Into the Garden

Well, that November plan didn't work out so well, did it? *wink*

But it's spring, and I'm back! We have so many interesting things going on around here to make our budget in the kitchen that I'm going to have to blog it because I'm just so flippin' excited! So what's new and exciting, you ask?

Our garden!!!

Last year for my birthday, my dear husband bought me a copy of All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholemew. How thoughtful, right? Yeah, I thought so too. But it worked out for the best. All winter, we planned and plotted (teehee) and could hardly way for the snow to melt so we could get started.

In early April, we got started, and my husband built the first box. We mixed up our soil and started planting!

It has certainly been an adventure. Hub does all of the muscle work, and I do all of the planning for what goes in which square and when. Of course, the kids have to be in on the action too, so they dig little holes and drop in the seeds, help water and pull the rare weed (one of the benefits of this method of gardening. We're learning so much! And we've already harvested the first spinach that we added to salads just this afternoon!

Since we got our gardening groove on, we even put in a peach tree!

But let's not get too excited about those little peaches there. We've been told to prune this baby aggressively so that in about 3 years time we'll have a wonderfully productive tree with large fruit. For now, we've picked off the little fruit that started to grow and are letting the energy go into the branches. At some point over the summer (or maybe it's early next year?), we'll trim back any spindly branches and let the larger ones continue to grow. Rinse and repeat... and THEN we should be able to let it fruit the following year. Ah, patience is a virtue. I'm learning a lot about that with this garden :)

It is fun, however, to see everything start sprouting. We have 3 nearly complete squares now, a few pots on the deck and even a box raised on legs for salad greens, herbs and strawberries that is conveniently located right outside our kitchen door! The kids are going to love those berries! I'm guessing there won't be any around for jam-making, but that's ok!

Stay tuned throughout the summer and fall to see what we yield from this labor of love!