First Harvest

My little garden has definitely grown since the first pictures, don't you think?


Found a few surprises in the garden that kept me busy most of the morning.

Hanging basil to dry adds a nice scent to the kitchen

Fresh basil straight from the garden. I will dry some and freeze the rest.

Bell peppers ready for the freezer

Basil ready for the freezer

Zuchinni blooms ready for dipping in batter and frying.

Freshly picked bell peppers

Freshly picked green beans

Building a Flower Bed the Easy Way

Place some landscaping timber where you want your flower bed to be. Layer old newspapers directly on the grass. Eventually the grass beneath will die off and the paper will decompose. For now it will act as a weed barrier. You can also use cardboard or store bought weed barrier material. I then dumped in 1 bag of garden soil and 2 bags of top soil. I planted sunflower seeds, which should be popping up soon : ) After the flowers come up, I will add some kind of mulch.

My Flowers

Morning glorys in hanging pots and in planters attached to rail
Impatiens in wishing well

Impatiens and some kind of flowering vine (Verbana, maybe?)

Morning glorys on back porch

New flower bed I built a few weeks ago. Planted marigolds here. Clematis planted last year. Hasn't bloomed yet.

Impatiens. Perfect for my shady front yard.

First

Baby bell pepper

Corn

Thinking of the Birds

My Morning Walk

I have been jones'n for some honeysuckle in my backyard. Years ago, when I lived in Hot Springs AR, I had honeysuckle growing just a few feet from my kitchen window. I enjoying the sweet fragrance while doing the dishes, especially when a gentle breeze would blow. Well, this morning I went for a nice long early morning walk, and guess what greeted me along my path? Yeppers, honeysuckle! Tons of it. So, like a sneaky thief, I snatched me off a piece of the vine, brough it home and stuck it in a jar of water. Hopefully in a couple of weeks or so, I will see little roots growing on the stem. Then, I will plant the vine outside in the backyard. Of course I might just have to have more than one, LOL.

More Garden Stuff

My first Zuchinni. Be eatin' that baby soon, LOL. Notice all those blossoms? I hear they are tasty eatin' too. Use the male blossom because they do not produce fruit. Wash blossoms inside and out. Remove stamen/pistil. Gently pat dry with a paper towel. Make a batter using flour, beer, milk, salt, and egg. I use ground flax as an egg substitute. Dip blossoms in batter and fry in hot oil. Haven't tried it yet but looking forward to it.

This is what they will look like when done. Yummy, huh?

Corn:
Cucumbers:

Bush green beans
I really should have thinned them already. You can see the black weed barrier peeking through the straw. I have found that card board and newspapers make an even better weed barrier because it eventually decomposes, adding to the richness of the soil.

Peppers. See the tiny white blooms that will soon be replaced by peppers?

OK, this is an up close view of the small garden bed framed with wood that I mentioned earlier. It is made from bags of garden soil. The top side of the plastic bag is cut away and slits are cut in the bottom side. Seeds are planted directly into the bags of soil. The roots will find their way through the slits on the bottom and grow deeper into the earth, as the plastic prevents weeds from growing. Cover with mulch to hide the plastic. I have raked back the straw so you can see the plastic and get an idea what I am talking about.

It looks like I am going to have more tomatoes than I bargained for. I only planted two tomatoes this year because I did not know if I was going to be home or not. However, I recently noticed tomatoes coming up again that I had planted last year. Below is a last year's marigold and an unexpected tomato plant coming up next to a this year pepper plant.

Another unexpected tomato coming up outside the cage

Another unexpected tomato coming up outside the box. Not sure how that one got there.

Time to start tying this baby up. Strips of old panty hose work wonderfully for tying tomatoes

Below is the same tomato plant just a few weeks ago. My how it has grown!

My garden

I only have a small garden this year. I had planned to be on the road, but that did not work out, so I had to scramble to put this together at the last minute. I have tomatoes, basil, cayenne peppers, bell peppers, okra, green beans, cucumbers, corn, and Zuchinni.

My garden has never been plowed or tilled. I use the lasagna gardening method, which is basically just layering mulch. A small part of my garden was made by laying out bags of garden soil, making slits in one side of the plastic bag, flipping it over and cutting the side away to expose the dirt, then planting directly in the bag and covering with straw. This garden bed was started last, so it is fairly new. It will become richer as seasons pass and more mulch rots into the ground creating wonderful black dirt.

Below are pictures of my veggies as they have been growing.

The smaller bed to the left, framed by wood, is the one made from bags of garden soil. I have 2 tomato plants in there, a basil, and 2 okra plants. The tomato cages are homemade.