Then and Now

May 9, 2011

April 4, 2012

Look how much these same pants were rolled up a year ago - now they're almost too short! And see how much her hair has grown! What a difference a year makes.

Small Spaces

In addition to my bigger veggie plots I have a couple of small garden spaces that were here when we moved in (all the veggie beds I have created). There's this lovely little spot out front by the crab apple tree:

It has daffodils which come up every year and a large cluster of peonies that take over and surround the daffodils and produce beautiful white blooms tinged with fuchsia. The area between the peonies and the apple tree, however, has always been a little problematic. It is a very shady area, the soil is heavy and not particularly good and, since 98% of my attention and gardening time is spent on the food-producing sections of the garden, by mid-summer it is usually overrun with weeds and not much to look at. I'd love to do more with this area this summer and really turn it into something beautiful. I'll be adding manure and maybe some sand too and I'd love suggestions on pretty, shade loving perennials (not hostas, I have enough of them already!).

Then there's this little spot by the door to Luke's shop. The vibrant green in the corner is my boisterous chive plant which is always quite large and I never make very good use of. There are some asiatic and oriental lilies that come up in the back and are huge and beautiful in July and early August; in front of them is an astilbe my mom gave me several years ago. The remaining area in front of the astilbe is also sort of a mess come summer - a mix of some random ground cover and weeds that doesn't look particularly attractive. I'd love to put some other things in here, just have to figure out what! Some perennial herbs would be lovely. Suggestions?

Then, Clara and I added this new little space a couple of weeks ago. It is right out next to the driveway in front of the garage. It gets tons of sun and I'm planning to put some sunflowers here. I hope they will be lots of fun!

So those are my "extras" - the spots that need a little TLC but don't get it because I'm too busy raising produce and a kiddo. But now that the kiddo is big enough to enjoy helping more, I'm hoping to give them all a little makeover this summer!

More Garden Progress

We've been working working on our garden spaces, prepping them for the summer. We added manure to the second half of the front garden, as well as the garden on the side of the house, which was my first tiny patch several years ago. Hard to believe that I grew tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, peas, green beans, lettuce, carrots and new zealand spinach all in that tiny space!

That's a thyme plant from last year that is just starting to come back; I need to cut away all the dead foliage! With the return of sunshine and some slightly warmer temps this week (though not as warm as before!) we spent some time turning over this garden. It still amazes me the rocks I find after 3 years!

Can you see the huge rock in the middle of the path?

I only use the best of help in my garden, as you can see - bejeweled princesses, making birthday cakes with the soil that is just beginning to look decent after 3 years of amendments.

 

Although I squeezed a lot into that small space the first year, it clearly was not enough for all we wanted to do! I have added a bit more bed space each year and now, instead of just this small corner space, I have the whole front garden I started last year (pics in the last post), this side plot plus the new bed across the front of the house that I put in this spring, and my little back garden that is half garden space, half raspberry patch.

The expanded front gardens

The back garden - covered with ashes, next in line for manure!

I am still working on my garden plan for this summer but I think most of our lettuce, a good portion of peas, broccoli and probably some kale will go in the new bed in front of the house, on the side towards the driveway; then either cucumbers or butternut squash will go in the section next to my older garden, which gets more sun. The front garden will be home to tomatoes, basil, more cucumbers, more peas and possibly some green beans or squash. In fact, my biggest question at the moment is where to put the squash. Last year I devoted the whole side garden to squash plants; it was a good place for them and they did well. I'd like to rotate them somewhere else this year but am not sure where - they don't do well in the back because they don't get enough sun, but none of my other front gardens have quite enough space for them to sprawl as the like to do. Hmmm.... we shall see what I come up with!