Yolande

One of my very favorite parts of Spring (and Summer!) is planting our Garden.

Kevin grew up with a garden in their backyard & so did I.
We LOVE homegrown veggies. 

They taste amazing...there is nothing like picking veggies straight from your backyard!

I get so excited in April when it is time to start thinking about our garden.

This April we were crazy busy on the weekends with softball for Kate, throwing a baby shower and rainy weather, so we didn't get our garden planted until the first weekend of May.

I carefully plan out what I am planting in each garden box (that Kevin built for me!)

Each year, Kevin gets new dirt for our boxes. This year we did a compost mix (so stinky at first!!!) 

Each year, I have do most of the same things, but I like to try out at least one new veggie each year.
I am all about being a Suburban Farmer :)

Here is our 2014 Garden:

Notice the fencing around it....that is to keep our dog out. We originally had no fence:

 But, the day after I planted the garden, our yellow lab dug up half the garden!!!
I was furious! So, I had to go buy new plants & replant them. Ugh.

 Here is a breakdown of what I have in each of the 3 garden boxes:

Box #1

I have green onions & leeks

Carrots & Celery

Box #2:

 

This box has 5 Early Girl Tomato Plants

These are my favorite tomatoes! They are delicious and deep red. Perfect for Salads, Sandwiches, Caprese Salad, etc. Delicious!

Around our garden boxes, I have other things planted.

I have 3 types of Cucumbers:

Salad Cucumbers:

Persian Cucumbers:

Sweeter Yet Cucumbers:

I love growing cucumbers for salads and also making Homemade Pickles!

We also have some fruit trees. They are only 2 years old, so they haven't produced any fruit....yet!

Mandarin Orange:

Honey Crisp Apple Tree (that looks more like a bush)

Fuji Apple Tree:

 

 We had a lime tree, but it froze to death this winter. 

We also normally plant watermelon, pumpkins and cantelope in our garden, but we are in a drought here in California with water restrictions. Those vine plants require  A TON of water, so we are not planting them this year.

I am also not planting peppers this year.

The past 3 years, I have attempted bell peppers, banana peppers, pepperchini & jalapenos, but they have never produced more than 1 pepper per plant, so I have given up on peppers. I am not sure if we are in the right climate zone for peppers. Oh well.

Another view of our garden: