How does your garden grow?

It's that time of year again. Garden time! I love my garden. By March, when the daffodils bloom, I'm aching to play in the dirt. I want leaves on the trees and the grass to be green. Thankfully, the time has finally come when I can get in the dirt and have some fun.

Looky at my square foot gardens. They are the new additions to my veggie garden. I
LOVE them. If you have not tried this, you have to. The planting went so much faster, and my broccoli actually looks marvelous this year. Plus, it's So much easier to water and work with. This one has peas, spinach, carrots, onions, broccoli, beets, chives, oregano, and nasturtiums. I have another one like this one except with kale and no onions. Then I have some more for tomatoes/squash and one for corn/beans.


My flower garden is going more cottage style this year. Hopefully, it will look slightly more structured and less of a mess. Here's some of my flower babies that have been holding me over until the garden bursts into full bloom.

Gazania



Centaurea



Iris



Rose



I'm hoping to get some pics today of my Russian Sage, Honeysuckles, and Scabiosa that are in bloom now.

So, how does your garden grow and what are you planting?

In Love with Spring

Spring is in the air! I can smell it, feel it, and almost touch it. I'm hoping that stupid little groundhog was wrong, and spring will come early. Even though, I know, technically, there really is more winter and spring will not be here officially until my birthday.



Even so, I am starting to plan my garden. I love to garden even with that black thumb I have. I'm thinking of adding more rows to my vegetable garden and debating what veggies to grow. Yeah, I know. I did this last year too. There are just so many veggies and not enough room. I like to grow enough to eat fresh but still have some to freeze for the winter. Boy, did that come in handy this winter! If you have just recently found my blog, I just started doing real veggie growing last year.

(On a side note, the Mr. Man has BBC america on, and they have some men doing some tribal dance thing, and it's really distracting.)

Back to my garden. I have had requests from K to grow edamame, mung beans, corn, peas, lima beans, peanuts, and some exotic watermelon. Mr. Man has requested potatoes, garlic, and peppers. I personally like fresh tomatoes, lots of herbs, and want to try some broccoli and blackberries and so many other things! Oh, the dilemma! I'm thinking of adding some veggies in containers to sprinkle throughtout the yard and garden as well cause veggies can be so pretty.



Then there is the planning of my flower beds. This is the department I need serious help in. I just don't know what to do with them. Some years they look so bare then other years it looks like a florist shop exploded in my beds. I want something gorgeous and well planned. Does anybody do landscaping plans over the internet? (I have pics!) Possibly for jewelry. Just give me a plan and tell me what to get and I'll be good. I'm so horrible at decision making.

Obsession

The title says it all. I'm obsessed. With my garden, that is.

I am dying to get my plants in the ground. Literally itching for the weather to get warm or at least even out in temps. I have pretty much moved and divided everything I can. Now I'm just waiting to transplant my seedlings.

I have also become obsessed with getting plants. I keep adding to my list of things I "need". Notice the quotation marks. This implies that I probably don't need everything I've bought or am getting. For the most part, I have relegated my buying to fruits and veggies. I blame my sudden spurt of fruit seed buying on SevenAcreWoods from etsy. She had some mini orange trees she was selling in her shop. Living in Maryland, I never even thought about growing an orange tree. Heck, I've never seen an orange tree mini or otherwise. I also can't stop reading about my plants. I think I've read all the articles and books three times over.

My fruit and veggie list continues to grow. I am currently growing heirloom beans, peas, spinach, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, luffas, lemon basil, garlic chives, lavender, watermelons, anise hyssop, butternut squash, lemon balm, bee balm, cantalopes, corn, birdhouse gourds, sage, and goji berries(I have to wait for a couple of years to get these berries). I'm getting broccoli, pumpkins(for K), onions, lettuce, popcorn, edamame, peanuts(again for K), summer squash, and broom corn.

With my list ever growing, I have discovered something. I am a much better farmer than I am at growing flowers. I stink at growing flowers from seed or any other way. So far, I rock at growing at veggies and fruits. As you can see from the photos. Most of the plants in the pics are the ones I posted a couple of weeks ago. See how much they've grown. My flowers on the other hand either are not progressing or never came up. I guess I will just have to buy all ready grown flowers sometime unless I just decide to fill my whole yard with veggies and fruits. So, come on Mother Nature and help a girl out.

I'm Free At Last!

I'm Free!! I'm finally free of my mob style county government. It was a bit hairy towards the end, but we passed. Although, her supervisor made sure she stressed that we need to be in contact with the permits department. Well, like I didn't know that. At least, I'm free. Until another of my neighbor's gets a bee in their bonnet.

I am now so ready to get started in my garden in between working on the house and JSD stuff. I decided to grow cantalopes, butternut squash, peas, carrot, corn, spinach, potatoes, bush beans, watermelons, luffas, blackberries, and grapes. I also planted lemon balm, anise hyssop, lavender, chamomile, bee balm, garlic chives, lemon basil, and echinacia(or however it's spelled.). I have a couple more on my want list that I'm hoping to order by next week. Crossing my fingers. Then that would give me some pole beans, popcorn corn, bunching onions, sage, and broom corn. The best part is most of my seeds have come from organic or biodynamic seedsavers. I'm hoping to save my own seeds this year then be able to add to my plant list next year.

The whole southern side of my house is going to be my vegetable garden. I'm so excited. I just hope that Tilla the Killa, my cultivator/tiller, is up to the challenge. I have it all planned out which means it will look nothing like the plan, but I have a plan.

Oh, I promised pics. Well, here's one of a few of my darling seedlings. Mostly the veggies, but there are a few flower seedlings in there. My poor house looks like a greenhouse. Perhaps I'll get a greenhouse next year so I have a place to put all my seedlings. I have so many flats and trays with plants in them that need to go in the ground. I think it's about 100 or more plants though I haven't actually counted. Now if it would just stop frosting so I can get them in the ground.

I should be back to blog again tomorrow with new stuff from the shops. I've got my fingers crossed again.

Home Improvement Roundup- Garden Style

Time for another installment of Home Improvement Roundup. This one will be a quicky. Just a little peek into one of the things that I have been doing on my so-called summer vacation.

I have gotten a pedestal sink for my bathroom remodel so that will be coming sometime in the near future, and I stress sometime. Tiling and siding will also be future installments.

The pics are of my new and improved garden. One is a sort of before pic. It is actually the other side, but that is pretty much what it all originally looked like. One pic is what it looks like now, and the other is my new walkway that I am currently adding. Check out the awesome leaf stepping stones I got. The rocks are a great addition to any garden. I like them because they just have a really clean look about them, and they help hold the moisture close to the plants. I have some beautiful pepper plants, lilies, double impatients, a gardenia with the same name as me, musk melons, and some beautiful ornamental sweet potato vines. I'm really quite proud of myself because I have not lost a single plant. Most of the plants are annuals, but it helped to plan out where I wanted plant placement so I can add more perennials next year. I will definitely be adding more vegetables and herbs. Tip on the vegetables and herbs. Just add a few right in with your common flower beds. They really don't take much more care than your regular plants.