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Being that we’re smack dab in the middle of gardening season I thought it was the perfect time for another post. Earlier in the year, I did a blog post on gardening tips for beginners and today I wanted to do a follow-up on that with some of my gear recommendations. Especially because with the pandemic I know so many people are gardening for the first time this year. Everyone has their own advice, but today I’m sharing some of my favorite tools and tips that have worked the best for us to make the grow season much easier!

Raised Garden Boxes

If you’re loving gardening this year, something I highly recommend investing in for the next season is garden boxes. I love raised beds for a few reasons. The first being it makes them a little higher off the ground so they help save your back (dang I feel old saying that..) And two, it can be so helpful to cut back on weeding! Our first 2 seasons at our community garden we were in tall garden boxes, and while there was certainly maintenance in cutting plants back, we didn't spend too much time weeding. Then this year, we upgraded to a larger plot in the ground and holy moly have we spent a lot of time weeding.

Here’s how I know it helps too, Evan got us a set of garden boxes from Costco and we planted about half of our crops in those and then our larger plants that needed more room right in the ground. Let me tell you…. the weeding in the boxes has been minimal comparatively! So much so I want to add a few more next year because weeding can be so time-consuming! If you’re looking at this blog out of season the exact boxes we bought may be out of stock there but you can find the same ones on Amazon for a little more here directly from the company. I also included some other options below that could be good depending on your situation below.

Creating Garden Markers that Last

If you know me… you know I like to keep things colorful. So I created garden markers so we could keep track of things and also have the most colorful plot 😜. Here’s the thing though, if you’re going to make them you want to make sure they’re going to last! Between the beating of the sun and getting wet during watering, they need to last through the elements! If you’re looking for ones that are ready to go I recommend these or if you want to go the DIY route like me then I recommend you to seal them with a product like this. I first made ours during our first season and they lasted 2 full seasons (some going on their third). Some of ours would have even lasted longer but we forgot to pull a few during the Fall and Winter last year — which I recommend doing! Here are some other fun DIY options I recommend if you’re into that too!

• Rock Garden Markers

• Spoon Garden Markers

Double-up Tomato Cages

This tip is key! Guys, tomato plants can get HEAVY! I highlight recommend doubling up the tomato cages at the beginning of the year to give them more stability. It’s also key, as they are growing that you pull the branches up and through. If you don’t do that, they will continue to grow out and then they don’t get as much support from the cages they can. Our favorite cages to use are these ones. They also have two different sizes so we try and get the more narrow one and put them inside a wider one so there are different layers of support.

Wood Trellis

When it comes to growing snap peas, beans, and cucumbers we’re all about using trellises, specifically wood trellises. You’ll see a lot of different options out there but frankly, a lot are crap. Especially the netting ones. We tried those our first year and I would not recommend them… Our favorites are these which give you enough height and most importantly stability. For extra support, I also recommend staking them in the middle on one side with a metal fence post (I share my rec below with the plant support). Especially if you’re growing cucumbers or other vining plants that get heavier!

Garden ties

These little ties are KEY! As things start growing, these are an awesome way to guide your plants on where to grow and connect them to support poles. Here are the plants I use these the most for:

• raspberries

• tomatoes

• snap peas and beans

These are great because they’re just like garbage ties and are easy to use and just give plants a little more support in connecting where you want.

Plant Support Stakes

You’re definitely going to want to have some of these guys for your grow season. We have a variety of them but these ones are my favorite. The key here too is get ones that are tall enough and maybe even taller than you thought you’d need. You’ll lose some of the height in the dirt to get stability so I recommend going with at least the 5-6ft tall ones. I’d also recommend having a few heavier duty ones on hand like these metal fence posts. These are great for giving trellises extra support like I mentioned and then we also use on our raspberries which can get heavy and pretty big and out of control throughout the grow season.

Good quality clippers

Don’t skimp on these! You don’t need the most expensive ones but don’t go for the cheapest either, because they’re not going to get the job done. Throughout the grow season, you’ll be doing a lot of trimming and harvesting and having sharp clippers will make your life so much easier! These are the ones I recommend that I’ve had the last few years that were quite the upgrade from others I bought. Costco also sells a 3-pack of different trimming tools at the beginning of each gardening season I’d recommend too. If you haven’t noticed, we’re big Costco shoppers over here!

Kneeler

Add another thing I feel old for recommending… a kneeler! This is key though! Especially if your garden is right in the ground. Weeds are going to happen and your knees will say thank you for having one!

I hope you found this post helpful and if you want to save it for next year be sure to pin it on Pinterest! Below is also a round-up of a bunch of the recommendations I shared too! Happy gardening!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience which means if you purchase something I recommend I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

One of the reasons I fell in love with our townhouse when we first looked at it was the outdoor space! Boy have I been thankful we’ve had it during the pandemic too… Being able to eat dinner outside, read a book or get some fresh air while working… it’s been a blessing that’s for sure! Since we’ve been spending A LOT more time at home this summer than we had planned too I’ve been really focused… ahem, obsessed… with making the most of the space. All without spending an arm or a leg because ish is a little nuts right now and holy cow can outdoor furniture be expensive! 😳

So now that we’ve officially finished the space, you know I had to share how it turned out! Before we do that though, here’s a few before shots so you can see what we were working with. It’s definitely not a huge space so it was all about designing the space with function, making it fun and keeping that budget in check.

