The Great Outdoors: Garden Style
31 May 2011
Justin has been working like mad on our backyard this year! And I had to show you the post he wrote for our family blog about our garden.
Do you all like gardening?
It is such fun! Here is what Justin said:
I have been having a blast with my garden/back yard this year!! It all started in mid February when the weather was very comfortable to be working and playing outside. I am especially loving this year because of my little Etta is walking and able to play outside with me. She is such a great helper.
I have organized the back yard quite a bit this year building a new deck, more mature plants and starting a new path to the chicken coop, from free bricks that I got from a friend. We like- LOVE FREE!
So anyway, this year we purchased our vegetable plants at The Home Depot, since it is so convenient. We purchased the plants around the first weekend in March, just after the last frost (luckily). This was about a month earlier than we did our for the first year that we tried planting and had little success, because we were too late, and the heat scorched our plants before they had a chance to produce veggies.
We purchased the following plants that are doing great and thriving:
Vegetables
(4) tomato plants: Patio, Grape, Roma and Celebrity
(2) zucchini plants
(2) yellow crookneck squash
(2) cantaloupe
(2) egg plant (first time to try these)
(4) strawberry plants
(2) burpless cucumber plants
(1) package of pumpkin seeds (I planted two different clumps on the side yard in back.)
(1) watermelon (planted in pot thinking it would do well, but has not grown at all. It makes me sad.)
Herbs in pots on the patio table
(1) basil plant
(1) sage plant
(1) rosemary plant
(We just picked 5 eggplants yesterday too!)
What are you planting? Are you having good luck?
What other plants do we need to try growing - next year (or this fall!)?
Labels:
Garden,
Landscaping
Posts
14 comments:
Oh wow everything looks great. I wish we could be harvesting in April or May, but our summer has not even begun here yet. Happy harvesting! ~Merrilee
Jealous! It is still cold and rainy here in Oregon. I wonder if we will even get tomatos planted this year, let alone harvested. But, your garden looks wonderful and someday (Lord willing) I'm going to get one of those little helpers in the form of a grandchild. She's a cutie.
holy moly, those zucchini look amazing! i can't wait to have a real garden space. i am growing zucchini in a container, it seems to be happy as of now, but the veggies are super small. i don't know if they will get bigger, or i am supposed to pick them now since they are green, or what. trial and error, i guess! yours look fab!
that's a pretty darned big zucchini. I'm very impressed with your backyard vegetable garden! I'm growing only herbs this year, but it's so fabulous to walk outside and just snip what I need. Must be even BETTER to walk indoors with an armfull of squash and tomatoes. Great job !!
I am dreaming of a garden like yours! I have loads of different herbs and salads growing in my kitchen garden on the balcony.
Did you use insecticides? I'm growing the same stuff in Texas as well, and almost all of my crops have been decimated. TO THE GROUND. I can tell it's not rabbits. I'm just heartbroken! Any tips to share in that area?
Sarah,
We haven't used anything. I know you can buy ladybugs to help with pests. We also have some big toads around, and try to create spots for them to live, live broken turned over pots. In the rest of the yard we did use a fire ant killer, but not in the garden. We do put our glass clippings on the garden to keep weeds down, but mostly I think we have been lucky in that department!
Ahh, I have garden envy! Love the design of the garden. How ingenious to use a triangle to maximize space for more access to the plants...hmmmm may have to reconsider my thoughts for the herbs. Not so successful with veggies, but I'm working on it. Thanks for posting!
I just posted about our backyard garden too! I love the triangular shape of yours and also the fact that you have herbs...I need those! I love having a garden and seems like you do too!
http://hungrigyrl.blogspot.com/2011/05/homegrown-green-organic-produce-part-1
Sorry I am not sure if my comment went through as my son pressed something that made the screen go all wonky! Awesome garden, I am jealous of the herbs, we didn't do that this year (yet). I just posted about my garden too! http://hungrigyrl.blogspot.com
Look how much it has flourished! There's nothing like being able to grab fresh produce from your own yard. I can't wait to get my veggie patch going :)
Wow, it looks great! Love the triangle bed.
I'm just starting to plant--the rule here is not to plant until after Mother's Day. Everything is in pots on the deck and will be transplanted to the bed once I get it rabbit- (and bird- and squirrel-)proofed.
We're growing tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe, peppers and sunflowers this year. It's our first garden season here, the list of what I wanted to plant was much longer. Next year I want to do strawberries, carrots, squash, bell peppers, green beans and spinach. Now I just have to find a place for all of it.
Wow! I'm so jealous of your veggie garden! This spring was a total wash, and our Lilacs are just now blooming, so it'll be weeks yet before strawberries, and at least a month before we have tomatoes. Everything looks so good! Can't wait to see you feature some of your harvest in recipes.
Our garden is no where near harvest yet only you are inspiring me and getting me excited!
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