Betsy Brown Thumb

OK all my green-thumbed friends, I need some gardening advice. Here's my backyard:

I have this hill of rocks that I threw wildflowers seeds all over when the snow finally stopped late Spring. Now I have a bunch of things growing, but I don't know if it's weeds or flowers. What seemed like a great idea is not turning out to be such a smart plan. However, I do have a few flowers starting to bloom.Cute, huh? They are pink, purple and white. I have several patches now in bloom. Fun!

Although, this is how most of the yard looks.
And that's after pulling what I know are weeds. (My mom informed me what I thought were poppies were actually weeds, sad.)

Here's my biggest problem. We planted 4 rose bushes. Two are looking good and two look like thisHelp. This rose is called the Ingrid Bergman rose and is a beautiful deep red. I don't know why the leaves are turning brown. Do I need to water more? less? fertilize? pesticide?

This is our other problem areaIt's very sandy soil that is eroding away from the rocks. (One rock actually fell and rolled into our house- it may stay there and be landscaped around, as it is extremely heavy.) I heard that day lilies do well in sand and may help with the erosion. Any other ideas?

This is my favorite part of the backyard. This tree was overgrown when we bought the house. (It was a rental and the yard was in bad shape). We trimmed it up and now it hangs perfectly over the lawn to provide a little shaded area. I planted some bright orange flowers beneath it that have done very well.
This is another tree that we have pruned. It had branches growing along the ground and huge thorns on it. Rick and I were scraped up for weeks (worth it). We still have a little pruning to do on it, but it may wait until next year. We now have to figure out what to do with the hillside. I'm thinking a hardy ground-cover.So there it is. I'm up for any advice/ideas.

FINALLY

I can finally write another I-love-my-bike post. Last weekend for the first time in probably two years, I loved being out on my bike instead of just being miserable that I was so out of shape. Over the weekend, Rick and I did a loop from our house, to the temple, to downtown Draper and back. Lots of hills, not too far. Last night, we did one of our favorite rides from the East side of the airport out to Saltair. Flat and long. Both were wonderful.

Honestly, I have to say everything in life is wonderful right now. While I was riding last weekend, I was thinking how balanced I feel in my life. I know this is rare so I'm enjoying every second while it's here. Over the weekend we did yard work, errands, biked, took the kids to a carnival, had some down time, and dinner with family. I'm so in love with my husband I can hardly stand it. Work is going really well and business is finally picking up. I have nothing to complain about and everything to be thankful for. How great is that?

CSA

This year we joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We paid a local farmer in February to help with seed, etc and all summer we get a weekly harvest of produce. Here is what we are enjoying this week.

Peas, zucchini, beets, carrots, lettuce and chard (anyone have a good chard recipe?)

Originally, I joined with a friend and we split a share, but we found neither of us could eat all the veggies in a week. Another friend joined us this week, so the above picture is 1/3 of a share. Probably perfect for us.

The veggies are organically grown locally, harvested in the morning and delivered to us that afternoon. I actually got the boys to snack on fresh baby carrots this evening. We just get whatever is ready to harvest that week and love being surprised with what will show up.

We are definitely open to any good recipes out there. Please share.