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There’s 3 main parts of our outdoor space, the patio, side yard and balcony — all of which needed some help! Throughout the winter and spring we started picking up a few things here or there, including our patio set that we got for a steal right after Christmas. I’m talking half the price! For the most part though, we needed to furnish all 3 areas.

The Patio

The one thing we had to start was our 4-piece conversation patio set! So we weren’t totally starting from scratch on this space. Evan also really had his heart set on getting a fire pit for the backyard. Our backyard is super tight so we definitely couldn’t have wood-burning ones but found a great propane option that was pretty affordable off of Amazon. Since we got that, we decided to use the table that came with the patio set more as a side table or bench if we need extra seating. If you get a fire pit, I highlight recommend one that has the metal cover too so it’s easy to cover for our many rainy Washington days.

Patio Set: Similar | Outdoor Pillows: Walmart | Outdoor Rug: Similar | Fire Pit: Amazon

Then for a few Costco buys! I had been looking for weeks for outdoor rugs that, again, weren’t ridiculously expensive and Evan found this one at Costco in the exact size we needed for $40 off! I wish I could link that for you guys but they’re out for the season. If you’re in the market for a new one next year though, definitely check them out because the quality is awesome! We had also got one of their outdoor light sets for Christmas that we hung from the fence. We just used little screw hooks on each fence post to keep things simple. The Costco light set is a great deal too because it’s 48-feet and they were less that $50. We ended up needing to get a smaller set to finish off the side yard and even on sale those were $30 and they were only 24-feet. So another thing to add to your Costco list!

BBQ: Lowe’s | Patio Lighting: Similar

Evan’s family also gifted us this amazing BBQ as a housewarming gift! Which has made the backyard 10 times better than any decor we could have done! This is on the other side of the main patio kind of in the corner between the side yard. Then we finished off the space with a few plants, of course! I had got a flat of marigolds for the garden and my flower boxes in the front of the hose so we filled up a few more pots with those and then Evan really wanted to get a Japanese Maple tree in honor of Scoots so he picked up that little guy! In a few years it will probably be the perfect height to fill up that space too.

The Balcony

For the balcony, we decided to keep things really simple and keep that budget in check. I went back and forth on some different options but decided to save on this portion and we went with a few stackable chairs from Home Depot. Then I added a little signature Anna color to the space with an outdoor mat and some throw pillows I found at Michaels on clearance. Evan also found the side table on clearance which finished up the space perfectly! Now we can enjoy weekend mornings out there watching the hummingbirds.

3 Piece Patio Conversation Set: Rattan Set Amazon | Rocking Chair Set: Amazon

The Side Yard

This one was the toughest part! I was so torn on what to do with this space. The side yard is pretty narrow — I’m talking 5 feet across so we definitely didn’t have too much space. I also didn’t want the space to just go to waste though! I must have went back and forth on 10 different ideas before finding reasons why they wouldn't work. After running through so many ideas, I had just decided to leave it as is for a dog run for Benji and figure something out next year 🙈. Evan knew I really wanted to do something with it though so for our anniversary he decided he was going to makeover the space for me!

The one thing I was really hoping for that space was having a place to lay down especially because it’s shaded over there for a lot of the day. Originally I was thinking a hammock, but we ran into the prob of the stands being too big and there’s concrete poured below so we wouldn’t be able to dig up for posts — like I said, so many ideas squashed! All that being said, he decided to build me an oversized bench! Then we had also gotten some pavers from my sister that they weren’t using so he put those in place, leveled out the space with more gravel and even got a little patch of grass for the corner for Benji!

Pavers: Home Depot | Pea Gravel: Home Depot | Large Pillows: Lowe's | Standard Pillows: Similar & Similar | Chaise Cushions: Lowe's | Cinder Blocks: Home Depot | Landscape Divider: Lowe's

The bench is 8 ft long and a little more than 2 feet across so plenty of space to lay down! We found a few different simple designs on Pinterest that we liked that were simple and didn’t involve too much construction. He built it out of interlocking cinder blocks and then some wood for the top part that he stained and sealed. Then to finish it off, I bought some cushions to make it extra cozy!

Since he made the bench, the size was a little bigger than most of the standard cushions so I ended up getting two chaise lounge cushions and then a few big outdoor pillows to mix in with some others I had already bought. All of the cushions and pillows were on clearance too so it was a major score! Can you believe those big pillows were only $13?! On top of the other smaller ones I got at Michaels for $7 a pop! If you’ve ever shopped for outdoor pillows you know that’s a steal!

Here’s a look from above too so you can really see we weren’t working with a lot of space there! overall I am SO dang happy with how the space turned out. I knew Evan would do a great job but it really exceeded my expectations and I’m so excited to spend more time in the backyard now that summer weather has finally arrived in Washington!

