I never imagined we’d have a garden like this year’s garden. Over the last 19 years we’ve lived here gardening has been a struggle. Although I’ve had a couple years where the tomatoes did well, most things barely produced and made the most scrawny plants no matter what I did for fertilizer and water. While I suspected it was the soil, it required a major time/labor/cost investment to remedy it, so we just kept on struggling.
This year DH and I decided we were either going to do it or give up totally. And since I can’t give up gardening and remain centered in the normal daily chaos of my work lives (yes, lives, 2 businesses equals 2 jobs), we put in the time and effort. And wow has it made a difference!
Here’s the garden on May 4th, just after things started to sprout:
And here is the garden today:
The heirloom tomato (just to the left of the zucchini trellis) is as tall as I am! The summer squash behind the zuchinni trellis are the biggest I’ve ever seen and have set about 20 squash already. You can’t even see from this angle the potatoes and onions behind the tomatoes, nor the beets and carrots in the lower bed, and there is almost no walk room left between rows.
I never imagined it growing so well and can honestly say it will be a busy summer canning, drying, freezing and preserving the vegetables!
Oh my word Judy!!!!! It’s GORGEOUS!!!!!!!! Mine still looks like your first pic… yeah… I sould have asked for my organic soil 10 years in the making in the divorce…..
Thanks Jan! It’s grown thick enough I told DH this morning that I wouldn’t walk out to it without tall rubber boots as it could very well become a place snakes like to rest in the heat! Yeah, that thought crossed my mind last night as I was thinking of the squash and cucumbers that have grown together despite being planted 3′ apart and wondering how many more beds I need to add on for next year!
Your garden looks wonderful. I’m envious. Have fun with all your produce. I know I loved gardening when the crops came in so beautifully.