How does your garden grow?
My little organic garden is a mighty powerhouse. It’s quite compact consisting of two 4 x 6 plots set up in the square foot method. I am in LOVE with the square foot method. For gardening green-horns like me, this has been wonderful. Even better, though, is that my youngest little planter has discovered that she’s a natural green thumb … not put off by bugs and dirt, and feels a strong stewardship toward the garden. At nine years old, she requires no supervision working in the garden. Her watering method is just right, as is how she handles the plants. Since she is such a hard worker, she gets first nibble pick of our strawberry bounty … which just keeps on coming. Oh, and did I mention that we’ve pulled a total of *8* weeds. That’s it. E-I-G-H-T weeds. No chemicals or additives have been added to our soil either. This method of gardening uses up all available growing space, so there just isn’t much room for any weeds to take hold. And, since my neighbor’s tree is heavy with figs, the raccoons and other little stinkers are more interested in eating figs than my future bounty. We’ve had oodles of herbs and strawberries, the peas and radishes are producing nicely, the tomatoes refuse to turn red, and the squash is really blossoming now. I suspect in a weeks time frame, I’ll have actual veggies in my harvest basket. In the meantime, does anyone have a great recipe for fried green tomatoes?
So without further ado, here’s my garden.
How does your garden grow? 
22 comments:
Strawberries the first year? Hot diggity dog! Keep that little girl playing in the dirt! I may try some little beds and your method next year, if I can garner any enthusiasm.
"Paula, Paula quite contrary. How does you garden grow?" Or maybe that was Mary? :)
Your garden looks lovely. I just love the colour green. I've been growing herbs for a few years now but this is the first year I've tried growing tomatoes. I have a cherry tomato plant that at the moment is showing me teeny, tiny green tomatoes. I feel like a proud mama. :)
Oh, I love it! I sure wish I had a thriving garden but I am not good at it like you and my husband are. I finally planted some herbs, so wish me luck they aren't dead by next week!
My mother in law used to dredge them in seasoned flour and fry them in butter, pretty simple but I haven't had them in a while. hmmmmmm
Great job with the garden, Paula. Just be patient with your tomatoes, before you know it you'll be up to your ears in them. :-)
How lovely your garden grows. I have a little balcony where green things come to die :( but I do have habaneros :)
I love my container garden, no weeding required :)
Great pics!!
Beautiful, I'm so jealous! I am lacking in the garden department.
Paula, that is a beautiful looking garden! Good for you!
Great looking garden! I have a tiny one but love getting fresh tomatoes and herbs.
Beautiful! Just look at those eggplants and the herbs!!
Your garden looks so lush, and healthy. I never have had fried green tomatoes, but I loved the movie! My mom always fried the larger summer squash like that and layered them with cheese, and then baked it for 1/2 hour or so. Comfort food for sure.
I'm truly jealous of your weed tally!
Looks like you are doing a GREAT job. What a lovely garden.
Isn't it great to have a veggie garden? Yours is certainly coming on!
Hi all, thanks for stopping by!
Marjie: Your resident construction expert, Jeffrey, could build these style beds for you in his sleep! I've really enjoyed it; how could I not with all those strawberries!
Dragon: I get so excited when those first little tomatoes start to appear. If only mine would turn red!
Bridgett: Thanks, I'm really a gardening newbie! I can't tell you how relieved I was when those first few plants sprouted! :-)
Linda: I was so happy to see your name pop up here! Your m.i.l.'s recipe sounds tasty; everything's good with butter! Hope you are feeling better!
Jan: You should see me with these plants; hovering every day as if they will somehow have turned red magically since the last time I checked on them! Good luck with the publishers!
Dee: Oooh, you're braver than me.:-) I have tons of jalepeno's planted, but nothing stronger than that! I'm too wimpy to try those killer hot ones! They sure a pretty though!
Ohio Mom: Container gardens are great! I need to figure out how I can continue on with my herbs during the winter; I may go with small indoor containers around the kitchen!
Noble: Maybe when you move to Oregon you can have a vineyard, and I'll trade you veggies for wine! :-)
Cheryl: We like our little garden. Even hubbyman likes to go out and look at it (more likely he's pilfering strawberries!). Actually, he's looking forward to eating our sweet corn!
Lisa: Fresh tomatoes are the best! Now if mine would only turn red!
Pam: The plant of the eggplant itself is very pretty. The purple and green leaves look so gorgeous in the garden.
Nita: Oooh, that squash recipe sounds great. I've lots of zucchini plants just that will bombard me with squash soon. My little garden can't compare to your gorgeous plantings, but I just love it! It's been a great starting point for this city girl! Your posts have inspired me to grow more of our own food!
Pam: It's not too shabby at all. Best of all, it's so convenient to just step outside and pick something for dinner. My daughter eats zillions of cucumbers, so hopefully I'll be able to keep her satisfied!
Nicisme: Welcome! Hopefully, my garden will produces some of the ingredients so I can make your Mexican Dip!
I do the squarefoot method as well! I borrowed the original book (from the 70's, with the guy wearing bell bottoms) from a friend and didn't want to give it back. So informative. And I don't have a problem with weeds at all!
BTW, I harvested 4 whole cherry tomatoes the other day, and 4 nice looking peppers! yay!
Your garden looks great and it looks like you maximized the square footage. You will be rolling in the vegetables soon enough!
i'm so incredibly jealous of your garden! how does my garden grow? um...not at all. granted, it's not really a garden, and i do get a tomato every now and then, but other than that, i have to make do looking at pictures of other people's better, more prolific gardens. like yours. it's awesome. :)
All I can say Paula is WOW! You are so lucky to have grown these beautiful vegetables, well done they look fantastic and I am sure they will taste fantastic too. :-)
Thanks for sharing these pics! They make me believe I'm there and having my own garden
It looks like there's a whole lotta good stuff going on in your garden!
We use the square foot gardening method (organic) ourselves -- though I find it has limitations when growing tomatoes (more susceptible to disease). What's your experience been?
Darlene: Yeah! Another Square Foot Gardener! I borrowed that book from the library, and alas had to give it back. When I went to order one on Amazon, I saw that Mel Bartholomew had written an update, so I got that one. This new one has different info on the raised beds, which is what I have, and boy, oh boy, I reference that book often.
Grace: I've had the best luck with this garden! The soil in my yard is cement like clay, and my previous attempts at traditional gardening produced sad results. I can't wait to pick my first RED tomato!
Jeena: I'm soooo looking forward to eating these veggies. My kids have learned so much about wholesome food, too!
Lore: Thanks! It's been a great experience learning how to garden!
Lo: Oh Dear! How awful to have your tomatoes susceptible to disease! I've had just the opposite outcome. All the tom plants are doing very well, and are laden with fruit (no red ones yet!). My squares are really full; however, regarding the tomatoes, I've only planted one tom plant per square. Plus, I've alternated plants. For example, In one of the beds I have corn and cucumbers surrounding one of the tom plants, and in another section I have another tom plant surrounded by eggplant and melon. Next year, I'll rotate where I plant things, too. I think I'll put beans near the corn and squash, etc. Stay in touch ... let me know how your garden continues on. :-)
Your garden is looking good.
Post a Comment