Shop the backyard

So, in case you didn’t already know this… Organization and systems are my JAM! Like it might not be normal how excited I get about these things… but your girl needs structure when it comes to keeping my life in order. Not only do I need structure but I’m always on a hunt to find tools that make those systems as easy as possible. So today I thought I’d share a look at my process and some of the things I recommend if you’re trying to get a little more organized too.

Why Cozi is my Organization BFF

We’re jumping right into to my FAVORITE app for organization, Cozi. After Evan and I double-booked ourselves several times with family and friend get-togethers, I decided we needed to have a shared calendar so we could keep track of things and avoid saying yes to multiple things on the weekend. Sure, we could have just used a shared Google calendar, but another thing I realized was we were doing a lot was texting about groceries. “Can you pick this up on the way home from work?”, “Did you remember this when you went grocery shopping?” sound familiar? So I started my quest (yes, it was a quest) for finding an app that had a shared calendar feature + a shared grocery list option in one place. And I tested out a LOT of apps, just ask Evan 😂 and when I landed on Cozi I realized it had everything I wanted.

Guys, we use this for everything and it’s been a real gamechanger for us. Not only for our calendars and grocery lists, but we use it for keeping our other systems in check too. Things like meal-planning, weekly chores, weekend to-do lists, house projects, all of the things. One day I may just do a full blog post on all of the ways we use it because it is bomb.com. Here’s the best part too. It’s free.

It’s not just great for couples either, it was actually built for families and you can add your family members and decide who gets notified for what too. Trust me, it’s a life organization gold. The free version will totally get you by with all of the features I mentioned but they also have an upgraded version called Cozi Gold which we opted for which is $29.99/year. The biggest reason we did that was because you get a monthly view instead of weekly and then you also have more control over the notification settings too. Just do yourself a favor and check it out because it’s super convenient.

Creating Cleaning Routines

When you’re busy living life and trying to keep up with work and everything it can be easy to let some things slide. For me, I realized we weren’t keeping things very clean. Like… when was the last time we vacuumed?! For some, this might not be a huge priority, but I work from home and am always in a better mindset when our house is picked up and cleaned regularly. So we decided to sit down and come up with a plan that fit both of our needs. Sometimes just sitting down and having an actual conversation about things (especially because we had just moved in together) can be really helpful. For us, we broke our cleaning chores into the following:

• Daily: Pick up clothes off the floors of bedrooms, wipe down kitchen counters and stove, and wash or put away dishes

• Weekly: Vacuum, wipe down bathroom counters and tidy up as needed

• Monthly: Clean kitchen top to bottom, organize the pantry, sweep/mop/vacuum all floors, refill any items needed and do an inventory of what needs to be added to the grocery list, clean bathrooms top to bottom, clean sliding doors and mirrors, and clean baseboards

And you guessed it.. we add the weekly and monthly reminders to our Cozi! We’re definitely not perfect and there are times we slip up because things come up, but having a plan and routine makes it so much easier because it’s just built into what we do!

Having Monthly Check-ins

At the end of each month, we also have a check-in to go over things that we have going on for the next month. Obviously we update our calendar as needed but this is just a quick check-in to chat about anything we need to do to get ready for things (gift shopping, vacay planning, etc.). Then we also add in anything else we want to set time aside for like a date night or alone time (so we make sure the other knows not to plan anything for them then).

Meal Planning with Pinterest

This is a big one for us and has been super helpful in planning our grocery runs. If I don’t have a meal plan, I will buy everything at the grocery store (none of which will go together) or I may just eat mac and cheese every night. I’m definitely a simple meal kind of girl so planning ahead helps keep our grocery budget under control plus it takes away the whole mystery of what to eat each night. So each week (on Thursday evenings) we go through and plan what we want to have for the next week.

I have a few go-to easy recipes but for the most part we use Pinterest to organize all of the recipes we want to make. I have a lot of recipes pinned on my account and then Evan and I also have a secret board that has a bunch of different sections so all of our favs are in one spot. We opted for a secret board mostly because I use my Pinterest account for my business too but it’s really helpful in making the actual planning process a lot easier. You can also load in your favorite recipes to Cozi and then there is a “add to grocery list” option that will take all of the ingredients and add it to your lost. Super convenient!

Budgeting with Mint

Then when it comes to mulah, Mint is my go-to for keeping everything organized. It’s a free budget tracking tool that I’ve been using for over the last decade and it is SO helpful. Budgeting or keeping track of your spending usually isn’t one of people’s favorite things, I get it… but if you really want to pay off that debt, save up for that house, or just be able to go out with your girlfriends without being nervous about your card getting declined, then it’s a necessary evil. Personally I love Mint because it makes everything super easy. It connects to your bank account, allows you to add in all of your monthly bills, set up spending goals, SO many things. Most important though it makes the whole process so much easier so that I can do a quick weekly check and then monthly review to see where I’m at on everything.

And there you go! I hope this has been helpful. Like I said, I know I’m a little extra with this stuff but these have all been things that have really helped in me and hopefully they can help you too! If you ever have questions on this topic too, shoot me a message... I could literally chat about this stuff all day!