How Does Your Garden Grow?

Oh, boy. I'm sooo behind on updating you. So, let's just pretend for a second that I posted this about... oh... one month ago. Okay? Okay.

So, when we first moved into our new house, this was in the backyard.

As you know, we don't have kids. (Or at least, if you hadn't guessed by now, then you maybe thought I was a really bad mother for not having mentioned them anytime over the last year.) So, this little monstrosity was quite a problem. What do I do when I have a problem? I go to Craigslist, baby.

I was cruising through Craigslist trying to see how much these things go for, and if it was possible for us to actually make some money. I was about to post it for $100 bucks when I came across an ad by a lady who was looking for one for her kids. She said she couldn't afford to buy a new one, but wanted one in good shape and could pay a little bit. Well, it tugged on my heartstrings, so I contacted her and told her I had one, and said if she would come and get it, she could have it for free. So, she came with a big group of guys and took it all away, and she gave me $50!

It was nice to have it out of our yard, see?

Ah.... much better! So, then, what to do with all the space? Why, a garden of course!

I have tried gardening before, in Nashville. It didn't work out all that well for me because I tried to plant too many things in too small of a space. I'm pretty sure I had about 6 different tomato plants, 2 or 3 cucumbers, some peppers, etc. all in about a 4' x 6' space. Ha! No wonder it didn't work out. Plus, the space I was using apparently had a big slab of concrete underneath it that I didn't know about, so there were only about 6 inches of dirt (obviously I didn't dig around to investigate too much before I planted my veggies). I only discovered this when I tried harvesting my carrots and they came out like a bunch of little knubs. Plus, it gets so swelteringly hot in Nashville, that you have to water constantly. I don't have that kind of discipline, so the whole thing turned out to be quite a disaster.

Anyway, based on the amazing variety and quality of produce at the farmers markets here, I quickly deduced that things were much easier to grow here in Oregon, and obviously as soon as we got our house, building some sort of garden was at the top of the priority list. One of my super nice neighbors from across the street had told me about a cute little garden store near our house, so I went to check it out and found that they had organic vegetable starts for $1.99 each! What a deal! But, next year I think I'm going to start everything from seed on my own. I just didn't have time this year, since we moved in after the growing season started. Anyway, I bought my starts, and a $30 trip to Home Depot (for lumber) and about 2 hours later, Justyn and I had built a couple of raised garden beds. Check it:

Bed #1, right after I planted my vegetable starts (day zero).

Bed # 2, day zero.

Okay, okay... I guess I have to explain the grid. Everyone asks me, so here goes: I'm OCD, okay?? I measured out 12" squares, and used string to make a grid. This way, I knew to make sure all the plants had the proper amount of space. Plus I like the way it looks. It seems so orderly and neat. Admit it, you know you're a little jealous.

So, we did all this on Memorial Day (I know, I know... I told you I was behind.) Now, a month and a half later, lookie!!

I don't really have room to post pictures of all my babies, so I'll tell you what I've got going on. 4 different kinds of tomatoes: Sungold (cherry-sized tomatoes that are orange in color), Old German (a very large, marbled heirloom tomato), Roma, and a mystery tomato that one of my neighbors gave me. The picture above is the mystery one. I also planted some strawberries (which, incidentally, I think are duds because they're getting bigger and bigger but not blooming or bearing fruit). We have 2 different kinds of lettuce: Romaine and Red Leaf, 2 different kinds of peppers: jalapenos and orange bell peppers, 2 different kinds of cucumbers: lemon cucumbers and regular ones, and 2 different kinds of squash: zucchini and bush delicata.

Our lettuce has been ready for quite a while, so now I'm just waiting for all the others to catch up. Everything has bloomed and has babies on it (except the strawberries). And, look how much bigger everything is in just 5 or 6 weeks!

Bed # 1, week 6

Bed # 2, week 6

I'm so excited to start having my own veggies!! I'll keep you posted and let you know when I pick the first one!