Vegetable Garden Tour With A Splash Of Garden Art
It’s been a long time since I’ve written a post so I decided to share a tour of my vegetable garden. I expanded it from last year, doubling its size. I also removed all the peonies and re-homed them to another place in our landscape, to make more room for growing food.
This year, I planted a variety of vegetables which included tomato, cucumber, peppers, potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, lettuce, carrots, basil, oregano, and green beans. I opted to double the amount of each vegetable for this planting season.
The decision to expand the garden seems like a good one given the current weather conditions. The lack of rain and thick smoke from the Canadian wildfires are causing ash to accumulate on the plants (you can notice the haze even in my photos), which could negatively impact their growth. The limited rainwater and sun being filtered the way it is from smoke may also result in reduced garden production. I’m not sure of that but it stands to reason that lack of sun and water will be a factor in how much produce matures.
I haven’t mowed the lawn in over 7 weeks and now it resembles straw. It desperately needs rainwater to revive it. I’ve watered the vegetables with the hose, but it’s not as beneficial as rain. The nutrients and minerals in rainwater are necessary for their growth. I’m really getting quite concerned if we’ll ever see rain again.
In the garden photos, you may notice that Sox the cat, and Houdini the turkey decided to make an appearance. Sox has grown up alongside chickens and seems to view himself as one of them. He even takes dust baths as they do and often ends up covered in dirt. Well, he’s mostly always covered in dirt. Despite being a year old now, Sox has only recently started feeling at ease coming inside the house to eat. As a reminder, he was originally a feral cat born under our chicken coop, along with four other kittens who have since left or become coyote food.
The bunting in the garden was replaced with a new, vibrant multi-colored one (which took me out of my comfort zone). A peacock statue was also added to the garden after I found it at Aldi this week. By the way, if you like this type of garden ornament it also comes in a Heron or a Flamingo you don’t have to go with the Peacock. To add more pops of color, two flats of annuals were purchased and spread out on the corners of the raised beds. I planted Cleome for the first time this year and absolutely love its color and flower shape. I will have to add it to my list again for next year.
I know this post is photo heavy but I hope you enjoyed seeing the garden growth so far. I pray it continues to develop and produce vegetables. Thanks for stopping by today and I’ll be back soon with a porch tour. Warning I’m using colors there too that are out of my comfort zone. What the heck has gotten into me?
Have a wonderful day everyone, and please come back soon as I’m making it a summer goal to post more often again. You can all hold me accountable!
I have missed your posts! So happy to see your garden 😊 We to have planted a small garden 🪴Not as many things as you have. Planted some green beans hoping to get enough to can some in pint jars for my husband and I.
Happy 4th July!🇱🇷
Blessings, Anita
Anita,
Green beans are very easy to grow and can so I bet you’ll do well with them. I like to freeze and can them. Nothing better than having a stock of fresh veggies through the winter months.
Loved reading this post!
Thanks Jeanie, I’m glad to be back at it. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
I’ve missed your posts too! So good to see your garden thriving. I’m in So California and actually finally just planted a few things. I would love to have that much space. Please post more often.
Sandra, I am trying to post more often. I don’t always have things to post but I’ve been terrible about it lately. I bet it’s hard to grow certain things in California with the heat. I have to put shade cloth over my lettuce right now with the horrible heat we are having.
I definitely have missed you! I’ll be praying that you get some rain.
DeeDee thank you for the prayers. I sure hope we get rain soon. I’m watering my garden with the hose again tonight and my yard is in terrible shape. Nothing I can do about it but pray. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Nice pixtures of your gardens! Nice work! ❤️🙂
Thanks Lu, I’ll see you again soon at Gramas B-Day party!
Hi Dawn! Love all the photos of your garden and all of your whimsical touches. I can imagine how busy it’s keeping you. I’ve doubled my garden too this year. I live near the Saginaw Bay and the smoke from the Canadian wildfires has been so bad this week – I’m beginning to wonder if it’s affecting my strawberries….they’re just not as sweet as usual. I don’t know, but maybe not not enough sunlight?
Looking forward to seeing your porch.
Jen, Strawberries are picky. I’ve noticed if they get too much rain they lose flavor and if it’s too hot they aren’t as juicy. They are finicky I guess. We just didn’t have as many berries this year but did have them protected with shade cloth from the intense heat and to keep the critters out. Good for you doubling your garden. It’s so nice to grow our own food.
Beautiful garden! Cleome is a wonderful flower, trust me, you will not need to replant! All kinds of volunteers will come up next year!
Debbie,
That’s good to hear about the Cleome. Volunteers will be welcome, that’s for sure!
So good to hear from you again, Dawn!
I love the way you have set up your garden! We have a smaller version of yours and we in NE Ohio have had plenty of rain! Praying that you get some soon and enjoy the fruit of your labors!
Susa, Lucky you have plenty of rain, I’m jelous. Send some my way. Is your garden doing good this year?
So good to hear from you again! Your garden looks great. I wanted to tell you that the flower seeds you mailed me last year did well and re-seeded themselves so I’m enjoying those beautiful orange blooms again this year!