We planted our garden back over the Easter holiday and have loved watching our little seedlings and plants grow over the last month!
I found the little basket on clearance at Hobby Lobby and gave it a coat of turquoise spray paint to liven it up.
We had a serious problem with voles last spring (not to be confused with moles.) They gobbled up the entire root balls of most of our crop. This year, honey dug way down in the dirt and lined the bottom of the beds with hardware cloth hoping that would prevent them from tunneling under. So far, so good! We’ve got cucumbers (they are so itty bitty you can’t see them), squash, okra, and strawberries in this bed.
Three tomato plants, red peppers, green peppers, chives, parsley and lavender in the middle bed. The lavender survived the winter and is doing great! I love to throw a spring in my water or sweet tea.
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And the last bed has mint, rosemary (both from last year), basil, green beans and three more sweet 100 tomato plants.
Here are a few more details. Know that I am far, far from being an expert on gardening!
– Honey built the garden area last spring using three raised garden bed kits from Home Depot, giving us a 12’x4’ planting area.
– He constructed a basic fence of 2’x4’s and hardware cloth and painted it black. We left a 3’ border on all sides to be able to easily maneuver inside the fence. The completed size is 18’x10’. The obvious goal of the fence is to keep out the rabbits and other large animals roaming around but it’s probably already saved our tender little vegetables one thousand times from stray soccer balls and children in pursuit.
– We fertilize with E.B. Stone Organic Tomato & Vegetable Food and in past years have used Captain Jack’s Deadbug Brew to fight those pesky garden invaders. I found both at Atlanta’s Pike Nurseries.
– I labeled our garden tags with vinyl letters.
We’ve already been enjoying the herbs and positively cannot wait for the veggies to start to ripen up as well!
Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t send a big birthday wish out to my sweet nephew Jay. I can hardly believe he’s FOUR!
xoxo
We too love our garden. The rain we had this spring really helped too. The bunnies seem to love our strawberries however, so we had to put some netting over them. And a happy birthday to your nephew!!
What great looking gardens you have made there! Wow! We can just now start planting outside because danger of freezing is fast. Hope you are having a good week! I have missed you while I was away! xo Diana
Mint is a pretty invasive plant. You may want to dig that up and put it in a container before it spreads throughout your garden. My neighbor's mint has just spread to my yard. good luck with your garden.
Your boys may want to try their hand at worm composting. You can store your container in the garage and it doesn't smell. I used Martha Stewart's instructions for one made using a Rubbermaid container. The official name is vermiposting, I believe.
Beautiful garden! We had trouble with underground critters, and found that a row of daffodils seems to do the trick. You could put them insideor outside the perimeter. I happen to like a mix of daffodils and everblooming daylillies, since the daffodil foliage ripens as the day lily foliage comes up.
I just love your blog; you do so many fun things with those sweet boys, and I love your taste in decorating, too. Blogless Peggy
Your garden is looking good. The pests are trying to get mine this year. Some sort of insect is eating holes in the leaves of mustard and Georgia Collards I planted. I have large garden boxes that my son-in-law and grandson made for me. I went out this afternoon and plugged in a few garlic cloves, here and there, as I have heard insects don't like garlic. I've made a garlic spray, as well, but that doesn't seem to deter them. Wishing you well with yours!
Love the beautiful fence around the beds! We had a hard time finding our fav Sweet 100's this year.
Did you see a red minivan honking wildly at you this afternoon on L.R. Road ??? LOL. I was pulling out of my Mom's street and recognized your face!! THEN saw a couple sandy blonde beaus in the back.
My daughter, who is 8, said " who is that Mommy? Do you know her?" Not really, I said…I read her blog". What's a block and why are reading that?. That sounds weird". LOL
That is toooo funny! I thought you must have thought I was Honey since I drove his car today :-).
Lol …if you weren't in his car, I wouldn't have recognized you….if you know what I mean!! Nice of you to wave back…even if you had that quizzical look under your pink shades! :-D
I have to say I agree with the comment about mint being invasive. what a great garden with so many fresh vegetables and strawberries. yum
Cynthia
That is so charming! And I looooove your house!