Yolande

It's May! Can you believe it?
Warmer Weather, Longer days & the countdown to Summer!
(And, it's Birthday month for me & Kevin!)
May also means it's Garden Time!
Last week I planted our 2012 Garden.
We had so much fun with our garden last year, I couldn't wait to plant one this year.

Last Spring, Kevin built me 3 Garden Boxes and they worked really well for growing our veggies.
Each box is 8 feet by 4 feet.
We had a great crop last year. I am planting the majority of the same things.
(There are a few things I skipped this year & I added a few new veggies to the mix)
Here is what we are growing this year:

Box #1:

Box #2:

I have 2 Yellow Pear plants. I loved growing these last year. For our afternoon snack last year, the girls & I would bring a container of humus out to the garden & just pluck tomatoes off the vine & eat them with the hummus. SO yummy!

Box #3:
This box is filled with 5 of my favorite type of tomato....Early Girl Tomatoes!
They are perfect for Caprese Salad & are such a deep red and full of flavor. YUM.
(This year I also invested $ and bought sturdy tomato cages. Last year, I just used the cheap flimsy wire ones and my tomatoes were too heavy for them and my tomato plants kept falling over and we had to prop them up with random stakes. I splurged this year, I hope they are sturdy enough to last through this summer and years to come!)

We also have some fruit trees in our garden area. We have had the orange for 1 year (no fruit yet) and the lime tree for about 7 years (it was in a planter & we moved it from house to house and planted it in the garden area last year.)

This year, I also bought some Apple Trees...one Red Fugi & one Honeycrisp!

So there you have it, our 2012 Garden!
I can't wait for it to grow & produce veggies.
That was one of my highlights of last summer..our inaugural garden.
I hope we have as much success this year as we did last year.
It was so empowering walking out to the garden & using things we grew for our meals!
I am most looking forward to the tomatoes!
There is nothing more delicious than a homegrown tomato.
I would love to hear... what is your favorite thing to grow (or eat) in a garden.
Do any of you have a garden in your backyard?
Share your gardening tips, I would love to hear them since this is only my 2nd year planting a garden!
Mine are simple...Get new soil, make sure your garden gets afternoon sun and don't forget to water!

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: