Getting The Gardens Going

I'm so excited about our yard/gardens this year. I think I'm most excited because I'm not going to be pregnant or have a newborn this year so I will be able to do more in it. And of course we have big plans!

I use our Producers Co-op schedule for planting, and just browsing it you can pretty much be growing something year round down here. March is pretty active on the schedule so we jumped into gear and grabbed a few plants from the Co-op. Then with a little 'trading/exchanging' with some friends we ended up we a good garden this year.

Here is a video I took the weekend we planted everything. I've decided that videos are a great way to document our yard... I'll have another update later on this summer with the progress.



Since the video I've done a bit more planting. AND this weekend we were blessed with FREE t-post to stake our tomatoes. I prefer cages, but since I'm at home more I'll have the time to tie up our tomatoes. I've read that if you keep the sucker shoots trimmed on your tomatoes the plant will grow bigger tomatoes... I will test that theory this year.

Here's a picture (that I drew in five minutes) of our yard and a list of what we've got (or hope to get) growing this year.



Front of House
-pansies (soon to be done)
-day lilies (just emerging)
-perennial grass
-dwarf dahlias?

The Pansies and Perennial grass was purchased with fun money (gift card from Christmas). However the Day Lilies were planted last year. They didn't establish as well as I would like so I might fill in with Dwarf Dahlias.

Deck Area
-obedient plant (invasive)
-gerber daisies
-dwarf dahlias?
-honey suckle

The goal for the deck is shade & pretty color. Steven found honey suckle on sale last year and we have been training them to grow up to cover the deck. They are native to this area so they are doing great. Along the path from the gate to the back yard are some transplants I planted last year. I planted just a few (6-7) and watered semi-regularly and they TOOK off. If you are looking for a good tall invasive plant, Obedient Plant is the one for you! And finally I have some very faithful Gerber Daisies that I think I got three years ago. They continue to come back and I continue to welcome them. I've had trouble with other plants in this area so I'll probably throw in some dwarf dahlias to fill in around the Gerber Daisies.

'Pepper Garden'
-peppers
-easter lilies
-zinnias

We call this area our pepper garden because it's where our peppers have lived the last few years. I need to rotate something else there, but was lazy this year. The Easter Lilies are established next to the AC... courtesy of Steven's family and their church! Like I said in the video it's a deep bed so it's hard to weed in the back. I planted zinnias this weekend to fill in. Zinnias are annuals (have to be planted every year) but like the Gerber Daisies if you crush the spent flowers and leave them in the bed they will come back year after year. I hope to get Zinnias going really well in the Pepper Garden.

Free Rangin' Yard Plants
-sunflowers
-purple hauled peas
-bush beans
-squash
-watermelon/pumpkin

Some things I can grow right in the grass; sunflowers, squash & pumpkins for sure. And some things I'm not sure if I can grow in the grass, but I have seed (which are inexpensive) and I don't mind experimenting. I think the real key with "free rangin' yard plants" is lots of water... and no needy plants (like say corn that needs lots of nitrogen & tomatoes which can be high maintenance). I haven't done watermelon in the grass and have a feeling it won't do well, but I'm still going to try because I simply don't have room to do it any where else. Hopefully my water theory will come through for me on this. The Peas & Beans are legumes (take nitrogen from the air) so it should work out well... provided I keep up with watering. Watering is HUGE for Texas.

Box Garden
-spinach (almost done)
-tomatoes
-carrots
-radishes
-eggplant
-cucumber

And my beloved box garden. If you don't have at least one raised bed you should... unless you have enough land to till up the soil in mounds... I can't wait till we can do that! I love to grow spinach. I think I counted like 9 plants for this year and we still can eat it as fast as it grows! Sadly I had to pull out two plants this past weekend due to flowers forming... sad sad day... but September will be here soon and we can plant more spinach! The tomatoes & eggplant are doing well. Last year I had the eggplant over with the pepper and kinda forgot about it till the fall... we had a great fall eggplant harvest, though. The tomatoes are slightly rotated... but only slightly because we just don't have that much room. The carrots are just for fun, so I'm not really upset that Miss M & Zuzu went through them while in the back yard. :) The radishes are also for fun. I don't like radishes, but they grow quickly and are fun... they are like the instant gratification of gardening. And cucumbers are kinda an experiment. I think two years ago I tired cucumbers and failed. I got close, but failed in the end. I'm growing them from seed so the failure won't hurt as much.

I love gardening! Can you tell? But seriously, as soon as you get used to fresh home grown tomatoes it is too hard to eat over priced bad tomatoes from the grocery store. I also love gardening because it just helps me feel closer to God. We have such great bonding moments in the yard. It's quite and a great time for me to think/meditate. And of all the times I've heard God speak directly to me it happens most while I'm working in the gardens. And with all the agricultural references in the Bible I have a lot to think & meditate on.

Happy Gardening!