Monday, September 13, 2010
End of Summer 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
First Garden Pictures for 2010 Season
As I begin my fourth season of gardening, I couldn't be more excited! Each year I try to do something a little different, try something new and maybe improve on something from a previous year. This year I'm working on improving the aesthetics of the garden and so far I'm very proud of the work that Chad and I have done. Chad has been a tremendous help to me this year and I didn't want to start this blogging/gardening season without giving him HUGE kudos! Thank you, Sweetheart, for the countless hours of weeding, raking, manure dumping and trellis-putting-up....it looks beautiful and I'm so excited to see how it all turns out!
I got this great idea to use the old tiles from our bathroom as stepping stones in the garden. This has been great fun for the kids, as they can play in the garden (the rule is they have to stay on the "stones") without me worrying too much about my plants getting trampled. Alayna usually turns it into a game of hopscotch! The trellises are also new this year. The one on the left will have green beans growing while the one on the right will be home to cucumbers.
The kids just *love* playing outside in the garden! I took this picture during a sunbreak between rain storms. The kids were so excited to get some fresh air.....even if for only a short time!
Having the stepping stones has made defining the planting areas much easier. At the very top of this picture (almost too small to see) is the cilantro I planted today. Then below the stepping stones are (from the top down) italian parsley, basil, rosemary, tomatoes (celebrity) and at the bottom are two walla walla sweet onion plants! Oh and my existing thyme plant is the one on the right side that you can only partially see.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
End of Summer
This is the one pumpkin we got out of our pumpkin plant this year. Its about the size of a cantaloupe, but we've all been very excited about it. Slightly bummed that we didn't have more and that this one is so small. I was hopeful for more since we had lots of flowers and buds, but our plant became diseased and those little buds died and this pumpkin just stopped growing, but we are still thankful to have it.
Lettuce in the middle with brussel sprouts on each side
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One of our last cucumbers of the season. This plant was a bit of a surprise as I *thought* it was a zucchini plant, so I was a little surprised when I started seeing cucumbers! But, we do love cucumbers so I can't complain about getting more of them!
One of our last cucumbers of the season. This plant was a bit of a surprise as I *thought* it was a zucchini plant, so I was a little surprised when I started seeing cucumbers! But, we do love cucumbers so I can't complain about getting more of them!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Failure in Gardening
My gardening experiences have mostly been based on trial and error. I'd read a bit here or there and glean advice from friends, books and websites, but most of my gardening consists of: plant a seed, water the seed, see what happens. In my earliest gardening days I didn't even do that. It was more: buy a plant, plant it in the ground, water it, see what happens. Sometimes wonderful things happened. It was truly exciting to see sugar snap peas grow on vines that started as a little seed in the ground. I'll never forget the first yellow squash I harvested or the pure joy of seeing a pumpkin growing just a couple of weeks ago. But then there are the failures....sometimes the disasters. Last year I planted watermelons and never got even one. I also tried Kale last year and the little plants died when they were barely a few inches tall. Then there were my two bell pepper plants that produced one small pepper each. Its frustrating when you realize you spent more on the plants than what it would have cost just to buy the produce at the store.
A friend on facebook posted a link to this article and although its about farming, I thought it translated very well to gardening. How many times have I thought "it would be nice to grow that but I don't know what I'm doing!" The article made me reevaluate some of the plants that I "tried and it didn't work out so I guess I just won't grow that anymore" (i.e. broccoli, cauliflower, sweet peppers, ...ahem... watermelon). I've learned that success CAN come after failure. Remember my Kale failure? This year I have an abundant Kale plant that I've used in soup, salads and even as greens in a fajita! I'm already starting a list of things I want to "try" next year, like Swiss Chard, and maybe I'll just have to revisit some of my past failures....we'll see.
A friend on facebook posted a link to this article and although its about farming, I thought it translated very well to gardening. How many times have I thought "it would be nice to grow that but I don't know what I'm doing!" The article made me reevaluate some of the plants that I "tried and it didn't work out so I guess I just won't grow that anymore" (i.e. broccoli, cauliflower, sweet peppers, ...ahem... watermelon). I've learned that success CAN come after failure. Remember my Kale failure? This year I have an abundant Kale plant that I've used in soup, salads and even as greens in a fajita! I'm already starting a list of things I want to "try" next year, like Swiss Chard, and maybe I'll just have to revisit some of my past failures....we'll see.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Today in the Garden
These are the brussel sprout seedlings I started a month or so ago and just transplanted.
Finally! A decent head of lettuce. My last crop got killed by our extreme heat. Its going to be hot again this week so I may need to harvest this one soon, even though its still on the small side.
My butternut squash plant never did much.....just some leaves and a few blooms but no squash.....sad.
Italian Parsley on the left; new lettuce seedlings where I replaced the lettuce that the heat killed on the right; in the middle is the cucumber vine that decided to climb over the fence.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Garden in late July
Monday, June 8, 2009
Today in the Garden
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