Our Garden 2011

A quick 2010 recap for ya. Last year, we spent a lot of time clearing out the yard but my plan to have a HUGE garden didn’t pan out like I thought it would.

My windowsill garden didn’t grow, so I planted seeds outside.

Bunnies ate the seeds, so I bought plants. I totally didn’t account for the massive tree being there (it was spring! there were no leaves! could happen to anyone!), and all that grew were weeds, some bell peppers, and tons of HOT banana peppers.

I didn’t mean to buy hot! We had TONS.

We grew 2 tomatoes? Not two plants (well we did), but two. tomatoes.

At the end of the season while there were still leaves on the trees, we surveyed our yard and putting a garden smack dab in the middle of the back of our yard would get the most sun.

With rising food costs, trying to buy organic, kids who for some crazy reason want to eat a few times every day…

it was time to go big or don’t even bother.

Doug measured out an area about 22’ by 44’ big and got the idea for the fencing from this youtube video.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmSd5loe8KQ]

The poles are cemented in and I believe they go down 3-4 feet.

This fence isn’t going anywhere…

and those bunnies aren’t getting in! HA!

Doug used a crank and wire to get the fencing tight.

Eventually we’ll build a gate here, but for now we have a piece of fencing nailed and pulled tight into place

While he finished up the fencing, I planted the garden. All 968 square feet of it. I used sticks and string to mark rows,

and found that a stick with a diagonal cut edge worked WAY better than a shovel (for seeds at least)

I planted the cucumbers and beans along the fencing hoping to use it as a trellis.

For our seeds, we ordered from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds,

and I will never ever buy from anyone else! Great selection, great prices, fast shipping, and their seeds are all old, heirloom varieties. And just look at what their site has to say about their seeds:

We sell only  pure, non-hybrid, non-GMO, non-treated and non-patented seeds. We do not buy seed from Monsanto-owned Seminis. We boycott all gene-altering companies. We are not members of the pro-GMO American Seed Trade Organization! We work with a network of about 50 small farmers, gardeners and seed growers to bring you the best selection of seeds available!

I also recommend reading this page on their site for more info on genetically modified seeds and why we’re choosing to go heirloom.

But besides all of that and how you feel about GMOs, they TASTE better. Like food did when you were a kid. The tomatoes we’re growing are an old variety brought here from Italy in the 1800s, good stuff!

Okay. Stepping off my soap box… 😉

We moved all of the outdoor toys closer so that we could keep an eye on Lily and Ben while working out there.

It was a long day with lots of sun

And we I just managed to squeak everything in before a tornado warning was announced for our area!

10 min later! Yeah, creepy.

We’ve been blessed with TONS of rain and storms the last week and a half and I haven’t had to water it until today.

Fast forward to a week after planting seeds and we’ve got garden!

Excuse all the grass, but instead of using something to kill the grass, we rota-tilled right over it and plan on cleaning things out and mulching once our crops start growing.

Lettuce!
(I keep calling it salad and getting crap, but it’s a SALAD MIX!)

Our rhubarb in the front yard is huge and ready to be picked

Let’s hope these corns don’t try to cross-pollinate with our heirlooms..

I took these on Monday but last night I’ve noticed a few other things springing up! All of our squash, watermelon, pumpkins, cantalope have seedlings, as well as corn, peppers, tomatoes, and a few others.

I can’t wait!

Your Gardens: