Hello Garden friends! It’s been a minute since we got to chat but today is the day where we get to bond again 🙂 Today is our spring garden reveal day! It’s not the most dramatic or glamorous – talking about plants….BUT to me, there is something really special about having a garden and getting to watch your own food grow outside. It’s like watching a miracle! A miracle OF LIFE!!! See mom, I can make plants dramatic 🙂
Last year the garden fence was our biggest building project and this year it was such a treat to walk inside and to have everything ready for the planting season! It was minimal work to prep everything which made the planting task even that much sweeter!
Our garden has four raised beds and Jeremy did a TON of work to keep the bermuda grass from poking through the ‘floor’ of the garden and it really paid off. There wasn’t a single blade of grass! We still want to add some edging around the base of the garden fence to keep the grass from growing through the edges…but that’s a fairly quick task that we should tackle this summer.
This year I rotated my beds from last year…..basically everything switches to the next counterclockwise bed. I also amend the beds with manure and added a couple bags of organic soil. It was funny because I went to Home Depot to get the manure and the associate in the outdoor section was helping me and I asked him where the manure was. He was having a hard time hearing me because of a big truck outside….so he yelled “I don’t know what that is. Is there another name for it?” and I yelled back “It’s COW POOP IN A BAG!” right as the truck turned off and the entire line of people waiting to check out turned their heads. My kids loved it.
So last year we had a plethora of food from our garden. We gave a ton away and froze some and honestly….I love having a garden because I can share! So this year I wanted to make sure I was really aware that the items that I had, I could be generous in sharing and they would be things people wanted. I also wanted to be sure I tried a couple new things! That’s part of the fun right?!
Last year here is what WORKED –
- tomatoes (people especially wanted the bigger ones and cherry tomatoes)
- peppers (jalapeños and red/yellow peppers were the most requested items)
- pesto (which is made from pesto – my family was very happy to have their own jar of fresh pesto)
Here is what DID NOT WORK –
- tomatillos (we didn’t know when to harvest them or what to do with them afterward)
- pablano peppers (a lot of the families I gave stuff to had little kids and these peppers were a bit too hot)
- plain basil (I had way too much and people apparently don’t cook with it around here)
So the biggest new thing this year is going to be the zucchini. I am gonna try my hand at growing this beauty and y’all just wish me luck. I bought one little pot at the local Walmart and saw that it had two plants….which then divided again into three….so I got three for one! It looks like so far it is going okay but I want to build a trellis for it to grow up….otherwise it might take over everything 🙂
I also popped in only ONE hot pepper plant. I also was very conservative with the basil. I bought three plants of sweet basil and they all had double plants so six little basils will probably yield a LOT of basil.
In the next bed I did a lot of peppers. This year I chose a lot more smaller varieties (called lunchbox peppers) that are sweet and colorful. I should have lots of reds, yellows, greens! Bring on the kabobs!
Tomato plants are the thing that I will plant till the day I die. They make me feel close to my grandfather. I can literally smell a tomato and it brings me back to his house, digging in his Pennsylvania dirt and watching him hands turn a perfectly ripe tomato over in his hands.
I was kinda disappointed because this year my Growers Outlet decided not to carry as many varieties of tomatoes….so I chose beefsteak tomatoes (they are called beef masters), celebrity, roma and a yellow heirloom. I told the kids that they were Daddy tomatoes, Mommy tomatoes, Goldilock tomatoes, little boy tomatoes and then we have baby tomatoes 🙂 That way they know what to look for!
And speaking of baby tomatoes, we went with the regular cherry tomatoes but also included yellow cherry this season! I can’t wait to taste these ones! Anything with ‘sugar’ in the label is sure to be a nice addition. And last but not least, the last bed got a few jalapeños. This year I want to make some of the stuffed jalapeños with bacon around them….so I prepared myself accordingly 🙂 I could have gotten away with only two plants but it was cheaper to buy them in a tray.
I think this year will be the year of containers too! I had a few pots that were empty so I popped rosemary in one of them (it’s my favorite for chicken recipes!)…
And watermelon in the other (although this is WAY too small for watermelon – I just wanted to make sure it didn’t die before I got it an appropriate sized container.) We accidentally grew a watermelon a couple summers ago and the boys were THRILLED so this is gonna be an experiment for sure!
As far as staking the plants, I clipped some branches off our crepe myrtles and used those as stakes for the peppers. As they grow, they will need additional support so this will give me some reference of how tall they have grown.
And I have used these same tomato cages for years but my Pappap always steaks his and I am wondering if anyone out there can tell me what is better. I have heard mixed reviews.
And like I said before – I want to build a trellis for the zucchini because I hear they need the support and the room to grow. I thought I would have enough room for one zucchini plant but when it tripled, I know this is CRAMPED. I was thinking a grid type triangle shaped trellis made from crepe myrtle branches – very natural looking.
OH and here is another fun development….Max’s apple tree…..it has an apple. A LEGIT APPLE YALL.
see it?!
It’s only been in our yard for a year or so and it already started growing a beautiful little fruit. Max was beside himself and demanded that we eat it immediately 🙂 So EVERY DAY we have to go check on it and make sure his very first apple is doing ok.
For those of you wondering…we plant something for all the kiddos and I haven’t done Ella’s yet and was thinking that maybe I should do something a little different for her. Will has a flowering cherry tree, Weston has a peach tree, LJ has two blueberry bushes, and Max has an apple tree….would it be weird for me to do a rose bush for my sweet rosey-cheeked girl? I was thinking of ordering a Peggy Martin rose bush and letting it grow on the garden fence. It’s a seriously impressive plant that is tough and gorgeous….here it is growing on a garden shed….beautiful right?!
