Fruits of my labor...

 

I haven't always wanted a garden.

But things change as you get older.

You understand things more.

So when I realized I wanted a garden, I couldn't have one.

Our yard just wasn't big enough.

 

When we were house hunting last year one of the requirements was more yard space!!

 

I was so excited!

First thing my husband did in the yard was build our garden. I never thought I'd say that I wish it was double the size! The kids won't mind if I throw out the trampoline right....

 

I had no idea what I was doing. NO CLUE! I did know I wanted a salsa garden.

YUM....Fresh Salsa!

 So I bought everything for that and then some. And thanks to my friend Dyan who got many many texts from me.

She's a garden genius.

 



I planted all kinds of tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, carrots, all kinds of peppers (hot and sweet),

potatoes, celery, chives, cilantro, tomatillos, pumpkins and of course, STRAWBERRIES!

It really is pretty simple.

You plant, water, fertilize and watch them grow!

 Things don't always turn out though.

And I'm definitely doing a few things different next year.

 



My neighbors probably heard me when I saw my first pea plant coming up. I was a little bit of a spaz!

 



I don't know what is in my soil, but my garden has done AMAZING!

Some of the things I pull are gigantic. I am loving every minute of it (minus the spiders and bugs).

 





I can't wait for strawberries to come...haven't gotten any yet. I wanna make jam!

 

And I Seriously don't know what happened to my pumpkins.

 

Here lies my one and only.

My plants were so huge at one point. I could see all the pumpkins forming, but then they would all die and shrivel up. So I'm left with one. But it's a BIG one! I think it was a nutrient hog. Ha ha.



 
 

 

 

Every other day I was bringing in a HUGE bowl of fresh produce.

 For awhile we were keeping up on it. There is nothing my hubby loves more than fresh tomatoes. But I was afraid they were going to go bad. So I started to give to neighbors and of course to Annie.

Your welcome. ;)

 

 

 

 I was still getting overwhelmed with cucumbers and tomatoes......so what better thing to do then to do some canning.

 I have canned in the past, but never done it from my own garden.

It has been very rewarding.

I did some pickles (I wanna try making sweet ones too!)

 

 

And also did some stewed tomatoes. GREAT for food storage.

 

I heard a wise man say during a talk he gave in our sacrament that a garden is a sacred place.

I couldn't agree more.

Sometimes I feel at peace there. Like I could spend all day there picking weeds and making it pretty.

It's a calming place. A place to get a little therapy if you will. 

Sometimes my Meg will come out with me and it's a fun bonding moment for us.

 

Loved this little quote...

 

 

Here's my spill on gardening. I am not an expert. I have had things go wrong and things I've had to pull. But I'm having fun learning and I get to give to others as well.

Which is the most important thing.