Thursday, August 12, 2010

Our 2010 Garden

This is our second year growing a garden.  And while this year hasn't been anymore profitable in terms of vegetables consumed, I think we are learning bit by bit as times goes by.

I did not start the composting bin as I wanted.  That's still on my list of garden-type things I want to do. We did change the location.  Last year's site was constantly in peril.  Boys, basketballs and gardens do not a stocked pantry make.  And that ancient Chinese proverb, out of sight out of mind, er, okay so maybe the Chinese didn't say it, but not being able to see the garden from the house made it easy to forget watering on the super hot days of summer.

But not this year.  This year, I can see the garden from both kitchen windows and the rear glass door.   With that door right off our laundry room, it is no wonder I can never forget the garden.  I spend a lot of time in the laundry room.  sigh.  Anyhoo, we can also see it from the upper deck and the lower deck.  Here's how it looks from both angles.

You are welcome to biggen these, although the lighting was horrible when I took these with my point and shoot, but please don't leave comments about the sad grass.  This is the first year we've had grass since we cut down a buttload of trees last fall and we are proud of it, no matter how pitiful.



I know there is some other proverb about not airing your dirty laundry but since this is clean, I'm free to share it with the world.  We also switched from untreated lumber, which the termites LOVED! to concrete blocks, and weed paper and chicken wire for the base.

What we're growing:  (all seeds are from Heirloom Acres Seeds)
  • Eggplant - currently growing, no fruit.
  • Watermelon - many fruits growing, none edible yet
  • Cucumbers - haven't had to buy one since the first of July - yipee
  • Zuchinni - RIP
  • Broccoli - RIP
  • Roma tomatoes - one tomato so far, bushes are beautiful and flowering
  • Cherokee purple tomatoes - no fruit, but beautious and flowering
  • Cantaloupe - currently one fruit on the vine - anticipation!
  • Asparagus - shoots above the ground, have no idea if anything below ??
  • Lima beans - huge flowering bush, one bean, was so excited and then it turned brown and fell off
We also planted strawberries, lettuces of all kinds, spinach, green beans and peppers all of which never showed up for the party.   We'll try the cold varieties again soon when we plant the pumpkins.

Tomorrow, I'll show pics of some of the fruits of our labor. 

~R

2 comments:

  1. Your garden looks so nice! I tried a garden for the first time this year and it was a total failure. I need hands-on gardening classes just like I need hands-on photography classes. Reading about how to do it in books is overwhelming to me, and the books often offer different information depending on which method they promote. I did get a few nice salads out of the young lettuce before the caterpillars devoured it all. (It happened practically overnight.) The raised beds are too much in the shade anyway--as I told Danny they would be. Next year we are going to try some container gardening on the deck. It is one of the sunniest spots we have, and I think it will be more manageable for such novices as we are.

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  2. Jenni, container gardens are great! You can do the whole salad in one big planter.

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How sweet of you to drop by.