Front Garden Tour

    I promised I would tell you what I have planted in each space so today I am going to talk about the front garden.
   
     As a reminder this is what it looks like:

     As far as specifics go... I have never measured. If at some point I get out the measuring tape I will certainly update everyone.

     I think  we should take it one section at a time. On the porch I  have a rubber tree from my husband's grandmother's funeral. I need to up pot it desperately, but for now it is still going. Then I have a flower garden with a few pots. One that holds beans, one with chocolate mint, and another with beans and lettuce. Below are two pictures- one from a front angle and one from the side.

     The flowers are a mix of different ones I received for mothers day and nastriums. In the back the mint is planted in a container in the middle flanked by the beans and lettuce. Side note: always keep mint in a container or closed off area or it will spread like wildfire. Though I have considered letting it take over the lawn
.. I bet it would smell nice.

     I have to be upfront... you are going to figure it out quickly anyway. My gardens have beans randomly throughout. A few on purpose, but most not. There is a story about this, but I think it is best told in its own post.

     Next are the tomatoes. We planted three varieties in the front: Red Million, Mr. Stripey, and Pink Brandywine. Also, random beans. Up until this morning there were onions in the front, but little E pulled them up. She was so proud I didn't even say anything and just threwthem in with the couple of zucchini and squash we picked. We ate them roasted in the oven as a side at dinner.

     So far we are patiently waiting to eat them I know that we will probably have a point where we have too many, but for now I just want one.

     Next up are the strawberries and brocolli. We keep the strawberries year after year, and in a few from time to time depending on how the winter goes. I typically cover the strawberries well with leaves and grass to overwinter. Sometimes I throw an old curtain over them as well. We bought stir fry broccoli and so far mostly little E has been eating them. As soon as she sees one she picks it. It is a great veggie for small kids to have in the garden because they can harvest it themselves. Oh, and a few beans plants.

     Then we have some squash plants, which will soon give us more than we bargained for. A bigger issue will occur once they take over the walkway.

     Beside the squash is an in ground potato plant. I think there were three seed potatoes planted and it seems to be growing well. It has nice leaves, blooms, and even potato berries. Apparently this is not something that always occurs and is probably due to the heat we have had. Side note: the berries look like little cherry tomatoes, are poisonous if eaten, but you can get true potatoes seeds from them.

    The leaves have leaned over into the flower bed beside them (probably reaching for sun because it is at the edge of the house). So, last but not least are more mothers day flowers with a few beans amongst them.

      We hope you enjoyed our front garden tour. Drop us a comment and let us know what your garden looks like. Happy gardening!

Wisdom Wednesday

Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I posted this because inside I am itching to eat all the goodies the garden is working on. I am struggling with waiting... especially with the tomatoes. Ripe tomatoes from the vine are the best tomatoes you will ever eat. I want one now! 

Luckily, my tomatoes are growing- we have a lot on the vine and it won't be too much longer. A few of the red million are starting to turn. So, I shall adopt the pace of nature, be patient, and wait

Anyone else having to remind themselves to be patient or have some of you already eaten a heavenly tomato from your garden?

E's Recipes- BlackBerry Yogurt

     We are very fortunate to have wild blackberries growing around the edge of our property. This means that if we are lucky we get some fresh picked blackberries. Today we went to check the blackberries and had the pleasure of finding a few handfuls of ripe berries amongst the red and half ripe ones.

Of cpurse, the kids were excited and wanted them right away! I knew if I just handed them a handful they would scarf them down in about 3 seconds.

So I turned to a tried and true yogurt recipe we often use with strawberries. It is so simple and quick that I can put together in minutes. They are literally 3 ingredients:

Vanilla yogurt (or yogurt of your choice)
Honey (drizzle to taste)
Fruit (obviously we used blackberries but it is delicious with strawberries, cherries, peaches etc.)

I put the yogurt in a bowl (or small container), threw in some berries and added honey.

We hope you give our recipe a try -if you do and like it or find a great addition or variation let us know in the comments.

I am back....

     I know it has been a llloooonnnnggg time (ok.. years) since I have posted, but big E moved on from gardening to other adventures. We added little E to the family and frankly I just didn't have the energy. Now little E is 3 and she is into gardening, so since I am growing more (last few years have just been strawberries, cucumber, and tomatoes) I have decided to pick the blog back up. For this first post back I am going to talk about the space I garden in.

     Small gardening is my thing because I am gone most of the week during the summer and my husband has no interest in gardening. If it is really hot and I ask him to water he will, but otherwise it is my baby to rock. A small garden allows me to keep up with a good watering each weekend and to actually harvest food when it is ripe.

     I use only a few areas around the house to garden in, which greatly helps me water as I can do about half  it with the water hose and only have to fill up the watering can two or three times to get the rest.

     The first area is the flower garden bed in the front. The second area is along one side of my house. The picture below shows how they look today.

The front bed I grow my veggies directly in the ground, but the side bed is more prone to hard clay and gets very wet. There I do a combination of in ground plants and containers. 

The third spot is in the back. I have a small stretch for the grapevine and also a small area under the steps to the porch and up against the house.

I love to garden on small scale and see what grows and try to cram as much in as possible. Look for future posts outlying what I have in each space this year. 

Happy gardening everyone!!