We planted a garden. It’s not in our backyard as we had initially planned (it’s a long story), but rather it is part of a local community garden. It’s actually pretty exciting because we are interacting with some other people in our community (mostly senior citizens) and getting some fresh produce in the process.
We have planted a garden each year since we got married. In the past it has been rather tiny and on our patio, but we have always had fresh produce that we have grown ourselves. There is something amazing about going out to your backyard (or patio) and being able to pick what you need for dinner directly from the plant.
This year we planted watermelon, pumpkins, cantaloupe, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, beets, swiss chard, and onions. We planted all of them straight from seed, which is a bit risky considering that most other people were starting from small plants. We also planted nine tomato plants in our backyard. Eric lovingly planted them in our apartment from seed in March. We have a combination of roma, heirloom, and cherry tomatoes.
So far, we have harvested radishes, carrots, chard, lots of tomatoes, and a pumpkin. Unfortunately, the watermelons and cucumbers were ravaged by the cucumber beetles and kicked the bucket. That's one of the problems of a community garden, the bad insects sort of migrate from plot to plot so it makes it almost impossible to get rid of them.
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| our latest harvest |
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| carrots |
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| heirloom tomatoes |
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| ripening grape tomatoes |
We also have our trusty herbs that we have had for the past four years – sage, lavender, basil, parsley, and thyme in pots. We also planted a small herb garden in one of our plantings with a few additional herbs - rosemary, cilantro, chives, parsley, and oregano.
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| thyme |
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| lavender |
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| parsley |
Hoping to have more fresh produce as we move into the fall!
-Eric and Anna
