Follow the Garden Progress!

Good grief! It has been 2 months since I have blogged. I didn't realize I had slacked that badly. I have been extremely busy with several new wholesale accounts and training our first employee.... Yeah! So, after last year's pitiful garden, I am making time this year to get my passion going again. I have always enjoyed gardening for as long as I can remember. When we first moved to this house, I loved the huge yard. However the dirt pretty much stinks. It is all weeds and little rocks and just sad dirt in general. I had James to work quickly and we started with 4 raised beds out in the middle of the yard. That of course wasn't enough and I had him add some more the next year and then get rid of the grass in between the beds. The little white picket fence was salvaged from my mom and makes a nice backdrop for the humongous Arapaho blackberries and raspberries. I should have taken a before picture. Everything was filled with weeds and took me a couple of weeks of hand labor. If you let neglect happen, the weeds take over in no time. Caleb has been out there pulling as well so now you see the result. I don't can vegetables so please don't ask me about that :) I don't have the time or the patience. I just pack a bunch of different things into the beds and we eat them as we pick them. Grilling veggies on the back deck is lots of fun. If it is freezable and we have extra, we "might" freeze them but pretty much it is a pick and eat fest. OK, so here is what we have planted. We have strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries that come back every year. In the middle is an herb bed with different herbs that come back as well. This year I planted a few snap peas (first time to try those) along the back fence, yellow squash, zuchinni squash, picnic watermelons (my favorite thing to grow!) green peppers, eggplants, cantaloupe (another first), okra, and cucumbers, green beans (I have failed on those the last 2 years thanks to bunnies) and tomatos. I think that is it. You really can get quite a bit into a small space and we only plant a few plants of each. There are a few things starting to pop up after a few days. My poor chickens have been banished to stay in the pen. Normally I let them stay out with me in the yard when I am out there but they tear up everything. Needless to say, they are not real happy and they pace at the door.

So, here are a few pictures and I will try and update weekly with the scoop. Our neighbors have cows next door in a field. I noticed some really great poop right across the fence. I may scoop it over and throw it in the beds. Cow poop is the best thing ever!