A View of the Gardens

A conversation with Savannah on a walk lead to a spur of the moment decision to add a large garden to the front yard. The area had been in dis-repair for years. The arborvitae had died from water damage, we finally repaired the problem, a small retaining wall was built and then.... We had no other plans except to plant grass. I was so happy with the decision to make a garden space that we got right on it! 

Two days after our plan was hatched excavation began two houses down to build a new home. Mario asked if we could have some soil dumped in our front yard and few days later it was there! Very rich soil with no rocks and minimal sticks. Savannah and Spencer helped us shovel the soil. Without them I fear how long it would have taken. After the area was prepped Mario and Spencer built the boxes. The next weekend Chial and Nikki helped us shovel again, filling the boxes with soil. We got some compost to amend the boxes and barkdust to surround them. 

Leo was not happy working in the yard!

I got to planting right away!

I have tomatoes and basil. Cauliflower and broccoli. Sweet peppers and jalapenos. Zucchini, cucumbers and squash of different varieties. Carrots in the planter and marigolds, calendula and nasturtium seeds are planted around the edge of the boxes. I have a variety of sunflowers planted along the retaining wall. Can't wait to see how it all looks in a few more weeks.



This is the box I planted entirely with corn. Only 15 seeds sprouted! Such a disappointment as I dreamed of the sweetest corn I have ever tasted. The corn I grew in my very own garden last summer and only ate one sweet ear of. I dreamed of rows and rows of sweet corn to harvest.

I replanted the seeds two days ago. I hope it's not too late and we'll get a good crop. If these seeds don't germinate then I'm putting beans and lettuce in. And that is snap peas growing on the side. We still need to put a trellis up for the peas and beans.

Here is my side yard garden with abundantly growing kale, spinach, chard and cilantro, and peas in the back (and weeds. lots of weeds). I recently planted beets for the first time. Now that we are juicing more I love beets in my juice. I have even tried using them in other dishes and I think I'm liking them.

Here is my backyard garden box. My tomatoes usually do well back here so I have five plants. The rest are in the front yard. I also have some zucchini with some fruit almost ready to harvest. Newly planted cilantro, lettuce, spinach and kale. (I think the chickens may have gotten to some of the newly planted seeds this weekend. I accidentally left the garden fencing open and saw some suspicious holes. We'll see what happens. I may have to plant again.) I also just planted some scarlet runner beans on the right side of the box. I love scarlet runners and they are hard to find, but I just found some this weekend at Naomi's where I get my chicken food. They'll look pretty in bloom near the fire pit.