Monday May 2nd (the night before we left for Nashville for almost two weeks) I FINALLY got around to planting my garden. Been wanting to do it for months but it worked out okay this year I think since we've had such a cold/cool spring with very little heat. Aaron and I went to a local nursery (Sandia Nursery) to buy some starter plants and I already had seeds I had purchased earlier this season on sale. We went to Star Nursery to buy a few bags of soil to put on top as well. We didn't have to plant strawberries because those came back from last years and will continue to do so. This is only our second year to have a garden and we definitely learned some things last year that have changed what we do this year. (First lesson--KILL squash bugs before they kill the entire garden!) Hopefully this garden will be even more of a success and we will continue to learn and improve our skills and knowledge.
I mapped everything out brick by brick--just like last year--so I knew what I had planted and where. Porter decided to "help" and wanted to "color" too. Cutie-patootie! Took me couple hours and I started to late so I did a quarter or third of the planting in the dark with outdoor lights. It was tough at the end but I was so happy to have it finished. Here is a list of everything I planted (from right to left; mostly from seed but some starters in there): strawberries, cilantro, parsley, dill, basil, lettuce (2 kinds), spinach, radishes (2), onions, carrots (4 varieties), green peppers, several hot peppers (including red chili, Santa Fe, jalapeno), tomatoes (4), peas, lima beans, green beans (3), cucumber, zucchini, squash (3), watermelon, and corn. Still want to plant more squash and melons but only if we build planter boxes to put over on the rocks where the huge leaves can grow and take over empty space.
Maybe he wasn't coloring; maybe he was evaluating Mommy's work and grading it.
Aaron laid down the soil and I did all the planning and planting...the hard, time-consuming work. So I will continue to refer to it as my garden and that's why: I'm the one planting, who will weed, pick, maintain, and care for the garden. Aaron says it's his too because he built the planter box and set up the sprinklers. Well that was like two and three years ago honey so that claim to the garden is no longer valid. =P Progress reports to come and continued garden growing to detail.
We finally starting getting tomatoes from our garden! That's one of the main things I ever wanted from it; hope I can just get enough at one time to make homemade salsa. It will be my second time ever. I LOOOVE eating tomatoes like an apple; bite straight into it...sprinkling every bite with a little salt of course. Porter has started to enjoy it too. At first he would ask for some but spit it out. Now he is actually eating them! I've never understood why tomatoes are one of those things that people either despise or love. How could you not like tomatoes??? We are also still getting some zucchini here and there. Wish we got more but I'll be grateful for the steady Herbs are doing good (basil, dill, and cilantro), and been getting some type of bean that we have not eaten yet. Also getting some squash that don't look like anything I planted; I think they are butternut squash but they don't look yellow enough. All in all I LOVE having a garden!
