How does your garden grow?

Bloggers, readers, fried okra eaters, how does your garden grow? With starters bought, or seeds you start, spread out or all in a row? In February my sweet Mr perfect roto tilled the entire back yard for me. Each year before this I have had to use a claw. Tearing, ripping, twisting...and that was my hands, just to break up the soil. We went to a nursery this yesr to buy tomatoes and pepper starters. Last year the weather was so strange we didn't have much yeld at all. The rest of the garden was seeded when I put the starters in. As each sweet tiny seedling came up, yhe pair of doves that moved into our tree, swooped down and endulged themselves. My garden was consumed by two pretty little birds in a matter of three days! Back to the store...tons more seeds and BIRD NETTING! Being back at work, I only have mondays for the garden. Its strange to leave everyone. I miss the kids, I miss the hens, I miss my dogs, and I miss the dirt under my nails! I got to take the bird netting off this week and weed around the plants. Such a joy to watch each plant take shape, and watch the leaves change into specific types. Each Spring morning, especially after a good watering, there's so much growth! Noticible changes greet me and my coffee in the warm morning sun.

I Love spring lettuce mixes. Throw romaine and spinach into the row, and whip up some dressing, lunch or side salad in two minutes flat!

This old shed has proven invaluable for us. Pool, lawn, and garden supplies are out of sight. They barely fit, so its a tight squeeze! The shadows you see at the bottom right of the picture is the four rows of corn, and a small row of garlic. The corn is so small it will not photograph well unless I lay down, and I'm all ready for work!!

I love to stand and look across the yard. Our backyard is large. On a pie shaped lot, it wraps around the house. On one side is the dog run. The half of the center is pool and decks. The other half of the center is the patio and out door kitchen. The last section was lawn when we bought the house. We have a big ol plot of useless lawn out front! Who needs TWO lawns? What good is a lawn anyway?!? Well, where a lawn once lay, a sweet little garden now grows!

LET THERE BE TOMATOES!!!!! We love tomatoes. Because of work this year, I skipped beefsteak. Watering beefsteak is so timing specific so they don't split and get that ugly scar on top. This year there are Brandywine, cherry, and Shady Ladies. I'm noticing a few volunteers coming up where the heirlooms were last year, so I'll watch those. I am so excited about the tomatoes this year. They are, all 42 plants, fairing fantastic and growing, blooming, and vibrantly healthy! I'm planning to take a week off when production is over abundant, to put the bulk up. We will be making and canning tomato sauce, paste, stewed, and marinara. I would love to sun dry a few dozen julieanne tomatoes, and put them up with olive oil and garlic. We will have to see what time allows.

The radish, sugar snap peas, bells, hot peppers, & herbs are thriving. The watermelon is slow growing so far. Mr Perfect wanted to see how big a pumpkin he could grow, so he has pumkin sporadic through the yard. Its cute. I think next year I'll do cucumbers, zucchini, and summer squash again, and reduce the tomatoes by a row. Two years in a row, gophers got under the squash, so I thought maybe I could avoid them without their plant of preference. I really missvthe squash though, and so do my chickens. That was their favorite treat.

Do you garden? I know a few friends not in California that are still getting snow!! Poor cold weather states!! Can't plant in a frozen ground!! How desperately sad I'd be!! Can't wait to harvest the first production this year. Bologna and tomato sandwhiches, fried green tomatoes, BLT's.... yay! There's nothing more flavorful than a veggie right off the plant. Its so wonderful knowing its organic, and no pesticides are used here! Garden food for though...If you could grow any plant you wanted, what would it be?