June 26, 2017

A Garden After All

In which I get a garden planted, with the help of my children and a friendly neighbor girl.

* * * * *
All of that lovely space out there.
Going to waste.
I really just couldn't help myself.
[Signs that you are an obsessive gardener? Check.]

Luckily for me, my oldest son enjoys rototilling.
Also, a very kind 14-year-old came and helped with staking the beds, spreading compost, and planting. My two youngest kids, especially my daughter, helped plant as well.

Although there was space for long rows, I opted to make beds this time around.
So they are 4' wide by 11' long, with roughly 2.5' wide walkways between them.
I've got 8 of them.

Here's what we put in:

Bed 1
 5 tomato plants:
2 Better Bush, 1 Big Beef, 1 Roma (I think), and 1 SunSugar.

4 pepper plants, all bell peppers, but I don't remember varieties.

A handful of struggling marigolds.


Bed 2
2 cantaloupe and 1 'Sugar Baby' watermelon.
The cantaloupe leaves on the left are getting eaten by something already, but I haven't figured out what. Melons are a long shot, particularly getting them in so late, but we'll see how it goes.

Bed 3

Mostly onions, with 2 hills of Spacemaster Bush Cucumbers on the far end.


Bed 4

2 straight-neck yellow squash, plus 6 'Beauregard' sweet potatoes.
Another experiment on the sweet potatoes.
There were only so many vegetable starts available at the store.

Bed 5


Yes, it is a picture of dirt.
Lots of beans!
Yellow Wax, Royal Burgundy (purple), and Blue Lake Bush.
4 short rows of carrots on the far end.


Bed 6

 3 hills of cucumbers, plus 1 hill of mini pumpkins on the far end.

No pictures for the next two, as they are also just dirt still.

Bed 7: half and half, carrots and sunflowers

Bed 8: 3 different varieties of zinnias!

I am anxiously awaiting my seeds to sprout.
We are on day 7 now, where most are supposed to come up within 7-10 days.
There is still about 2/3 of the garden space unused.
Next year I will fill it up.

I still want to get some small-bark mulch to mark out the pathways.
If I decide to change my layout next year, the bark would till right in.
I also need a few more stakes for marking out the corners of the last few beds.
I know I am a little bit on the crazy side, doing this right before baby comes.
Hey, though. Now that it's planted, it's just a matter of keeping it watered for awhile, right?
At least until weeds rear their ugly heads.
Then it will be time for kids to help again!

2 comments:

  1. Wow, you are such an inspiration. I figured we were moving in too late in the season to plant anything, and I'm too distracted with settling inside the house to even think about the outside. But we do actually have a yard now! (Nothing like your beautiful property, that's a lot of land!) And there is a small garden box that seems to be growing stuff (probably mostly weeds, I'm not actually sure), so I'm excited to figure out what's already growing in our yard and what we want to do with our space in the future. Based on your before and after pictures of your old house, I'm sure you guys are going to do amazing things with this new place. I'm excited to see what you grow!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Suzanne! I am excited to have a new space to work on, despite the current ugliness.
      Unfortunately, none of the vegetable seeds I planted have come up yet, but I haven't given up hope completely. At least I'm close enough to mooch off my parent's garden if all else fails. Hee hee.

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