor Challenge: "Please Sir, may I have a bit of Earth?"

The above quote is from my favorite movie growing up. Horribly acted, yet beautiful and magical. Does anyone know what movie it is?  Or hint, hint, what book it may be from?

This morning we started off pruning the Bougainvilleas.  Not my favorite job, but fun with Michael.  Bougainvilleas are all thorns and they can go straight through shoes & gardening gloves.  It doesn't help that I have none of the appropriate work gear.  (I did make my little bare foot boy put on shoes after this picture.) Michael was raking, talking to neighbors, playing Batman with gardening gloves & a cape &, learning to fly & asking construction workers renovating our neighbors house to come and help us.   He sure is hysterical at this age!

I've always wanted to have a garden but we rent and usually have small yards. Container gardening seemed the right way to go and when I saw these re-purposed pool gardens I knew it would be perfect for us.  I found this pool by the side of the road headed for the landfill.  I drilled some holes on the sides about 1 inch from the bottom for drainage.  I'm hoping some of the moisture gets trapped at the bottom because we live in a dry, desert climate. My friend gave us some beautiful compost and we went and bought dirt and manure for $9 and some change. Michael was so funny at the store, incredulously talking to everyone about the stinky manure we were, buying?  And he made up a great song about stinky manure and dirt all the way home. 

We've planted all sorts of seeds. Sweetie Tomatoes, Beefsteak Tomatoes, California Wonder Peppers, Black Beauty Zucchini, Watermelon (Michael's idea), Lavender, Morning Glories, Zinnia, Echinacia & Snapdragons.

We have tomatoes and green peppers planted.  It looks like we may need to thrift another pool to get a few more plants in.  We also planted Morning glories, Zinnias & lavender in pots.  I'm hoping to grow Morning Glories in the backyard and the front courtyard.  Can't wait to see that!

And our first rose of the season bloomed today.

Hope you had a lovely day!