How Does Your Garden Grow?

'Tis the season for getting your garden started. Our rented backyard is pretty darn big but only had grass growing in it. Seriously, no shrub nor tree to be found. We talked a lot about how much, if any we wanted to do with it. It costs money to put in raised beds and buy soil and plant starts. In the end we decided on putting in two 4x6 beds, with lavender growing in between them. They turned out to be pretty spiffy if I do say so myself. I also put two old Lucerne crates out there to grow herbs in.

So far we are going to be up to our ears in red potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, swiss chard, romaine, spring mix, strawberries, snap peas, beans, carrots, tomatoes, chives, scallions, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, peppers, and corn.

This was our first miniature strawberry harvest. They are sweet and delicious, and early. I can't believe it's only mid-May and our June-bearing strawberries are already ripe enough to eat.

On the opposite side of the yard we (and by "we" I mean Ricky) dug up a bunch of sod along the fence to plant wildflowers. I put in the "Save the Bees" mix and the "Hummingbird Haven" mix, so we'll see what I get. The little sproutlings are already starting to appear.

Even though it cost a good chunk of money to get this garden going and we'll have to leave it after next summer, I'm glad we decided to put it in. It's something that I can focus on and get excited about that can take my mind off of the baby thing. Since I'm extremely fragile about that lately and am dealing with stupid side effects from the meds my OBGYN put me on, distractions are a very good thing.

Now all we need are some lounge chairs and an outdoor table and we'll be set to have a very enjoyable summer in the backyard!