Garden Overhaul

I have always wanted to grow a garden. I admit though that I don't have a very big green thumb if I even have one at all. Maddie has showed a lot of enthusiasm in starting a garden too so I decided what the heck. We have a huge back yard so why not tear some of it up and give it a shot. We have an awesome tiller that a good friend GAVE to us so we decided to put it to work. We picked the spot in our yard that gets the most sun. It was hard finding a spot because our yard is shaded almost 100% of the day. If you have never seen my yard we are blessed and cursed with lots of trees. While the shade is wonderful it can make it hard to grow grass. We have an assortment of trees, pine, cedar, magnolia, dogwood, bradford pear, tulip, and maple trees in our backyard alone.



This is our pink Dogwood. It is so pretty and the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

While we have spent some time working in the flower beds this year already, they are shaping up nicely, this whole gardening thing is very new to me. After we tilled up our spot we edged it with some garden bricks to discourage grass from growing back and also I am OCD and like borders around things. We all played in the dirt picking out the grass roots and rocks. I think that was my favorite part. It was so soft and actually felt good on my hands and feet. We planned out our garden on paper first in terms of where to put things. First we planted two rows of corn seeds. I do know that when you plant a garden you have to know if the plants self pollenate or need multiple plants to help pollenate. That is why we planted two rows of corn. This was the only type of veggie/fruit that we planted with seeds the rest we bought as sprouted plants already. Happily after about 10 days this is what we started seeing.



We also planted two types of tomatoes needing trellasis', strawberries, cucumbers, blackberries, blueberries, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, and bell peppers. Some things are doing better than others but they are all still alive right now. I decided to use organic soil when planting and luckily it really wasn't that much more expensive. I also used organic fertilizer. I feel like if it is more natural it will be better for us to eat. Maddie had so much fun helping, and one of my goals was to really get her invovled so that she might try some of our fruits and vegetables when they start growing. Well, it paid off. The other day our first starwberry was ripe enough to pick. So we did and guess what Maddie wanted to eat it. She even said she liked it. If that is all we get from this garden it will have been worth it.


We have been watering everyday and watching the plants get taller. Our garden isn't really big but it is a start and it is a lot of work. We pick weeds out almost everyday and inspect the plants to make sure there are no bugs or pests harming the plants. It is fun!







Maddie's class at school even planted individual gardens. It is so cute how they did it. They planted six different types of vegetables in cups and stapled them together. They are actually growing too. I think we are going to have to transplant them into the garden as soon as possible. It is a great way to do it for little kids.





Here are a few other pictures from around the backyard of various plants and flowers that are in bloom. We have a lot of azaleas in the front and only one in the back, we also have a Rose of Sharon bush but it hasn't bloomed yet along with our Gardenia bush.




I love spring time and hopefully as time passes I will get better at the gardening thing and learn from our mistakes. The one true thing I have seen through all of this is that God has given us so much beauty all around us. It is refreshing to see beauty right in out backyard. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to grow plants and see a glimpse or your majesty in spring and the newness of life.