Gardens and Flowers

This was the first year I have ever tried to garden. I had watched my Dad put in a garden several times, and I even helped him plant seeds a few times, but overall I only had a very general knowledge of how to plant and care for a garden. I dove in head first and planted several different rows of vegetables after Matt helped me prepare a spot for them, and anxiously waited to see how my garden would grow.  I have to admit that the results of our labors were not as fruitful as I hoped, but not too bad for a first time gardener who has no clue what she is doing. :-) Our plants are just beginning to produce vegetables, and Matt and I are excited!
Keep in mind that where we planted our garden was all woods earlier this spring. Matt tilled it up for me, and we had a load of topsoil hauled in to put on it. Even though we have been using fertilizers I don't think the ground has much nutrients yet so we are glad that even one plant has survived this far.

Our first picking of peas

Our peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers are flourishing, but sadly the other parts of our garden did not fare as well. Only about seven pea plants came up out of the whole package that I planted. These seven plants did give us peas, but only enough to enjoy a couple of handfuls of raw peas along with our supper. Out of a whole package of lettuce seeds only two plants came up. I guess that means there will be a plant for each of us to enjoy! :-) Our green beans came up very well and were flourishing until we got a whole week of rain. Some of them got flooded, and the ones that did survive I was skeptical about. Matt helped me give them a dose of Miracle Grow and they have made a comeback and now have blooms on them. But because of the setback, there will not be a bumper crop. I was excited to see that most of our carrots came up. It took them awhile, but they are definitely growing. I weeded the whole garden this past Saturday, and when I got done I was quite proud of my little garden, even if some of the seeds didn't come up. Hopefully in the years following our garden will just keep getting better and better!

Matt LOVES my Mom's dill pickle recipe, so I made sure I got the recipe to take with me when I left. We didn't quite have enough of our own cucumbers to make a whole batch of pickles, so Matt bought enough to make a batch and I made him pickles Friday night. He is getting SO excited to try them!!!

My flower gardens have fared much better than my veggie garden. It has been hot and dry for the past three weeks or so, but I watered them almost every day, and gave them some Miracle Grow, and the plants that were looking thirsty now look quite healthy. I enjoy the color the flowers add to our front lawn. Huge thanks to my Dad for getting the flower bed ready for me when they came to visit in April. Below is a pic of one of my favorite flowers in the garden.(Please note that the weeds in this picture have been removed along with the rest of them that were in my garden!)

 

This garden was already here from the previous owner. I have been enjoying the lilies that bloom every day. I do need to relieve it of the brambles and fern that have grown back from the first purge I gave it!

Matt's Mom gave me this double impatien in June. I didn't get it planted right away, and it almost died inside because of the air conditioner. I finally got it planted in this pot and set it out on the porch. I didn't realize that rain drips of the porch roof right where I set this pot, so quickly my plant pot was flooded, and the impatien almost died again. I rescued it from that spot, and after the soil dried out, and a bit of Miracle Grow, the plant revived and is now in full bloom. It is more beautiful to me than normal, because it is still alive after all of my neglect for it! :-)