Garden

I love tending a garden. There is something so rewarding in getting actual food for your labor. I had a garden 2 years ago, a small one that was successful but this year I wanted to expand. I wanted more than 4 tomato plants and a chili plant. So I went out and rounded up a bunch of wooden pallets, Patrick hooked them together, we painted it and we had a garden. It is about 3 times a big as my previous garden and has been able to fit a lot more plants. 9 tomato plants, 9 bell pepper plants, 6 bean plants, 2 pumpkin plants, 1 watermelon plant, 1 hatch chili plant (hot), 1 yellow squash plant, some sunflowers, and other various flowers planted around the garden. We used some old compost piles that were in the back of the yard and the plants have thrived in it. So besides competing for the vegetables with the bugs (of which we have a lot), we have had quite a lot of vegetables and have been able to eat fresh vegetables every night! YUMMM! The tomatoes have been a big hit with Patrick who has said that he has not had such good tomatoes since Ohio. That is a compliment for AZ since nothing grows here but tumbleweeds and grass that you can't walk on.

I included a picture with the kids and some things freshly harvested last week. The pumpkin turned out much bigger than I expected. And we have another one on the vine. It seems the plant can only grow one at a time, but the one on there now is growing to be at least as big as the one we already got off. Pumpkin pie anyone??

The garden after a month of being planted at the end of May

At the end of July

The kids and our vegetables