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

Cutting Garden

If you are like me, you grow the flowers you really love in your garden only to feel bad when it comes to cutting them for inside your home. I started growing zinnias 2 years ago alongside my veggies and when it came time to cut a few for my home, I realized how choosy I had become in order to not take too much out of the garden. (Silly, I know!)

Anyways..fast forward to this Spring..we are finally in our own home with our own yard and I decided a cutting garden is exactly what I needed! Adam and I got to work spraying off a patch of grass I had marked off then we dug up the sod (which is a lot more work than I ever gave it credit for!)

Next I added in some peatmoss and well composted cow manure to add some much needed nutrients back into the soil and then the fun began!

This year I have dedicated the majority of this bed to my floral love..zinnias. I was quite embarrassed when I realized how many seeds I had so in they went (this is going to look gorgeous when it starts blooming! I planted approximately 1,000 in here!)

Also added to my cutting garden is:

- sunflowers

- dahlias; and

- sweet peas

I will write another post with an update on my cutting garden as soon as the blooms begin to open. Can't wait!!