Eating My Garden

I hope you're not expecting much because I've got to say that this years garden has been a real disappointment.

I have a number of reasons for the failures but will focus instead on the things that we did get.

Checking out the salad bar one day there were 2 different lettuces, parsley, pea pods and one pathetic little radish. Hardly enough to really interest the rabbits but we enjoyed it.

We often go out to the garden for morning coffee and can't resist picking a bit of lunch on the way back to the house.

Some of the green beans and yellow wax beans are finally getting big enough to pick and I can't mention those without showing you how amazing the plants are. I just love the delicate flowers on these, don't you.

It just goes to show that even a less than successful garden can still surprise and delight.

Sunchaser Garden, Recycle Project

 You wouldn't think an old, beat up wagon would be much use for anything but this one has solved a major problem around here.

All it really needed was a coat of white paint so that it would blend in with the mesh patio furniture here. It's pretty good sized which is what gave me the idea for putting all of my garden plants into it.

One of the biggest problems with a regular garden here is that there are lots of trees and too much shade for most plants.

Putting everything into the wagon allows us to pull it over to any sunny spot in the yard or garden and to move it whenever we want to.

 I call this my "Sun Chaser Garden"

So far we're growing chives, chamomile, celery, radishes, carrots, peas, tomatoes, strawberries and sedum.

The strawberries that I'm trying this year have pink flowers and small alpine berries. They're not hearty in this zone but I plan to overwinter it in the house. I can't wait to see what happens with it.

It seems to be doing well so far.

There are quite a few small green tomatoes on the plants by the 2nd week of July. As you can see the wagon is filling up nicely.

Update on the container garden

What I'm enjoying most here is the 4 different types of lettuce.

The carrots need thinning but the onions and peas are fine for now.

Party in the fairy garden. My favorite part of this is the fairy and the gnome at the Tiki Bar. It just makes me laugh.

These strawberries were planted much later than the ones on the deck but they seem to be bearing well and should ripen soon.

  The trellis is beginning to disappear behind the pea pods.

  Here we've got more lettuce, carrots and peas.

Container Veggie Garden

 So far we've planted peas, carrots, onions and cabbage. We use the tallest plants in the center and graduating the heights finishing with lettuce around the outside edges.

We add the fairy garden bits to keep "critters" from digging up the pots once we've got everything in.
It also makes everyone laugh and the garden more fun to be in.

 There's so much heavy shade in my yard that keeping the plants mobile is the only way to make sure that they'll get enough sun each day.

In these pots we've got lots of strawberries, chives,lily of the valley, violets and lillies as well as hosta and a few other things. Most of it has just been moved from other parts of the yard and the pots had been given to me so you just have to feel good about a project like that.