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First Garden Ever. Really.
Posted: 10 Aug 2014

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First Garden Ever. Really.

Category: Adventures in Gardening | Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 9:13 pm

My husband and I bought our second home last August and one of the main reasons we bought our home was so we could put in a garden. We have a larger back yard with a good deal of sun, so we thought Ooo, a garden would be lovely! (Actually, it was more me than him, because he knew he would have to build it, ha)

We planted our garden on May 24:


All done! Grow, garden, grow! ( photo / image / picture from WeeGreenSheepie's Garden )

Two watermelon plants, two cucumber plants, two zucchini, four bell peppers, two tomato, a banana pepper and a cherry tomato plant. Obviously I didn't plan well or really know what I was doing (plus I think I was a bit hungry when plant shopping) so we just kind of tossed a mish-mash in and hoped for the best.

Which was good, because by July 5, this is what was left:


July 5-the aftermath of overwatering ( photo / image / picture from WeeGreenSheepie's Garden )

I learned the hard way about overwatering. The cucumbers and one of the zucchini pretty much rotted away and almost everything else was struggling. The cherry tomato plant and banana pepper plant were producing rather well, but I really thought we would lose the rest. So we weeded it really well, took a big fork to the soil to chunk it up and cut back on the watering. Meanwhile, our patio potted garden was doing well:


Patio garden ( photo / image / picture from WeeGreenSheepie's Garden )

We're trying to attract hummingbirds and bees to our yard; we've got hummers already, but they don't hang around much as they love our neighbor's big honeysuckle bush at the side of their house. They do like to check us out though! :)

By the end of July, we're starting to see some progress, especially the watermelon:


Creeping melons ( photo / image / picture from WeeGreenSheepie's Garden )

And then poof! Our garden exploded, so much so that the watermelons were tangled in the bird netting:


Tangled, non-Disney style. ;) ( photo / image / picture from WeeGreenSheepie's Garden )

And also taking over the garden:


August 5-exploding with green ( photo / image / picture from WeeGreenSheepie's Garden )

My next battle is getting the watermelon aphids off, and putting a layer of mulch down; I know, I know, we should have done that before, but we're just learning this stuff! It looks like we're going to have a good crop of watermelon, some nice zucchini and a lot of peppers, yay! I'm not sure about the tomatoes, I'm watching them and we've got some little green ones; they're just not getting much bigger. The banana peppers are about to start popping again, and the cherry tomatoes rarely make it back to the house, hee.

We are planning on adding two more 4x6 beds, with one or two 5x5 beds; I think watermelon and pumpkin might be in their very own 4x6 beds so they can go all over. It's certainly going to be a fun journey, and our daughter is learning a lot about gardening, and the joys of growing and eating your own food!




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Comments

 

KK Ng wrote on Mon Aug 11, 2014 1:36 am:


It is a joy seeing you starting up your very first garden. You reminded me of myself of my very first experience at gardening.

Well done and enjoy!!!




mart wrote on Mon Aug 11, 2014 3:06 am:


Since you have watermelon and cucumber in your yard,,don`t try to save seed from the watermelon. They will taste like cucumber. And birds will not bother watermelon so you can leave the netting off. Just use it on the veggies the birds will eat. Since you have raised beds you can save space if you let the watermelons run outside the boundary. Only the roots need to be inside the bed!! Great looking yard !! Wish mine were that neat !!




 

Sjoerd wrote on Mon Aug 11, 2014 8:58 am:


I enjoyed reading how your first garden progressed and the things that you learned.

I really appreciated your enthusiasm. You know, that sort of enthusiasm is something that I have every year. It seems a bit child-like, but that's what I get every time. I think that it is a good thing and when adversity crosses one's path it is that level of enthusiasm that keeps me going right on and finding a solution and planning for the next stage.

It looks like you have had some adversity ans well as some successes and most importantly--you have learned a thing or two along the way.

Gardening with raised beds as opposed to in the ground can be challenging as it requires a different mindset and "awareness". Some of the "rules" are different.

Anyway--congrats with your effort this year and good luck with your future plans as well as the rest of the season.




 

Netty wrote on Mon Aug 11, 2014 12:30 pm:


I also appreciated your enthusiasm, and I still get the same way each year! Your garden looks great, and wise choice in giving the vines their own bed next year. When gardening, we are always learning!





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