Then the Lord God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man he had formed into it. The Lord God caused every beautiful tree and every tree that was good for food to grow out of the ground…The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to care for it and work it.~Genesis 2:8,9,15, NCV.
I've always thought it was pretty awesome of God to make man's first home a garden. Can you imagine what that garden must have looked like? Trees of living green; lush grass; stunningly beautiful flowers...beauty beyond imagination.
Today we'll talk a little about vegetable gardening. Nothing tastes better than home-grown vegetables; don't you agree?
After we 'till our garden, we hoe the ground in to rows. Frankly, I'd like to have a raised bed garden, but we just haven't gotten there yet. So for now, this is what our garden rows look like:
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| Freshly tilled |
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| Prepared rows |
After we prepare the soil, we plant our crops. Our first garden here in Mississippi, we planted a fairly large garden...and discovered that much of what we planted didn't like the hot summers, for one; for another, the bugs really liked what we planted! I also learned that my kids aren't too keen on weeding and hoeing....and thanks to my bad back, it's too difficult for me to do any more. But we try!
Our first garden spot here was so overtaken by grass, it was just plain too hard to keep weeded, etc. Also, it seemed to be too much in the sun, which made it too hot and dry.
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| zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber |
We did manage to get a fairly good sized crop of zucchinis and yellow squash, though, and some cucumbers. The bugs liked my eggplants too much...
Last year we planted in a different location, and seemed to have a bit of better "luck".
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| measuring the corn, yet again! |
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| beets, lettuce |
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| a storm kind of flattened the corn |
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| gourd |
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| cantaloupe and yellow squash |
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| watermelon |
This year I am trying something different yet again. I've decided to use most of that garden spot for "permanent" things, like asparagus and strawberries. I think they should have been put in the ground a few months ago, though. We'll see if they actually do anything!
I've also planted a zucchini plant, yellow squash plant, yellow bell pepper, and dill; hope to yet plant some peas and lettuce...but it's probably too late for the peas now. One good gardening resource is Square Foot Gardening. Frankly, I just purchased the All New Square Foot Gardening book. Botanist Boy and I are working our way through it even as I type!
We're also doing more container gardening this year, but I'll talk about that another day this week.
What do you have in your garden this year? What is the growing season like where you are?
While you're here, I'd be very pleased, and honored, if you'd take the time to follow my blog! Be sure to come back tomorrow, when I'll share about my herb garden, and container gardening.
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Our garden is typically pretty large. Last year our growing season was extra short....late spring then early frost does not help.
ReplyDeleteWe plant a little of everything. This year, I'm keeping it lighter tho. I'm only growing a salsa garden :) Our summer is already panning out to be hectic, so I want/need to keep the garden at a minimum. Plus we have a small orchard to maintain. Praying we will finally see some fruit this year :)
Planting marigolds around your vegis tend to help keep a lot of the harmful bugs away. Maybe some of those will help.
We're moving this summer to a much warmer part of the country. I really hope that I can start at least a small garden this fall -- maybe some leaf lettuce and herbs.
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