As Summer mentioned, we had to stop spending money on big things to save for taxes, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t working. Even though progress on the construction slowed down, Summer and I have been sweating it out planting more trees, watering and weeding. I have come to enjoy walking around the yard in the morning (when there is no surf), drinking my coffee and watering our young trees.

It takes me about an hour and a half to water every new plant and tree in the front and back yard. I know that seems like a long time, but watering (and daydreaming about what it will look like in 5 years) puts me in a meditative state where I plan my work day, problem solve on projects I am working on and just plain old gets my day started right.

One of the tough things about planting in the dry season, is actually keeping the soil around the plants moist. When Eddie was down, he suggested we put old palm fronds around our plants to create shade for the roots. Upon that suggestion, I have been collecting palm fronds and placing them over areas that need to have shade from the son. It is much more economical than buying expensive cedar wood chips.

Because the soil stays moist around all of the plants that have shade around the root structure, they are less stressed and are growing well.