Garden 2009

So, we stopped blogging for a very long time. Why? There is no good reason really. But I am making a commitment to continue this journey of blogging.....Beginning with posting pictures of last year's garden. These pictures were taken at the end of July 2009. I figure we need to see how that garden flourished, because we already have pictures of how it started.

CORN. The corn grew well...and in the fall we had our very own corn stalks to help decorate our front porch!

Raspberries. We transplanted these raspberries from Chris' grandparents house....This was year two and still not many raspberries to harvest. We are hoping they are established enough this year so I can make some raspberry jam!

Blackberries ..Same story as the raspberries...only we bought the blackberries....will we ever have berries??

The Garden. This picture shows the potatoes (up front), the unsuccessful carrots and our pole beans. It's such a pretty garden!

Tomatoes. Our tomatoes did pretty well....this particular plant went crazy!

There is nothing like fresh tomatoes!

Garlic. Super easy to grow. We had planted garlic the previous fall. Then we

decided to change our master garden plan. We brought in the tractor and

brought in soil and gravel and pretty much destroyed the area we planted garlic.

Yet, the garlic survived!!! It was amazing!

Pole Beans.....Yummy. We planted both bush beans and pole beans.

We really liked the taste of the pole beans better than the bush beans, and the

pole beans are way more prolific.

Lettuce and Flowers. We planted some flowers from seed and they were

so pretty! It was fun cutting flowers and putting them in a vase on our

dining room table. The lettuce thrived until the days were quite hot.

Then the lettuce started to wilt...sadness =(

Snap Peas. Very good, but stopped producing when the days became hot.

Sunflower. Pretty neat how tall they grow!

Sunflowers.

So, our lovely garden......we tried to grow a lot of different items. Some were successful, some were not.

Some successful items:

Tomatoes

Potatoes

Sunflowers

Lettuce

Garlic

Corn

Zucchini

Broccoli

Squash-Acorn and Butternut---acorn was better though.

Some not so successful items:

Carrots

Brussel Sprouts

Beets

Rutabega

Turnips

Onions

Also, we had a little bit too much tomatoes, zucchini etc.....for us to eat, but not quite enough to can or store. Therefore, this next year, we plan on choosing a few items and planting a lot of just those few. This will hopefully provide us with enough so we can store some for the winter.

Overall, our first garden was quite successful. It was so much fun to watch our veggies grow! I loved waking up in the morning with my husband and walking around our garden drinking our morning coffee. It was satisfying making dinner with our fresh veggies...(well my husband made it, but I went out to the garden and collected our lettuce, tomatoes etc!)

Backyard Progress!

We are slowly making progress on the backyard!!

The last few weeks, Chris and I have been hard at work. We constructed the raised beds, brought in soil to fill them up, and created our gravel walkways. Whew! Backbreaking work. It is so exciting to see our dream come together though!

Last weekend, we started building the trellis'. We plan on growing squash, zucchini and all those vegetables that sprawl out over the land. How are we going to accomplish this in our little space?? We are going vertical of course!




I am really excited about the couch in the back by the fence. My goal is to put a water feature in the middle of the four main beds (even a bird bath would be nice) and then spend my summers outside, gardening and reading on the little couch.

Our goal to start planting this weekend. Chris is currently working on the irrigation system. We are investing in a drip system which we will be able to tweak as seasons go on, depending on where we are planting the different veggies from year to year.

After the irrigation system, we need to build a fence to keep the chickens from the main garden. Then, it's planting time!!!

While Chris is working on the backyard fence and irrigation, I will be planting some flowers and such in the front yard. Last year we completely redid the front...took out the lawn, but in a sprinkler system, cut down a tree, built a porch and put in a new walkway. We still haven't landscaped it though.

Overall, I think we calculated that we would have a total of about 650 square feet of vegetable/fruit space. Hopefully our first season is successful. We want to be farmers, but no one said we were farmers yet.

