My 2014 Garden

You guys, this year my garden has been a true labor of love. Having a small baby, taking on a new/huge yard, creating a vegetable garden in a patch of dirt that has never grown a thing (= very poor soil) and a brutal hail storm meant the odds were against me in ever growing something I was proud of. Every day I would go out and wander my rows and be heartbroken over how slowly everything was growing and how quickly the weeds were taking over. My attempts to weed were often thwarted by a baby who needed me or chores that beckoned elsewhere and, before I knew it, my garden felt lost in a sea of portulaca and dandelions. I felt completely trumped by Mother Nature.

Then one morning, as I was taking out my compost, I caught a glimmer of my garden growing into the one I had envisioned last Winter when it was covered in a blanket of snow. The way the sunlight shone thru the trees, the way the birds sang all around me..it made me hopeful. And then a terrible hail storm came and pummelled my poor little veggies. Sunflowers were shredded in half, pumpkins were left with golf ball sizes holes, berries were demolished...and so was my hope for a producing year in our garden. But, I kept watering, weeding, staking and hoping. And now, I go out and am blown away with how its still growing, still blooming, still producing.

This morning I walked out there just as the sun was rising and I knew I had to capture my garden, weeds and all. Sure, most leaves have been shredded and most things aren't perfect..but its beautiful to me that, although it has had EVERYTHING against it, its still standing..still growing..still beautiful. (its amazing what a garden can teach you about life, no?)

Enjoy!!

My 7ft tall sunflower "forrest"

These photos just make me smile from ear to ear!

and, of course..my beautiful zinnias