The Garden

We did some backyard renovation last fall and with that I got to include a nice garden patch. This spring, actually it was spring break, the girls and I planted some flowers and vegetables in it. I was a little concerned of how it would all do. Maybe I had planted too early and they would freeze. Maybe the soil wasn't good enough. Maybe I had no idea what I was doing and just kind of guessing as I went a long. We had a good time putting the seeds in and getting a little dirty. I decided to plant four tomato plants, some zucchini, carrots and watermelon. Kylie planted zinnias and Sadie planted snapdragons. Everything started to grow except the snapdragons. We never did see anything come from those seeds. The carrots didn't do so well and we only ended up having 8 of them grow.

The tomato bushes have done so well that they have become one gigantic bush. I didn't know exactly how to prune them and train them and have since learned a couple of tricks that I will have to use next year to tame them.

The zucchini has done really well. I ended up with over 18 plants growing and have had to pull them out until now I am down to 6. They have taken up a large portion of the garden but produce a lot without me having to do a whole lot of work on them. The watermelon has been the funnest to watch grow. The vines snake out everywhere and grow up everything. I have had to train them where exactly we want them to go. Unfortunately, the watermelon plants have been over run by aphids. I am trying to keep the population down and hope that the helpful insects are enjoying their aphid dinners. 4 of my watermelons have split before they are fully ripe. I don't know what is going on there. I think that I may actually just pull them all out and plant some pumpkins. I think we might get more use out of pumpkins in the long run.

The zinnias were a fantastic choice. They have grown so big and add so much color. They also bring a lot of bees.

The growing season is very long here. It is a little daunting to have to take care of the garden until November. I do enjoy having zucchini and tomatoes to give to everyone I see. The drought has also made it difficult to keep the garden watered.

What a great learning experience. I am excited to use what I have learned to make it even better next year.