Well, that’s the recap of what we have been getting our fingernails dirty with recently! Have yall been planting? Have you gotten your garden in? Anyone trying anything new?
Your garden is going to produce a ton! I tried The Art of Doing Stuff’s string trellis method for tomatoes last year and it worked phenomenally. I’ve been recommending it all over the place. I want to trellis my zucchini this year too.
I’m not able to plant a garden this year since we moved to WV from Arkansas, so I’m going to enjoy these posts and updates! I had a plot in a community garden last year, and had lots of volunteer cucumbers plants that were very hardy, easy to grow, and so delicious! I’ve been told they grow well in pots, too. Given that Georgia heat is like Arkansas heat, they may be a consideration for you next year!!
If you planted a regular old green zucchini, they are bush plants and don’t climb or spread…. meaning they don’t need a trellis.
Those tomatillos and poblano peppers make really good green salsa. Roast the peppers, roast or steam the tomatillos. Add lime, cilantro, and onion. Blend it all in the blender. Yum!
We grew up having zucchinis! A favourite as a kid was to take the extra flowers and pull them apart into 3-4 pieces then dip them in extra sweet pancake batter and fry them in oil, then top with sugar and eat hot 🙂 It’s delicious!
Tomatillos are used in chili verde. You take the papery skin off, quarter them and put in a pot, along with garlic, jalapeño, salt, onion and red tomatoes. Cover them with water and simmer till soft, then blend the sauce.
Good thing you put the rosemary in a pot, otherwise it will take over your garden…same with mint!
We grow lots of tomatoes and I can them for spaghetti sauce.
With your jalapeños you might think about making pepper jelly. The recipe is on the Certo site. It’s delicious poured over cream cheese and served with crackers.
Maybe others have already said this, but usually you need to mound up the dirt around the zucchini. I have never tried to trellis zucchini, because it sort of bushes out. It doesn’t have vines, and the stems are quite thick. However, you will love having it in the garden. It is the perfect veggie to add to things and a great one to give away too! You should try cucumbers next year. My kids always eat those right off the vine! We moved overseas for a few years and I am missing my garden this time of year. I love seeing the pictures of yours!
Have you considered for Ella………. a boysenberry plant.
4 boys and a sweet berry.
Plus, purple berries………violet.
Love your tradition.
How about a boysenberry plant for Ella?
4 boy and a sweet berry, plus it’s a purple berry……….violet.
It looks like a Japanese garden! Perfect! Amazing job! Congratulations!
I love your garden. My various people in my family raise large vegetable gardens. They all use large tomato cages. Also, one of my uncles (whose garden looks like Eden because he was blessed with a wonderful green thumb) would run his squash, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. up large tomato cages, too. The plants would grow so lush and full you would not be able to see the cages, but the cages added just the right amount of support without as much work.
what do you mean by pesto being made my pesto? Is there an actual pesto plant?
Brain fart. I meant basil 🙂
xo – kb
That is a great recommendation!
xo – kb
No I never heard that! I will definitely look at the kind I got so I can know whether to trellis or cage it.
xo – kb
Thank you for the advice! I am new to this 🙂
xo – kb
Using crape mertyl branches as stakes is GENIUS! Why have I never thought of that??? Love you idea to plant a tree/bush for all your kids- I think the rose bush or the above mentioned boysenberry bush would be perfect! Love your garden posts!
I have read (and seen in other gardens) that the recommendation is to actually plant your basil plants next to your tomato plants – it’s supposed to help repel insects from the tomato plants, and improve the tomato flavour!
I suspect you will be drowning in zucchinis 🙂 If they take off, they tend to be amazingly prolific!
Also, if you are looking for another fruiting free for Ella – a friend of mine planted a really cool tree called a Pluerry – the fruit is a cross between plums and cherries – they are SO delicious! If it grows in your area, I would definitely recommend looking into it!
I love to garden! Both flowers and edibles
I suggest starting yourself a pot of mint – delicious in water, lemonade, desserts and of course mojitos!!
I think a lilac tree would be absolutely beautiful for Ella
Zuchinni just grows into a bush, you don’t need to cage it or stake it to let it grow. But make sure you look regularly for them–I swear I comb through my plants daily and see nothing and next thing I know I have one that is almost 14″ long!!!
Love the garden posts! I completely agree that seeing plants grow is like a little miracle, and seeing little fully-formed vegetables on a plant in the ground totally cracks me up. It almost looks like someone glued little plastic vegetables on the plant!
Really beautiful! You are doing great! You don’t stake or cage zucchini. Move one if you can; they need 24” between zucchini plants. They get huge around.
What a fun recommendation! I will definitely look into it!
xo – kb
Oh I forgot to mention that I did get some mint but I put it in a pot on our deck so it doesn’t take over everything 🙂 And I love lilac trees! I will have to look into it 🙂
xo – kb
You must have a green thumb! I’m so nervous I will kill them!
xo – kb
If you ever see a husk cherry (I think they are also called ground cherries) buy one. They take up a lot of space but almost look like a mini tomatillo and have a little tart but sweet fruit in it. Kids love them! We like to plant at least one unusual plant each year. This year I found a chic pea plant, a peanut and a blue potato. We also have hula strawberries. I don’t find them the tastiest and but they are white with red seeds. Fun for kids!
That sounds so fun! I’ll keep my eyes peeled 🙂
xo – kb
What Kelly said! They seem to grow overnight! And be careful not to overwater – because they are SO leafy and bushy, the soil underneath doesn’t dry out quickly, so I’ve ended up with rotting mushy zucchini and plant leaves more than once.