Gardening

I've been having so much fun with our garden this year. Last year, we had so many starts and seeds fail. And, the weeds got so out of control, I got seriously discouraged. We got our fill of zucchini, of course. But, I always have huge expectations for our garden. This year seems to be going SO much better!! I know why too....

First, we sprayed our whole garden with Round-up a few weeks before we were ready to plant. It killed everything before we tilled up the ground. I can't believe the difference in the amount of weeds this year!! In addition, I've been raking the dirt every week or so to keep the tiny weeds from being able to grow. So far, the combination has worked really well. I'm definitely doing it this way every year.

Second...we built another greenhouse. We put one over our tomatoes last year and it made a HUGE difference. I really wanted cucumbers this year, but they just can't seem to stand the wind! So, we built another greenhouse just for them. Our cucumbers are thriving and starting to crowd out the other vegetables. I'll have to remember that for next year. They're hard to see...they are way in the back.

Our greenhouses look like little covered wagons. They are made by hammering 2 foot pieces of rebar in the ground, then arching pvc pipe over them. We added painters plastic to the top. They keep the plants so protected from the wind and everything inside are really thriving. In here, we have cucumbers, jalapenos, artichokes (which I didn't even realize they grew here! Thanks, Brittany for telling me...artichokes are my favorite!)

AND...
Bell peppers!!! We already have some growing!!! Yum!!

Our tomatoes are getting so big, we took the plastic off of our greenhouse.  I bought starts this year for them. Not just starts, but I splurged for the really big ones. The growing season is so short here, I decided it would cut down at least 4 weeks on the growing time. We have baby tomatoes growing all over the place now!

Here's our lettuce and cilantro. I've never grown herbs before. I'm excited to see how they do!

Here's our corn. 

And, Green Beans.

We also have tons of squash and pumpkins. TONS! And....that brings me to the third reason for a successful garden. I planted all of our squash and pumpkins straight from seed this year. 15 to be exact. And only 2 germinated and grew. I was really discouraged. It was late enough that trying more seeds was completely out of the question. Starts are really expensive - at least when trying to fill a garden as big as ours. But, my friend Brittany came to my rescue in a very bittersweet way. Her husband got a new, really awesome job and they are moving out of state. She was left with tons of starts that she worked very hard on growing all spring in her basement. She's like a gardening ninja. Seriously. She gave me tons of starts. And they are all thriving. I am so grateful!! But....honestly I would sacrifice my entire garden in a heartbeat if it meant they didn't have to move! We are so sad to lose them!

Our strawberries have also done amazing this year!! Finally!!!....we planted the starts 2 years ago!

And we have had TONS of strawberries! I've filled this bowl at least 3 times from our small patch.

So, we made Strawberry freezer jam. I've never made it before. It's so yummy!! The kids stepped in and helped me crush the strawberries.

This is only part. We ended up with 15 pints! I wish I could say that it will last us through the winter, but I know it won't. This kids have been practically surviving on toast and Strawberry Freezer Jam!

Here's to having an awesome garden this year!!!