The Backyard

It didn't used to look like this.

Here's what part of the backyard looked like when we moved in.

broccoli

cabbage

lettuce

We're still not finished with the garden, but I think we're off to a good start.

Oh, How Does My Garden Grow?

Like this:

L-R: cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, sunflowers
Not Available for Photo:  dying strawberries and blueberries

My Garden Helper

Up Close and Personal with Basil

I am completely enamored with my tiny garden.  So far, I've enjoyed tomato and basil bruschetta, big slices of tomato on turkey sandwiches, and thick-sliced tomato and basil leaves sprinkled with a little salt and pepper and olive oil.  I'm anxiously awaiting the cucumbers to start doing their thing.  I've got lots of blooms, but no cukes!  I have to admit, though, my absolute favorite part of the garden is the routine that P and I have in the afternoons.  Not long after we get home, we head outside and tend the garden.  Her favorite part?  Wadening the mayus.  Or, "watering the tomatoes" in non-2-year-old speak.  She sings it while she helps me hold the water hose, and then helps me hunt for any tomatoes that might need picking...and a few baby ones that could have used a week or so  more on the vine.     

And HERE is how it all started.

Dave's Garden Watchdog and Oakes Daylilies

For probably well over a year, I've gone to Burgess, browsed all the beautiful pictures of plants and trees, added hundreds of dollars worth to my Shopping Cart...and left it at that.  I never could work up the nerve to place an order.  

I recently began preparing a new flower bed, and of course, I turned to the Burgess site to daydream about what I could plant in my 2 x 20 foot-ish bed.  I've had my eye on evergreen daylilies.  There are so many different varieties with beautiful blooms and their foliage sticks around all year.  Also, my garden-centric neighbor has had great luck with daylilies, and they tempt me each time I walk outside.  Lucky for me, I found Dave's Garden to help me with my decision.  There's a wealth of information on the site, but I was most pleased to find reviews of online nurseries.  One quick search for Burgess and I found that, out of 348 gardener reviews, 243 of them are negative!  That's astounding.  Thanks Dave; I'll be un-bookmarking their site from my browser.    

Although my bubble was burst, Dave didn't let me down; the site also has a list of the Top 30 best-reviewed online nurseries, of which Oakes Daylilies is one.  Out of 243 reviews, 241 are positive for Oakes.  That's pretty impressive.  Even more pleasing to see is that the owner of the nursery responded to each of the 3 negative reviews, asking the reviewer to call him so he can make things right.  Feeling good about taking my chances on Oakes, I placed an order for daylilies a few days ago, and I can't wait to get them!    

source: Oakes Daylilies

Of course, I'll keep you updated on the quality of the plants I receive.  I'm so excited!

Repurpose: Fiery Succulents.

Succulents are one of my favorite things to plant.  I think they are really interesting and beautiful to look at, and it doesn't hurt that, in most cases, it would take a serious black thumb to kill one of them off.  I tend to have really good luck with them as long as I remember to cover them before a frost.  

For the past few weeks I've been eying my decrepit old fire pit that's been taking up space in my backyard.  The bottom of the bowl has some rust issues, and I don't think it would hold wood for a warm and friendly fire.  For whatever reason, it never made it to the road for curbside pickup.  

I've also been searching for a wide and shallow pot to re-pot some succulents that have long outgrown their current home.  Call me a genius, if you will, but it occurred to me that I already had the perfect wide and shallow pot living a very useless life on my back patio.  Hence:

I'm not sure what species of succulent I've got growing out the whazoo, but I like them in their new pot.

Stay tuned for more garden goodness to come!      

p.s.  That green swing you see there is a Wal-Mart purchase and it has easily tripled the time we spend outside.  

Tomatoes! [Or, All Hail Maternity Leave!]

Have I mentioned how much I'm enjoying NOT being at work?  I've got about another month to come up with some way to be independently wealthy, or I risk having to go back to a M - F, 40-hour a week job.  In the meantime, I've planted some veg...and sunflowers, strawberries, and basil.  I'm excited about fresh tomato sandwiches, home-grown cucumber with a dash of vinegar, salt, and pepper, and scrumptious straight-from-the-garden basil to top some seriously delicious pizza.

I've got a few weeks left to wait and drool.

Basil Under a Sunflower Canopy

You Say Tomato... 

Strawberries