Summer Gardening

 This is my first large vegetable garden in three summers now, and I can't even describe how happy it makes me to have one again!  I have missed my vegetable garden so much. But, you know, when you move into a new home and are left with a big plot of dirt, priorities.  ;-) 

We started landscaping our home in the spring of last year, starting with some raised brick beds we had built around the house for shrubs.  I don't think I've shared them yet, so I'll try to do that.  Next we had concrete poured around the back of the house for a patio and did a little landscaping back there.  We still have a pile of dirt and a pile of gravel in our side yard... the outdoor projects have been a lot and I lose sight sometimes of all the work we've already done!  Anyway, back to gardening.  By July of last year, a vegetable garden just wasn't in the books, but Justus felt sorry for me and did put in a small 8x8 raised bed for a late summer garden (which I used every square inch of).  Funny story, my grandparents visited shortly after he built it (and before anything was planted).  When they saw it, they said, "Ooooh, a sandbox for the girls!"  Haha.   

This year we added on four more 8x8 raised beds.  The beds are all adjoining and are terraced down our side yard to accommodate for the grade change.  This is an unfinished project... we have plans to add in some raised flower beds, and some pavers, but for this summer, I am so thrilled to have vegetables planted and growing!

We ordered all cedar wood for the raised beds from a local sawmill.  This particular sawmill down the road was significantly more affordable, but I had to wait about three months to get it. My constant nagging got the order filled though.  ;-)

A cell phone shot of Justus working hard, making sure everything is level and square.  ;-) 

  And another cell phone shot of the finished beds before planting.

The garden is busily growing now and actually even better than this as I took these photos a couple weeks ago.  Justus recently built a couple climbing fences for the peas and cucumbers.  I love how they turned out.  :-)   

 

 I happily live on garden veggies all summer.  I don't ever get tired of eating veggies straight from the garden and in my opinion, all the hours weeding and picking bugs off is so worth it (a farmer's market is nice too though - haha).  We've been harvesting daily cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, squash, and some of our spring plantings (like carrots, beats and cabbage).  Our okra is almost ready and I just shelled some peas yesterday evening. 

Tomatoes...

 Cucumbers (these rarely last more than an hour with the girls and I around)...

 Yellow squash and zucchini (always abundant until the squash bugs get them)...

 

 Purple hulled peas (my first time growing)...

 Cabbages... the only reason we have cabbage to harvest is because the girls have helped me hand pick off caterpillars and eggs every time they come back.  Yes, we actually keep tweezers outside, thanks to the cabbage caterpillars and tomato worms (yuck).  But, we had our first cabbage last week, and it was so delicious (and rewarding?), we decided it was totally worth all the worm picking we've done. 

 We planted some blueberry bushes in our middle bed.  I've been babying these bushes as in the past it seems like it's difficult to get them to take off.  Here's hoping all the attention helps them!  And I'm always open to tips if you have them!

 Around the rest of the yard, our Annabelle hydrangeas in our front flower beds took off and gave us prolific blooms this year. 

 

 Even all the boxwood we planted are doing great (23 shrubs I think?).  Actually, as I was downloading these pictures, I went back and looked at some pictures I had taken last year when we started planting, and I can hardly believe the difference a year has made.  Always good to be reminded!

 And, in other gardening news, the flower garden that my mom and I grow is doing beautifully.  This is our sixth summer growing flowers that we sell and we still love it.  It's a huge amount of work, but getting to spend time with my mom and daughters each morning is such a gift.  

 

 I've slacked off so much in my blogging, and I haven't shared much about our flower business, which is so disappointing to me.  I really wish I had written down all the memories from each summer working out here.  It's hot, sweaty, and tiring, but it's also one of the most peaceful places to spend each morning.  Hopefully I can share more this summer, but here's a few pictures in the meantime for my memories.  :-)

 

 

 Happy summer gardening!  Do you have a garden this year and how is it growing?! 

(P.S. You can see pictures of our old garden here!)

Fall Planting

 I know, you would think I would be sharing pictures of planting mums, not hydrangeas!  It all started when I casually went looking for fall pansies.  No pansies to be found, but instead all kinds of shrubs on sale.  I had no idea this is the time of year to buy... not just on sale, but "let me make you a bargain so I can clear out my nursery to make room for Christmas trees".  Justus and I both looked at each other and I knew we were thinking the exact same thing - looks like we'll be planting this weekend. 

 We had 28 shrubs sitting in our front lawn and then we were trying to figure out where and what we were going to do with all of them! 

 Ever since we tore out all kinds of ground cover four years ago in the front, we haven't planted anything in that space.  It was on the list, but just one of the many things we hadn't gotten to yet.  So Justus tilled, we planted and Justus even ran to the store to pick up a quick load of mulch just to see how our beds would look finished.  Now we're wondering how we went this long!     

Once we finish the mulch, the beds will wrap around the entire front and sides of the house.  Yesterday afternoon we sat on the swing for a while and I was thinking how pretty everything would hopefully look in five years... and then I realized I would have an 11 year old in five years, and I couldn't think further than that!  ;-)

Next on my list (once we finish the mulch, of course): more mums, pumpkins and pansies for the planters.  I did get out my fall pillow covers though! 

Love these burgundy leaves... 

 When we finished the chicken coop, I planted two boxwood on each side of the door.  This weekend we added more slowwww-growing boxwood to match on the side of the coop. So maybe we'll get to enjoy these in about 20 years or so.  ;-) 

 Hope you had a great weekend!

Time for Snapping

 

 Over the weekend our beans were ready all at once...

