We moved into our house in May 2007. I knew the first thing I wanted to do was have a garden. Even though it was crazy busy with 1 yr old twins moving into our first home I still planted tomatoes. I bought a couple and I planted a few seeds straight out of a tomato I liked! I had 5 good tomato plants that year. I planted them right where the previous owners had laid a makeshift brick basketball court! I pulled out just a few bricks and planted the seeds or plants right in their spaces!
That fall, one of Dh's coworkers came to take all the grape vines and blackberry bushes that took up this entire garden area seen below! While it would be nice to have grapes, I am not a fan of blackberries and I really wanted a nice big vegetable garden with a nice assortment! We did have a HUGE blackberry harvest that year in 2007 though. I spent hours picking them.
This was my first real garden in 2008! I had tons of tomatoes, lots of cabbage, lots of cantaloupe and I HAD PUMPKINS! I also had some peppers, broccoli, cilantro and a few other things. Cucumbers did NOT take off that year. Not one! They really do grow much better on a trellis in my short experience!
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| 2008 Garden |
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| 2008 Garden |
That winter I went to the library and checked out every garden book and Kentucky Gardener magazine I could find! I didn't have internet that year. I really wanted to go bigger, better, and a bit easier! And I wanted to learn everything I could about gardening, bugs, companion plants and organic gardening!
The next year, 2009, we started our square foot gardens. We had them all set up, just like I had read. We even got a great deal on some mulch and got it all laid out nicely. It looked SO NICE! I was so proud.
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| Summer 2009 |
Then, 2 weeks later, this happened! My garden area gets water running thru it in 2 different directions, from the neighbors and from our front yard, right down the center of the garden! Washed all of our hard work away! It still did well though, I had tons of tomatoes, cucumbers, some serranos, 1 small sugar pumpkin. It may not have looked as nice, but it sure was producing.
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| Summer 2009, 2 weeks Later |
Every year the garden grows! 2010, we built a 6th raised bed! In total we have 96 sq ft of raised beds on less than 1/3 of and acre in a subdivision!
The garden did really well this year, except for cucumbers and pumpkins, I started seedlings in March and the garden is still going in Mid November! My garden is ADDICTIVE! Once you start, it only grows! The addiction and the plants! I think about my garden all year around! This is my 4th child! Not just the vegetable garden though. I LOVE flowers too! I strive to make the perfect landscape and it is a lot of trial and error.
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| Mid Summer 2010 |
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| Fall 2010 |
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| Fall 2010 after the cleanup |
I've learned a lot over the past 3 years. Much of it due to my fellow Garden Blogger Friends! Thanks for all you share on your blogs! And I love to share my garden with you! I don't know what I would do without an outlet such as this to share my excitement. I think I would drive my non gardening friends nuts!
Happy Gardening!
Your garden has come a long way in 3 years. It's nice that you documented it. I don't have a single photo of what my yard looked like before I changed it in to a garden.
ReplyDeleteProgression photos and documentation is a great thing to have. Helps to keep us inspired ("if I did that I can do this!") and gives a history of what ended up working and what did not. Thanks for sharing yoru garden's history with us.
ReplyDeleteYa, I do wish I had a picture of what it was like when I first moved in, the basket ball court and the vineyard! Ha! The swingset is now where the bball court was and the garden is where the grapes and blackberries were.
ReplyDeleteThanks for looking! I do enjoy looking back at the changes!
I absolutely loved reading this post. It so like us in many ways, minus the kids and you're ahead of us by 2 years. When we moved into our house last year, the first project we did was put in a garden. We also live on 1/3 of an acre and by fall of this year we've added 2 raised beds. Gardening is SO addictive!!
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ReplyDeleteWell, Thanx for sharing such an interesting info.......its really awesome........I hv got lot of info regarding gardening here.........waiting for your next post........keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fabulous post on the progression of your garden! I love reading about other people's gardening experience, especially the history. I'm looking forward to the Year 4 installment in 2011!
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