Demolition...and Progress!

So, we have lived at our little house for almost three years now. The first summer, we didn't worry too much about the backyard, the second summer we started our chicken coop, the third summer we planted our berry bushes and started thinking about a big garden in the back....

We are on summer number four and are in the process of totally redoing our backyard (we redid the front yard previously...and boy was that a nightmare, I have some pictures detailing the process, but I'll save that for another time.) This first picture is our backyard right after we cut down a very large tree. You see, we do enjoy trees...we aren't tree haters. In fact, I was very sad to see the tree go....BUT...we needed sun to grow our own vegetables. And in today's world, we'd rather know we are eating good, healthy food then have a nice tree giving us shade.

The next picture here is of Chris digging up dirt. You see, half of our yard is going to become paver patio. There are a few reasons for this. The main one being: We enjoy backyard fires, and with us having fires, the grass can't grow and becomes a muddy mess. Therefore, we will have pavers! Yay! Solution!....but very expensive solution, so the actual pavers will probably go in next year. This year we prepared the way for the pavers by laying gravel....yes, gravel isn't beautiful...but a) there is no muddy mess now and b) we are preparing for pavers. Problem solved---for now. This picture was taking on April 18, 2009.

This next picture is of the tractor Chris brought in to help dig up the dirt and the surveying equipment he was using to make sure the gravel would be at the right elevation (I learned a bit about surveying at this point...this little instrument makes really annoying noises...tells you when you are too high or too low. I was sick of beeping by the end of it!) This was also taken on the 18th.

I took this picture today....wow has our backyard changed! The dirt is going to be all garden and the gravel will eventually be pavers. I am continuously amazed at how hard Chris works to make his dreams come true. It took so much work and time to dig out the dirt, level it up and then bring in gravel. I have complete confidence that our visions of a nice big garden will become a reality...because I am working with my best friend and partner and between our hard work and God's guidance...we can accomplish anything!

Our Seeds

Our first year of gardening was the summer of 2007, the summer we were married. I attempted to plant tomatoes and peppers in our backyard along our garage. It failed miserably. I don't believe we had one tomato or pepper! I started to develop a feeling that I would not be able to grow vegetables.

I have always loved raspberries. I do believe raspberries are my favorite fruit. I also really enjoy blueberries and strawberries. Chris's Grandpa Bud had a very large raspberry patch in his backyard. It was tradition that Grandpa Bud and the kids would pick raspberries and then Chris's mom Nola would make raspberry jam. It always sounded to me like such wonderful memories. The next summer (2008), Chris and I decided to make room for our own berry batch! We made a little garden on the side of our house. We then went to Grandpa Bud's house and transplanted some of his raspberries. We also bought some blackberry bushes and three blueberry bushes. Yummy!!!! I am too overeager though..I expected lots of berries that first year...boy was I wrong! All of our berries need a few years to get established. I am hoping that this year we will have lots and lots and lots of berries. I am so eager to make some delicious pie!

Also, in the summer of 2008, we planted quite a few tomato plants, a melon plant, peppers and squash. On our porch we also had a few tomatoes and some Thai chili peppers and all of our herbs. The tomatoes on our porch flourished. However, the tomatoes in the garden never ripened. Could it have been over or under watering? Lack of bees? Nutrients in the soil? Or because we bought weird varieties? This summer, we will definitely be sticking with the normal array of tomatoes...


We are being more adventurousome this year. We have started our own seeds! We have about 60ish starts in our spare bedroom. Acorn squash, butternut squach, zucchini, cilantro, swiss chard, spinach, black seeded lettuce, lavender, thai basil, lemon basil and marjaram. As I drive home from work, I am full of anticipation. How are our plants doing? Did the butternut squash spring up yet? How tall is the zucchini? We planted our seeds about the first weekend in April, and boy are they doing great! Now, all we need is a garden to plant them in....that story will have to wait for another day.