We finally have the raised beds completed and our Garden 2010 is planted. I must say, the 3 cubic yards of dirt that was delivered didn't seem like that much at the time of order or even when it got dumped out in the driveway, but after several shovel fulls and wheel barrel runs to the backyard, I was exhausted.
The plants were in by May 26th, which I felt was pretty late, but we had some uncooperative weather that kept us from building the beds in the back yard.
It's all good. The weather has been really warm and humid, and the plants like that.
I think this year's garden is my favorite so far.
We have 13 tomato plants (Rutgers, Supersonic, Sweet 100's, Mortgage Lifter, SuperTasty Hybrid, Better Boy, Steak Sandwich hybrid, Orange Oxheart, Brandywine Pink heirloom). We also have 4 pepper plants (red beauty and poblanos) and the rest are herbs.I hate have to buy fresh herbs in the store as they are always yucky at the time of purchase.
Dried herbs are my last resort, and at that point it's just so depressing.
Basil is probably my favorite herb and I'm growing in pots this year. Happens to be the best it's ever done.
We also have Rosemary, Cilantro, Curled Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, and French Lavender. That last one was just because it smelled so good. I almost bought the Pineapple Sage for that same reason. Absolutely amazing.
Gardens of the Past years:
2009 was a cold summer and it was my first year using the landscape fabric. I was trying to prevent all the helicopters from landing in between the plants to have all these trees growing everywhere. I wasn't feeling well either and I barely had any energy to plant this.We didn't have a very good crop at all, but we did adopt our dog Ruby and she did very good and cleaning up all the little cherry tomatoes off the ground when they fell.
2008 was nothing like my first year. That was the best. I was
starting to really worry what happened, but I knew it was because I was lazy and excited about just getting the plants into the ground. The 2008 garden just looks messy.I had tons of basil plants and none of them really did much but go to seed. It was sad, and my plans for making tons of pesto were ruined.
The squirrels started nibbling at our green tomatoes and it was becoming a real nuisance. Also the trees were casting more shadows on the garden then in previous years, so I wasn't getting as much sunlight on the plants.
2007 was the first garden. I didn't know anything. I took a shovel to the lawn and just starting ripping everything up. I was the best crop every. I haven't had anything like it since. It was messy and planted way too close together, but later the plants were kinds holding each other up that way as well.I tried onions, garlic, tomatoes, carots, corn, and found that the corn was very unsuccesful, but the tomatoes totally rocked. All I could think about were the tomatoes.
