What's growing in our garden

It is so much fun to watch the plants grow taller, then get the flowers, then the fruit or vegetable that results. Not unlike watching our kids grow. There is so much excitement and pride in watching them grow and learn, so much anticipation for what will come next, and then the bittersweet realization that each new accomplishment is evidence of time just flying by. How even throughout all of the many frustrations of gardening and parenting (weeding unwanted plants or unwanted habits, protecting against predatory insects or child predators, caring for a sickly plant or nursing our kids through an illness) when you see them blooming before you, with the sun shining on them as if it were a show just for you...it is simply breathtaking.

Here are some pictures of the garden. Don't laugh too hard--okay you can laugh, it's good for you. You'll see lots of weeds--some of it is on purpose (a little wild section attracts beneficial insects) some of it's just because I haven't gotten out there enough. You'll see newspapers flying about the yard, I was trying to lay it down and wet it really well before putting the straw on top for mulch but I guess they're supposed to be drenched to stay in place. (Hey we have to conserve water!) ;-) Also we ran out of the straw, so that's why it looks a bit bald in some spots. Here's what we're growing.

Vegetables and Fruits:

• Brandywine Heirloom Tomato
• Sweet Million Cherry Tomato
• Roma Tomato
  
• Cucumber
  
• Sugar Snap Peas (from seed)
• Kentucky Pole Beans (from seed)
• Banana Peppers
• Sweet Bell Peppers
• Cayenne Peppers
• Pumpkin
  
• Sugar Baby Watermelon
• Grapes
• Strawberry
• Rhubarb
  
• Kiwi Gold Raspberry

This is the view of our veggie plot. I'll get a better picture later.
I really cut back the grapes this year. Last year's canes were 8-10 feet long! I didn't expect it to grow back, but it did and there are grapes growing!

I'll be sad to lose these strawberries next year. We have to replant it since you really should replant them every 3-5 years. And the first year of strawberries you should pick off the flowers to strengthen the roots.This is our second year with them and we don't know how long the previous homeowners had them...Maybe I'll wait one more year before replanting. ;-)

Herbs

• Blue Balsam Mint
• Orange Mint
  
• Lime Thyme
• Lemon Verbena
• Munstead Lavendar
• Chives
• Cuban Oregano
• Sweet Basil
  

We took out the rocky/nasty landscaping pond and turned it into an herb garden. I love it! I really am enjoying going out there to "pinch, pinch, pinch!"

These are our strawberries picked from the garden. This was only after about 4 minutes of picking.Using the rhubarb, strawberries, orange mint and lemon verbena from our garden, Manny and I made our first strawberry/rhubarb pie! Homemade crusts too! See the little hearts? As my mom always says, "It tastes so good because it's made with love." ;-)

BUZZZZZZ

It was such a long, cold, snowy winter this past year. I couldn't wait for spring! I read gardening magazines, on-line articles, and books. I imagined the type of vegetable garden we would like and what plants we could take out or put in. And now we're right in the thick of it, and time is just flying. Spring was so exciting! We bought our plants and seeds and got our garden plot ready. The weather was finally warmer and comfortable. And there were no bugs yet...more specifically...no mosquitoes. Ah, the dreaded mosquito. We have our share of bugs in Florida, but mosquitoes are ridiculous up here. I've heard it joked as the state bird. Because we've had so much flooding, they are swarming and they are mean and tough. I heard on the news last night, that a typical mosquito trap that usually catches 5o bugs a night is catching 4,000 a night.

I'm not a big fan of putting toxic chemicals all over my kids, myself or my husband. So I bought a chemical free bug repellent called Buzz Away. I think I actually heard a mosquito laugh at me...It worked okay, but it was still unbearable. After many days of this, and many more mosquito bites, I caved in and put on the OFF repellent, with the dreaded DEET. I felt so guilty while slathering it on my sons, but at least they could play comfortably. We were out there about 5 minutes and I hear Manny say, "Ow!" and slap his neck. I go back to gardening, he starts screaming and crying! I run over and the dang skeeters had swarmed him and were biting his shoulders and neck. I could NOT believe it. I had even put that toxic stuff all over his neck! In researching an organic garden, I read that a brown bat could eat 1,000 mosquitoes in one hour. And that preying mantis are also fast enough to catch them and help control their population. And since the beneficial ladybugs are apparently not native to my region, they won't be killing off too many good bugs. (Mantis are NOT picky--they'll eat each other too!) The good news is that flood mosquitoes do not carry the West Nile Virus, but they are still obnoxious. I've missed being outside the last few days. My father always used to say that I had sweet blood, because I was ALWAYS a mosquito target...apparently so are my kids. It's hard being so sweet. ;-)

Sprouts

Well friends, I've officially entered the world of blogging. Never thought I'd do it, but I'm intrigued nonetheless. This year has been a whirlwind! We became homeowners, expanded our family from one boy to two (hurrah!) and slowly but surely are adjusting to life in a small town. I like the slow pace of it, I like the quiet, but I do miss the convenience of big city stores and activities.

So this is our second year gardening. We're focused mostly on vegetables and herbs this year although we did plant a daisy and black eyed susan. We're determined to grow things organically and quite honestly it feels really good! I'm learning so much about good bugs and bad bugs. My sons have a cool mom now...not one who automatically screams at a spider, but rather appreciates the spider for eating mosquitoes. I knew I had to change when I saw my then 2 year old screaming at the sight of any bug. I'm proud to say that now he'll gladly pick up an earthworm and design it a new home or dig up a grub and squish it (they're bad bugs). So we're planning on building a bat house this weekend and buying some Preying Mantis.

Anyhoo, I'm crazy in love with my boys...my original sprouts. Manny will be 4 years old in just 3 weeks, and Adrian just turned 9 months. Forgive the term, but they're growing like weeds. Maybe I should say growing like Peas...they grow fast and they're sweet. ;-) They keep me busy, and I do this gardening thing because it brings me peace, but also because I want them to have wonderful memories of picking fresh peas and strawberries right from our yard, having an appreciation for the work that goes into it, and the satisfaction of what great food really tastes like. It's a new adventure for us all.