My garden: successes and failures...

My garden is having some wild success right now and yet, at the same time, some dismal failures.

First of all the success, the raised bed that I gave to the boys for their play garden is growing LIKE CRAZY!  I only put 2 tomatoes, a cucumber and 1 pole bean plant in there and they are doing so well.  The crazy thing is, I didn't do anything to the soil in that raised bed because I thought they would kill everything I planted.  No compost, no tilling, no mulch, nothing...and yet they grow!

My raised bed on the other hand is a completely different story!  I amended the soil, I tilled the soil, I formed furrows, I mulched with straw, John put in a drip system, and yet, things are DYING!  I have planted zucchini 3 times!  The snails have killed each and every plant.  I put strawberry baskets around the seeds so they could get a good start, and yet the snails managed to get in.  Seriously depressing.  My tomatoes are doing well, and my bell pepper are hanging on, but they sure aren't pretty.  My potato tower is a flop (my friend Shelly's is growing like crazy, so I know it works!) and my zucchini, well, I've decided I'm done trying with that for this year.  Today I finally grabbed a bunch of wildflower seeds and threw them out in my bare spots mostly just to see if I can get SOMETHING to grow there.  It just might not be my year.

Where my zucchini are supposed to be...

My raised bed.  Tomatoes in foreground, potato tower at the end...

My failing potato tower...

Other than working on the actual edible portion of the garden, I do have a couple things going well for me.  The first are these 3 cute little teacup birdfeeders that I made...

And, of course, the second thing going well for me in the garden are my helpers.  I've got the best ones around.  Henry is just as concerned about my dead zucchini plants as I am.  At least I have someone to commiserate with :) And Charlie, he keeps things well-watered as he has just recently figured out how to work the nozzle on the hose :)

Despite my failures, we're still having fun over here.  But, if you find yourself with a bunch of homegrown surplus, feel free to send it our way.  We'll gladly take anything you've got :)

Broccoli from my garden...

Lettuce from our garden...

 Our little lettuce garden is producing like crazy...

Henry loves to help me pick all the leaves...

He's my sweet little farm hand.  Maybe someday he'll grow up to be a farmer, or have a garden of his own...

I think I spent $17 total on all of my plants when I bought them, and this garden has already more than paid for itself.  Not that that's why we have one, but sometimes it's nice to keep track of such things :)  I think my favorite things about a winter garden is that it requires so little maintenance!  The cold and rainy days keep it pretty moist, so I rarely have to water it, which is great.  I'm definitely a winter garden convert!

A winter garden...

 I'm trying my hand at winter gardening this year.  So far so good, I think...

 I'm growing arugula, spinach, cabbage, butter lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and broccoli.  We'll see how it turns out. 

The best part of my winter garden is my gardening assistant...

I try to sneak outside and check on things when the boys are occupied, but he always finds me, and then finds the dirt in my flowerpots :)

My garden...

My garden is alive and well this time of year.  I have 2 bell pepper plants (1 died, but I should have planted more), 3 zucchini plants, 2 crookneck squash, 3 roma tomatoes, and 3 better boy tomatoes.  I'm already getting lots of zucchini and a few squash, and there are some bell peppers and tomatoes hanging out waiting to mature enough to be picked.  I really enjoy having my little garden.  It's fun tending to it while the boys play in the sandbox or with the water table.  Our backyard is small, but it's really quite amazing how much garden space I was able to eek out of it.  Where there's a will there's a way, I guess :)

Growing...

We have a few things really growing around here...

the baby:


the garden:

I think we are about ready to harvest both!

Our garden is in...

We finally put our garden in last week. My brother brought us compost from the farm, and Bob brought us a couple of scoops of dirt from some new land they purchased to help fill our raised beds. After all the dirt was mixed, Henry and I planted our plants (some of which were started from seed with my cousin, Julie). A few things have already died, but I'll either replace them or just pull them out, we'll see. Somehow I planted way more than I had intended (does a family of 4 really need 12 tomato plants?!) but it will be fun to share our vegetables with friends & family when the time comes.

Henry rode on the tractor with Bob to bring the dirt to our house...




Henry wanted the basketball to be put in the wheelbarrow alongside the dirt...





If all goes well, once the baby comes we'll be eating our vegetables from our own garden rather than purchasing them from the store. That should be fun and hopefully help make our life a bit easier during that time :)

My garden...

...is growing! Everything seems to be doing well except for my basil plants & some flowers that Henry's taken to. I don't know what the deal is with the basil, I give them as much love and care as I do everything else, and they just aren't growing well. If anyone has any basil tips please share.




And here's my helper:


Basking in the sun, plant marker in hand:

Outside...

Henry's love for the outdoors has been well chronicled on this blog. He's most content when outside, which is perfectly fine with me. Today, while I watered my garden & scraped peeling paint off the garage, Henry milled about. His activity of choice was playing with the hose (& the water puddles the hose created). A great day for Henry!

My garden...

flowers

basil, peppers. lemon thyme, zucchini, & beans

tomatoes & squash

A garden...

...this year marks my first attempt at gardening. My dad has always had an excellent garden (although last year he outsourced his gardening efforts to Ben & Kelly :), so I know he will be able to guide me through my fledgling season. I'm still unsure about what I will plant. I'm thinking zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, berries, & herbs. My grandma tells me that everyone likes to plant berries, but after a few years of digging through the thorns for the berries, many people give up on them. I figure I'll put in my few years and see if I tire of them myself. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right? That's my motto, anyways. I hope to get everything in the ground by the end of March. We'll see how I do. My raised beds will finally be home to a garden. WooHoo!



And lest you think I know nothing about getting things to grow...check out this weed in our backyard (Don't worry, it's gone now):

Planter labeling...

I found this idea here via this site. Very cute & clever. The letters wouldn't last forever, but then again...neither would the herbs :)

Project: Raised Bed Construction...

Last Saturday was a day full of promise and possibility. I woke up excited, John...not so much. He's a good husband though, so he indulged me with his efforts. I started out the day feeling nervous that the rain would hinder us from completing our project, but then began to feel a bit convicted about my selfishness. I mean, we are in desperate need of rain! My raised beds could wait, but water was a necessity. So after I knocked some sense into myself, the heavy conviction faded & the project began.

In the beginning was the wood...

My dad raised up the arch with a frame he welded for me. This arch was made by my dad for Denise's wedding, and then borrowed by Jill for hers. So, it's a bit of a sentimental piece to say the least.

The supervisory board

My dad likes to say that John now has a "PHD" (post hold digger) HaHa.

The layout

Love these post caps. Totally my dad's idea.

The four bricks serve as our alignment markers. We will soon be reusing the old pavers from our original patio (read: free) and will be planting elfin thyme inbetween each paver to try and enhance the look of it all. It's all a big gamble really, it could totally flop, but hey, at least the pavers are free :)

Admiring his handiwork

He's good to me.