Garden 2014

One of the first things my husband helped me with at my house when we started dating 2 years ago was building me three 4'x4' raised garden beds.  And that year, I started with some basics - 2 tomato plants, some squash, zucchini, banana peppers, and some other stuff that didn't yield substantial crops.  Then, last year, we were in full wedding planning mode, and I knew that I wouldn't be able tend to it - so I let it grow over for the season.

While I can never claim to be a complete "outdoorsy" person, I must say, I thoroughly enjoy gardening (minus the icky bug element of it all).  It helps me to relax, clear my mind, and ultimately helps me (and my family) cut back on our produce expenses for part of the year.  Some of my fondest memories of my extended family involved spending time with my paternal grandparents and great-grandparents.  My great-grandparents were avid gardeners - and when we would go to visit every summer for a week or two, I remember spending afternoons at my great's, snapping beans and picking other veggies from their gardens.

Last weekend, I hit full-fledged garden-planning mode, especially since Andrew had been talking about beautifying the yard the week prior.  So, after church last Sunday, Andrew and I hit up the local stores in search of this year's plants/bulbs/seeds and other supplies.  We cleaned out the beds that even after a season of lack of care, held up very well!  One of the first plants we brought out to plant didn't fare too well at the mercies of our newest dog, Stella (a lab/we dunno mix) - she apparently has a taste for strawberry plants!  But we learned our lesson, and today took measures to better protect/reinforce our plants from the dogs (even though, I must say the dogs did pretty well for a week - but I'm not willing to chance it!).  We also added 6 other plants this afternoon.  So, here's what we have going this year:

Full view of our 3 beds

Yellow Planter: Spinach

Red Planters: Strawberries

Blue Planter: Romaine

Tomato Cage (top): Goliath tomatoes 

Tomato Plant (middle): Cherry tomatoes

Tomato Cage (bottom): Roma tomatoes

Top Bed (L-R): cilantro, spearmint, parsley, basil

Bottom Bed (L-R): red potatoes, red onions, white onions, garlic

Top Bed (top row): jalepeno (two plants), yummy bell peppers

Top Bed (bottom row): cayenne peppers, banana peppers (four plants), green bell pepper

Bottom Bed (top row): cucumber (full-size), green okra, straight-neck squash

Bottom Bed (bottom row): cucumber (pickling size), zucchini, straight-neck squash 

(thought I bough a crook-neck plant, but came home with a second straight-neck plant!  Oops!)

So, this is our garden this year (for now, at least!).  Broccoli come time to be planted/transplanted in the next couple of weeks, so we may have to finish out the other side of the first bed soon to make more room, but we'll see! 

And I'm definitely open to feedback and advice - I'm new to gardening and I'm by no means an expert, so any/all advice/guidance I can get is greatly appreciated!