Yard and Garden Summer 2015

Jimmy built a garden for me this past spring and I planted it in April. I was very ambitious and was wanting to experiment with what I could grow. I had cucumbers, bush beans, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, cantaloupe, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, lettuce, basil, and a selection of herbs. I didn't have luck with everything.

 In this middle of him building the boxes. We utilized some empty space on a hill so he had to dig and set the boxes in the hill and make sure they were level and all. He did a fantastic job!

I planted all my flower beds and pots on the deck, driveway, and front patio

 We had some new front landscaping put in and did new flower beds, azaleas, lorepetalum, seasonal beds, grasses. And doesn't the grass look great?! Jimmy does such an awesome job maintaining our yard!

One of my flower pots in the driveway

 Panoramics of the backyard

Just after planting. Back box has cucumber plants, bush bean seeds, squash, dill and peppers. Front box has cantaloupe, zucchini, herbs, marigolds and more peppers

 pumpkin seeds in the back box, tomatoes, marigolds and potatoes in the front right

After a few weeks everything is sprouting and growing!

Potato plants

Baby squash

Cucumbers growing

Roma tomato and cherry tomato I picked

After a few more weeks

The pumpkin plants keep flowering but then the flowers are falling off and the plants start dying.

While my neighbor Christy was out of town I went to water and check her garden. One day I picked this. The zucchini was hiding - can you believe how big it was? I had to hold my arm up to it so you can really tell.

My fingerling potatoes I harvested!

Roasted fingerling potatoes - they were delicious!

Our gorgeous yard

The plants kept growing and I picked many bunches of green beans, started getting some cucumbers and lots of tomatoes. My squash and zucchini plants didn't do too well :(

Overall it was a good start to having my own garden. Some days it got too much water and other not enough. It's hard when we are out of town multiple times in the summer! Towards the end we got the sprinkler system changed so it would hit the garden as well.

Springtime Flowers and Gardening

I enjoy planting flowers and gardening but I just don't always have a lot of time for it these past couple of years. Last summer I didn't get any plants planted since we were rebuilding our deck and then I was on bedrest. In the fall I had a newborn and a toddler. This spring I was determined to plant my pots as well as my flower beds in the yard.

My parents have about 13 pots outside around the pool area. I knew she had been busy and out of town several times so I decided I wanted to help out out and plant her pots for her as a surprise. I did it on Memorial Day after Wayne and Stephanie left I headed to the nursery and bought a ton of plants. I never have a "plan" in place just pick out what I like and what looks good then get home and arrange them and then plant them.

Mom and Dad got home the day after Memorial Day and stayed at our house. I said I wanted to go to Pike's in the morning and get more plants for the rest of my pots. She jokingly asked if I had planted hers and I laughed! Jackson chose his outfit. He wore his new Paddington bear shirt from London, rain boots, and brought his "patpack" along. That's what he calls his backback!

 April 20 - Just planted. The zucchini and snap pea plants, lettuce and kale seeds had not been planted yet.

 May 20 - Everything is growing! Kale is in the front row and lettuce behind it

May 29 - Getting bigger!

Eggplant

Our first cherry tomatoes

Cucumbers on top, kale, lettuce and green peppers

Flowers I have cut from around the yard :)

The pots I have planted and some of my flower beds.

I love seeing so many pretty colors and flowers blooming in our yard.