The joys of gardening

As you well know, I love to cook...hence why many of my posts are about recipes, cooking and other food related items. So it probably doesn't surprise you that I also have a garden. For the past 4 years we've had a garden in our backyard. I grew up on a farm where my dad and brother had a HUGE garden. I mean we couldn't even think about eating all the food that came from it. Alot of it was just fun to grow - I mean who needs 20 jalapeno pepper plants? I can distinctly remember having rotten tomato fights with my brother when we were supposed to be "working"...perhaps that's why I don't like eating tomatoes??? It's a little traumatizing.

This winter, when my parents were visiting, I mentioned that the garden spot we had just wasn't working. No matter how much compost, fertilizer or other ways I prepared the soil, it just never did very well. Plus my dogs had access...never a good thing. Stella thought it was her personal salad bar at one point. I'd pick the tomatoes and she'd carry them off in her little mouth to chew up. So I suggested building a raised bed on the side of the house along our fence line where it was sunny, bare and otherwise left alone by our 4-legged children.

Here's an old picture of the front - the garden spot is along side the fence on the side of the house

In typical fashion, I gave my dad the usual "puleeeze, daddy" look and viola...dad and Daniel built us a set of raised beds in less than a day. SCORE! I don't think Daniel was too thrilled to get roped in to it but he knew I was excited so he went along. They filled them with bags of Black Cow and Miracle Grow gardening soil and that was all they needed. They planted lettuces, spinach and onions for the early spring and boy were they delicious. Daniel was a bit skeptical...he's never had fresh lettuce and spinach before. Raised on the blacktop that one. Apparently he thought they were grown in the plastic bins I bring home every week from the grocery store. Didn't really surprise me...he can be skeptical of many of my "plans". But one bite of a fresh salad from our own garden and he was sold. He was shocked at how much more tender and tasty the lettuce and spinach was compared to the grocery store organic kind.

This April I planted herbs (basil, thyme, oregano and mint) as well as red, yellow and green peppers; cherry tomatoes; sweet potatoes; cucumbers; tomatoes and watermelon. We (and by "we" I mean Daniel...) have been watering it regularly. I plant...Daniel waters...that's how the Schrall's do gardening.  And once the plants were established, spraying it with organic fertilizer every 3 weeks or so.

Look how great it's turned out so far! It's even been blazingly hot for "spring" - staying in the mid-90's for weeks and weeks, and they still seem to be growing like crazy.

Front bed with herbs and peppers

another shot of the tomatoes and at the bottom, cucumbers and watermelon

Everything is starting to bloom, which if you garden, you know that the blooms turn in to the fruit, AKA the vegetables we eat. We've already gotten a few cherry tomatoes that are currently ripening in our kitchen window.

Oh, I learned this last year. Did you know you should pick the tomatoes when they just barely start to turn red? Then let them ripen in your window sill. Keeps the birds from poking holes in them on the vine and thus ruining them for eating. I also learned that you have to "pluck" the suckers from the tomato plants. Those are where a vine forks and a little sprig pops up between the fork. You're supposed to pinch those off. That helps them stay bushy instead of getting leggy. Obviously from this picture, it's working!

And for the record, I don't subscribe to the "water just the roots" versus the leaves philosophy. After all, what do you think happens when it rains??? So we just water with a sprinkler and let it stay on for 20-30 minutes so the ground gets saturated.

I'm most thrilled that when we harvest, I will know exactly how they were grown and what was put on them. I'm big in to organic if we can afford it. Charlie only eats organic baby food too.

Which as side bar, do you know the Top 10 fruits and veggies you should eat organic due to the high level of chemicals on or in them?

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Nectarines
4. Strawberries
5. Pears
6. Sweet Bell Peppers
7. Celery
8. Imported Grapes
9. Spinach
10. Potatoes

You can check this website out to learn why. I don't know about you but all of those on the list we eat on a very regular basis. It's soooo much cheaper to grow your own than it is to buy organic. Granted I don't have the space for fruit trees (yet) but at least I can do the rest.

But I digress...as I was saying...I love knowing what was put on the vegetables...not to mention how cheap it turns out to be when you can eat from it all summer long. If only I had enough room for corn and more fruit. {big sigh} If we planned on staying in the house, I'd rip out all the brush growth along that side of the house and put another set of raised beds along the house. But we're not so it doesn't make sense.

So stay tuned...when the tomatoes and peppers start coming in, I'll have all kinds of recipes for you to try. Including how to blanch tomatoes and make your own tomato sauce, yummy pasta dishes to go with the fresh tomato sauce you just made and stuffed peppers!

Do you garden? If so, any good tips for our readers?