Crunchy Hot Mama

As spring is in full effect, and with summer not long behind, I’m sure you’ve seen several people post pictures of their vegetable gardens and/or landscaping that has ensued.  We got on the bandwagon as well and I was determined not to miss that opportunity once again.

You may recall last year that I talked about my small potted garden in this post.  Well, this year we built (or had someone else build) a raised garden bed and I was beyond excited!

We went with a local plant nursery, called Hartwell’s Nursery in Lewisville, TX.  Josh’s family had used them for years, so I knew I could trust them.  I like that they are small and local and have good quality plants.  The main goal was to get some landscaping in the back, since we’ve lived here over three years and have done nada with the back yard.  We got our fence replaced and thought it was high time to get something nice to look at.  Josh knew I was longing for a garden to call my own (and he was over seeing pots crowd up the patio), so we made sure to incorporate a raised bed to shut me up make me happy.

Once they laid out the landscaping and set the garden bed, it was time to get the show on the road.  We knew we had our annual crawfish boil coming up, so we were glad to have something pretty and functional to look at.

All in all, it turned out beautiful!  The only issue I have is that the guy put in waaaay too many plants in such a small space.  He designed the garden to be 11′ x 7′ and ended up putting in 33 plants!  Holy monkey!  That was way too many plants, as I later learned from Ryan at Earthwise Gardens, especially since watermelon and cantaloupe need 6′ per plant.  Ha.  That’s not going to happen.

I have since thinned out some plants to make room for the more important guys-like tomatoes.

Here’s a list of what we started out with and the quantity:

• Strawberries (6)
• 1015 onions (3 bunches)
• Dill
• Fennel
• Sage
• Cayenne
• Sweet basil (2)
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Chives (2)
• Sweet pimento peppers
• Giant Marconi peppers
• Anaheim peppers
• Eggplant
• Watermelon (2)
• Cantaloupe
• Summer squash (3)

Tomatoes:

• Rutgers
• Parks whopper
• Early girl
• Pineapple
• Better boy

Like I said, it was way too many plants in such a small space.  But what can I say; I’m a newbie at this.  I’m just happy to have something going and know I can only learn from my mistakes as the years go by.

The guy also planted three rosemary plants, two lavenders, one fig tree, and a peach tree within the rest of the landscaping.  After all was said and done, including my other potted plants, we had a total of 47 edibles in our backyard.  Forty-seven!  That’s nuts I tell ya.  And our back yard is not that big.  I think I’ll just write this year off as a learning experience and hope that I can learn/research and be more prepared the next go ’round.  My fingers are crossed.

I have to say it is fun to show your children how things grow.  Emma loves to check on the garden with me, water the plants, and pull pieces of sage, rosemary, and chives to munch on while we play around in the backyard.  I hope to keep this tradition going year after year, and get better at growing our own food while attempting to sustain ourselves at some point (if possible).

What about ya’ll?  Has anyone else planted a garden or are you intimidated by growing anything at all?  I’d say, start small and get a few herbs in a few pots that way if they die you won’t feel too bad at the money you lost.  It is truly rewarding to see the fruit of your labor and be able to go out back and grab a quick herb or onion for that dish you are making at the moment.

Go get your garden on!