My grandparents had what I believed to be one of the biggest gardens in the world. Obviously this isn't the case, but it was still pretty big. They grew everything, and the best part was that at the back of the garden, there were rows of berry bushes and fruit/nut trees. I loved going berry picking and running around under the fruit trees, that is, until I stepped on a chestnut shell. Ouch!
But I also loved walking through the rows of the garden. I always kicked off my shoes and walked through barefoot (something I still do today) feeling the dirt mush between my toes. We never vacationed at the beach when I was younger, so I would daydream and imagine that the dirt must be what sand felt like at the beach. I would stare in awe at the giant sunflowers and help pick green beans and cucumbers, being very careful of my feet as Grandma always reminded me not to step on the cucumber leaves.
When we finished in the garden in the evenings, we would all sit around the meat house (yes, the meat house... where all of the butchering took place) with buckets full of beans beside us and empty buckets in front of us. Grandma and Mom used sharp silver knives to cut out the bad parts of the beans while they and everyone else strung and snapped them into the empty buckets for Grandma to can later on.
I can remember these days so very clearly in my mind, and the happy memories have probably played a big part in why I've always wanted to grow a garden. It's amazing to watch something form from a seed into a huge plant from which we are able to pick and eat food!
For the past two years, 2012 and 2013, we rented a house. We didn't really have many options for where to plant a garden, but we wanted one anyway. We carved out a small patch right beside the house and were able to plant tomatoes and jalapenos the first year. Last year, we tried to dig out a little more and managed to add bell peppers, lettuce, and cucumbers to the mix. They produced, but it wasn't anything spectacular. It certainly wasn't enough to can and preserve with the exception of the jalapenos. (Derek LOVES spicy food.)
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| Beginning of Garden 2013. |
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| Mid-Garden 2013. |
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| Toward the end of summer 2013. (Yes those are cabbages in the yellow pots. They didn't amount to anything.) |
This year we were really excited to have an actual decent-sized garden. I began planning it probably in late January/early February (we had a LOT of snow... I was looking forward to spring!) and determined that we could try several new plants.
We began with herbs inside in March; I had always wanted to try to grow fresh herbs but was intimidated by them. Let me tell you, don't ever be intimidated by growing herbs. These plants GREW! We tried Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley, Basil, and Dill in a container indoors. I haven't tried planting them outside, but I imagine it wouldn't be difficult either.
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| 3-4 weeks after planting |
When planting, we realized that my measurements (estimates) were a bit off, so we just improvised. We also messed up a bit because we planted at different rates, so the actual garden doesn't follow the chart exactly. I don't think that it has mattered much except maybe for the cabbage. For the second year in a row, I don't think our cabbage is going to make much of itself. I think they're just planted too close together this year (part of the improvising I mentioned earlier).
Our cucumbers have been exploding, and the tomatoes aren't far behind. We just had our largest harvest, and I think the beans will be ready for a picking this week.
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| Pre-planting (with Mom's plants too) |
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| Loads of Cucs! |
Although our little garden isn't anywhere near the size and excellence of Grandma and Grandpa's garden, it's nice to be able to have the space to grow veggies anyway. Do you have any particular techniques you use in your garden? What are your favorite veggies to grow? Share below! :)
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