The garden is growing well

My gardening gloves and hoe, my new best friends.

What I remember most about gardens is eating from them.  My father always had  what I would call a large garden when I was young, my favorite thing about that garden was the pole beans he grew. My brothers, friends and I would eat these beans in fistfuls.  Thinking back on it, he never once got mad that we were eating the beans either.  He always grew other veggies too.  My grandfather, Pappy also had a veggie garden every year.  He always grew the largest zucchini I ever saw.  With growing up with all this gardening you would think I would be an avid gardener but that is not so.  I tried one year and had a 4x4 garden when Drew was 2.  I bought plants, not seeds and barely anything grew and what did grow the deer ate, which I couldn't figure out until Jamie told me.

I have always had a "black" thumb, yes black not green.  I have always been known NOT to give plants and flowers to because I will kill them and very quickly I might add. I decided to prove to myself, no one else that I could grow something. Even better, something that I could eat.

So when we moved to our new home and had some land to plant a garden I started planning on what I wanted to grow.  I thought it best to grow things in large quantities just is case I did kill some.  This way I thought that at least some may make it through and actually grow and produce something.

Jamie tilled the garden area a few times and our friend Tim also tilled it for us when he came to visit.  The kids and I picked rock after rock to get the ground ready for planting.  By the way the goats love the pile of rocks they have now to play king of the hill on.

The kids and I took a Saturday and planted the whole garden in one day.  We planted everything in seeds except for the pepper and tomatoes plants.

I am happy to report that the garden is doing WONDERFULLY!!

Green Beans

Zucchini Plants

We currently have growing, 7 rows of corn, 2 rows of green beans, 3 rows of yellow beans, 2 rows of red onions, 1 row of yellow onions, 1 row of garlic, 1/2 row of green onions, 1/2 row of basil, 8 hills of zucchini, 8 hills of yellow squash, 10 hills of cucumbers, 1 row of 2 different types of lettuce, 3 hills of pickling cucumbers, 1 eggplant plant, approx 7 pepper plants, which include green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers, jalapeno peppers and banana peppers and approx. 14 tomatoes plants including cherry tomatoes.  We also attempted watermelon, they started to grow but now are dying. I will be raking out that area soon and planting something new so the space won't be wasted on nothing.

I'm looking forward to tasting everything that comes from our garden and of course extras will be preserved either by freezing or canning for the winter months.

Gardening is a LOT of hard work but being able to see the plants grow from seeds and know that you had a hand in that is so satisfying.  We will definitely be growing a veggie garden every year from now on.  Maybe next year we will plan a little bit better and have more of a variety.

First bounty of the garden - Cherry Tomatoes