Monday, September 06, 2010

How does your garden grow...

...not very well actually. But since this is my first year having a vegetable garden I am very happy with the fruit of my labor. I have really enjoyed having my first little veggie garden this year. Everyone has been telling me that this year has not been a good one for gardens. I am really looking forward to next year and putting into use all the things I learned this year.

My tomato plants are doing okay. My Tomatoberries have been ripening and they are sweet like candy. They are perfect on salad or just popping them in your mouth whole. I also have Roma, Gill's All-purpose and Isis Candy but none of these have ripened yet. I have lots of green globes and I am waiting anxiously for them to ripen up!

My broccoli seems to be doing okay (even with the little bites on leaves). I planted this batch in the middle of August hopefully for a fall harvest of broccoli. It is a winter blend which is suppose to be very hearty and perfect for Northwest weather.

I am not exactly sure what type of squash this is. Ruh bought a packet of seeds from Fred Meyer that was suppose to be zucchini squash but these don't look like zucchini squash to me! My mother-in-law Bonita said she also bought a packet of seeds from Fred Meyer which ended up being something different than what was on the package. Very interesting! My dad thinks they might be pumpkins or globe squash.

I also have sugar pumpkins, butternut squash and black beauty zucchini that are growing well. At least I think they are growing well. I want to make pumpkin pies from homegrown sugar pumpkins this year and with the number of plants I have I will probably be giving some away and canning some. I can't wait to make Butternut Squash Soup, always perfect on cold fall and winter days!
My little Impatiens are doing really good! I have to say that Miracle Grow flower food does wonders. These plants are seriously about 10 times the size they were when I planted them! I love the ones on either side of my front steps.
I love my roses. There are six different rose bushes. I love clipping them and bringing them inside to enjoy and they bloom all spring and summer.











My mom gave me some money for my birthday and I bought a compost bin and a gardening book. I am looking forward to composting and enriching my soil for next year. The book I bought is Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon. I have been enjoying reading it and marking it up with notes and underlining things I want to remember for next year.

Oh I can't wait for next year's garden!




And I just had to add this picture of Daniel watching Daddy work out in the backyard. He will stand there at the door saying "Daddy!" I know he can't wait until he can go out and help Daddy work in the yard. :)

3 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Hi Annie! Just saw that you are blogging again and wanted to let you know about those zucchini. A friend of mine was given zucchini that looked like that and she was told it was a variety called pokerball zucchini. I don't know anything about them but you could have zucchini that is a different variety than what the package said. Good luck with the garden, the first year can be hard but just keep at it.

Annie said...

Thanks Elizabeth! Congratulations on your little Titus! You are surrounded by men! :)

Ruhiyyih Rose said...

Oh I love that last photo of little Dan Dan!

Matt and I would love to meet up for lunch. I will call you later this week to go over details - our race is from 8-10 (we are running home from it to get enough miles in) and then probably will head over to your place after church is out? We are excited for the little trip over there!