Green, yellow and purple!

"Date night!  Meet me on the front porch!"

This Summer's Garden

 Our garden is one of my favorite places to be in the summer.  It's a little wild, completely imperfect, but it never fails to give us an abundance of fresh, delicious vegetables every day.  

 Each year I hesitate to post pictures of our garden... sometimes I feel like I do everything you shouldn't do in a garden.  None of my rows are perfectly straight, I always plant my tomatoes too close to each other, weeds and grass grow abundantly no matter how hard I try, but I think that's the beauty in vegetable gardening.  It's very forgiving, and really the only rule I adhere to is never plant your cucumbers next to your squash (a lesson learned the hard way). 

This year particularly has been one of my favorite years having a garden.  My girls are at an age now that they love the garden just as much as I do and love to help pick.  Jillian is a huge helper this year... in fact, she does all of the tomato picking every day.

 

Our fence has worked wonderfully in keeping the chickens out.  In fact, not one hen has made it in yet.  (Plus it helps my garden look pretty from the road... even when my cucumbers are dying and my lettuce is going to seed.) 

 

 

 I had a late start planting my pole beans, something I've ended up being thankful for.  I've been spending so much time picking the bush beans and our bumper crop of squash and cucumbers that I've been grateful the pole beans will come a little later!

 

 Pretty okra blooms...

 

 Our squash plants are huge... this is just five plants and actually since this picture they have grown even more, if that's possible.   However, that's been a nice thing since the dreaded squash borer is having to work hard to get rid of these plants. 

 

 My favorite pickling cucumbers... the girls and I snack on cucumbers with salt every single day.  So much so that I've only made a few batches of pickles.   

 

 Jillian hard at work on the tomatoes.  I'm especially grateful I have her help this year since the tomatoes are so large and planted so close together that it's much easier for her to climb through them than me (smile). 

 

 A day's bounty of vegetables.  Time to take them in the house, sort through the basket and figure out what to cook for dinner!

 P.S.  If you're wondering where Rosetta can be found, I often see her sitting with her favorite chicken (a Buff Orpington) on her lap, talking softly to her while petting her.  Such sweet summer days...   

Catching Up

 It feels like it's been forever since I last posted!  Sometimes a blogging break (even an unplanned one) can be kind of nice, but after a while I start to miss writing here.  Not so much because I feel like I have to, but I feel like I'm getting out of touch with friends!

A couple weeks ago Justus and I celebrated ten years of marriage!  My parents watched our girls and we headed out to dinner together (at The Melting Pot - yum!), had a leisurely morning and coffee (okay, chocolate pie too) at the coffee shop in town.  We're thankful that after ten years of marriage, our love for one another is still so strong.  And one day I have to tell you the story of our wedding day! 

 Did you have a nice 4th of July?  We did!  We were away for the weekend, staying at my in-laws' farm.  There was a lot of family there and a lot of food.  The kids all played in the water and we played many games of volleyball!  I also got to pick a lot of fresh blueberries to bring home.  Delicious. 

 The days have been full here, enjoying summer and our last month before school starts.  The garden has been doing wonderful and also keeping the girls and I very busy.  Picking every day, weeding (who am I kidding - the weeds grow faster than I can pull!), freezing green beans, making pickles, and eating more squash than I dare count. 

My mom and I have also been busy with a little endeavor of ours.  We planted rows and rows of heirloom flowers to sell (purely for enjoyment) at my parents farm.  

 We have a little flower stand at the road.  Justus built this stand entirely out of reclaimed material - isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen?  (You can read more about our adventures and the stand here if you're interested.)  :-) 

 We've had so much fun going out to the flower garden and making bouquets. 

I caught this image of Jillian this week.  We had brought home all the old flowers and Jillian immediately sat down on the floor with all the flowers and proceeded to cut and arrange a new bouquet for her room.  Sweet moments of summer!

Hope you are doing well.  I've missed chatting and promise to be back quicker this time! 

June Gardening

I love this stage in the garden... checking each day to see new blooms and fruits and vegetables growing and ripening.  Anticipating all of summer's bounty. 

 

 When we left for our family vacation, most of the plants in the garden were still so small.  While we were away, it rained plenty and when we came home we could hardly believe how much everything had grown.  In fact, we actually didn't arrive home until about midnight - and once we transferred the girls into their bed, (despite bleary eyes) Justus was calling for me to come look at how much the tomatoes had grown - all in the dark.  :-)  

Naturally, along with that came a lot of weeds and grass, and I've very slowly been trying to get the garden in a more manageable state. 

I think we may have squash by next week!

 Three years ago we planted two grape vines at the back of our property and we can hardly believe how well they are doing this year!  I didn't get a picture, but this afternoon the girls were actually laying underneath the arbor with a blanket, playing and giggling in the shade it provided. 

 I think I may be making grape jelly this summer!  There must be a hundred clusters.

And while I was taking these photos, I actually noticed a sweet little nest tucked into the vines, complete with four beautiful eggs.    

 This year I have really had a helper in the garden and I just love it.  Jillian has been helping me pull weeds and pick lettuce (voluntarily even), while Rosetta makes endless amounts of mud cookies and cakes.  

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Lastly, I'm sorry for the delay, but after a busy week I finally got around to randomly drawing two winners for a copy each of the New American Homesteader magazine.  They are NanaDiana and Farrah.  I've notified both via email. 

I wanted to mention also that I was so incredibly touched by all the kind comments left on that post.  I wish so badly I had enough copies to give to everyone!  Thank you again for reading and for your encouragement.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Father's Day weekend!