How Does My Garden Grow

One of the many selling points of this property was the garden. Driving up to the house with our realtor last September, we were first charmed by the front of the log home and the beautiful lawn. Then we saw the garden.

The owners had it about 3/4 finished, with fencing 5' high to help keep out the deer. It also had several beds already established and a healthy population of scallions. It was a great start. The bones were there, we just needed to add the muscles (or, rather, use our muscles) and make it our own.

We moved in mid-November and didn't have much time to play in the garden before the first snowfall.

Slowly, a beautiful white blanket started to cover the floor of the garden.









And then it pretty much disappeared. Sometimes we couldn't quite remember what was under there. But we were busy building snow women and drinking whiskey by the wood stove, so that's ok.

As soon as the snow melted and we could once again open the gate, we set to work. First order of business: get rid of all of those weeds on the garden floor. Where did they come from?

These pictures were taken after we raked most of the taller weeds out. Bruce then added three feet of fencing to the top to ensure we had no four-legged friends helping themselves to our crops.

There are also a million crickets, grasshoppers, June bugs and other critters living in there and hopping around. I try to wear long pants. And a hat. And try not to twitch.








We took one of the newer beds apart and set it aside until we decide where we want it placed. We plan to have the new garden gate made and installed soon (that will be its own post!) and, hopefully, we'll be able to kill the rest of the weeds, lay hardware cloth, place the new beds, haul in rock for the paths and bring in topsoil in preparation for next year.

Now that I've listed everything we still need to do, it seems like a lot. Why am I sitting here blogging when there's so much to do out there?

Just because we didn't have the garden completely finished didn't stop us from planting and growing a few crops this first year.

We used this rustic bed that the previous owner made to plant dill, basil, parsley, tomatoes, beets and carrots.

 











We also planted red potatoes and yellow and red onions in the bed with the existing scallions (and a few rogue lettuces).

But, by far, the most prolific plants are growing in our compost bed. Squash, anyone?

Looks like I still have a little bit of room left in this right corner to dump the compost. I think I'll start looking into buying a composter.

Bruce is most excited about the squash blossoms. I think he has dinner plans for them.

So stay tuned, you may see some of these veggies and herbs show up on a future foodie post.  Time to stop blogging and start weeding...