There were two things I was really excited about when we got close to finishing our house - having a housewarming party and growing a garden. The housewarming party hasn't happened - at least not with the elaborate menu I daydreamed about - but we have had numerous BBQ's and gatherings so what we lacked in quality we have made up in quantity.
And the garden... well, the jury's still out on what kind of bounty we will have but we did finally get stuff in the ground. I started seeds indoors in early April. They didn't get transplanted until mid-June. Then they promply went into shock. But the good news is - we are enjoying a revival. Everything managed to perk up, although it has yet to bear fruit. Unless you count the lettuces. They've been ready for weeks.
Ben built me some garden/grow boxes and this is what I planted:
- Mesclun (which is basically a mix of leafy greens - lettuces, spinach, arugula, Swiss chard, mustard greens, endive, dandelion, frisée, mizuna, oak leaf, mâche, radicchio, sorrel, kale etc.
- Carrots (rainbow variety)
- Tomatoes (heirloom variety, roma, early girl, sweet 100's & sungella)
- Squash & Zucchini (two plants that are taking over an entire box)
- Peppers (Bell, Jalapeno, Anaheim, Habenero)
- Radishes (I heard these helped carrots grow better)
- Herbs (Cilantro, Parsley, Thai Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Chives)
- Cabbage (Red and Savoy)
- Onions (Red, Sweet and Green onions)
- Brussel Sprouts
- Giant Pumpkins
- Peas and Long Beans
- Red Grapes
- Berries (Blackberry (rampant and inhereted with the lot), Blueberries and Seascape Strawberries)
-Mystery Plants - I have more than a few that I can't figure out. Some may be weeds.
I also have tiny dwarf orange, lemon and a lime tree but I think I live in the wrong climate for them to produce.
There are more things I would like to add - Raspberries, maybe a type of small potato, some fall/winter squash varieties, garlic. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. My garden philosophy is to grow things that either you usually just need a bit of but have to buy in larger quantities at the store (i.e. herbs), things that are expensive or things that are rare. But mostly I just like to watch things grow.
10 comments:
that's awesome...I always say I want to plant a garden, but I don't quite have the green thumb for it!
Love it!!! Enjoy the harvest!
Way to grow! One thing we have done with our garden is put a few poles (small branches fallen from our dying tree) to let the squash grow up instead of out and everywhere. It works really well, just do it earlier than later. Good job on building garden boxes Ben, maybe that will count a little towards the making up for overlooking the anniversary, that was hilarious (sorry Lynn, way to have a good attitude) :) I am sure it's way to late, but we have a push mower and it works pretty well and isn't as hard to push as you would think.
nice. i hope you haven't read the story of the little red hen, because i'm coming over to enjoy the harvest.
WOW!!! That list looks great, so tasty and healthy. Not sure about up where you are, but it is too cold for citrus here unless you leave them in pots and move them in every winter. DO Potatoes!!! They grow super well, super easy, and very abundant!!! Artichokes and asparagus are fun too but take a year and two years, respectively, to fruit. Garlic needs cold weather, plant it in the fall, we learned that one the hard way. BEETS are great, sweet and super good for you (try them roasted/steamed served with a small slab of goat cheese). Not sure if Aug is going to work out for us, but we'll be there soon hopefully! Miss ya!
How does my garden grow? Not at all. I am trying to grow tomatoes on my deck. ONE container and I can barely keep it alive. Your garden looks fabulous.
wow, very impressive! good luck, gardens are so fun.
Lynn, I love your family picture. I've been meaning to leave you a message for weeks now about getting access to your house blog. I would love to see it again, Here's my e-mail address
joseph_chiara@hotmail.com
Hopefully I'll see you again soon at the pool or something! Thanks!
gorgeous!!!
How fun!!!! You're going to be one healthy family!! Brady and I just put in a row of sprinklers and then went and bought 8 fruit trees!!! Interestingly at the nursery they told us not to plant cherry trees because most times they don't produce here which I thought was weird since we live in Cherry Valley...I da know:) After we get our trees planted we're going to start working on our garden which I'm excited to see all the options we have by looking at your blog!! I think I'll just print out your post so I can use it as a reference:) Looking great!! I wanna come to your house warming party!!
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