Sharing our gardening journey and all of the rewards that come with it can hopefully inspire others to start a garden of their own.
One of the things that I love about the garden is seeing the changes that occur as the season progresses. Watching a tiny seed slowly evolve into any number of delicious vegetables and greens brings me so much joy.
As the season drags on, the amount of produce that can be harvested from the backyard intensifies and it is a pretty exhilarating experience.
Since I have such a love for the garden, I naturally want to share that with others and encourage them to start a garden of their own.
I hope that by sharing my garden throughout the season it encourages you to start your own small vegetable patch one day and enjoy all of the benefits of gardening that I have enjoyed experiencing over the years.
Happy Gardening!
What’s Happening?
Most of the plants are nice and warm inside under the grow lights. Many of them will stay there for a few more weeks since our average last frost date here is just before mid May.
I fear I may have gone a bit overboard this year with my planting. We added another set of shelves with grow lights. We even set up a small table for some of the trays to rest on when rotating them out of the lights. Somehow, there still doesn’t seem to be enough room for all of those trays.
Part of the reason for this is there are still quite a bit of cold weather crops that should be out in the garden by now. However, they are still under the warm lights. One bed of cabbage and one bed of potatoes have been planted, but we still have to transplant the broccoli, kale, peas, more beets, more chard……….
After getting a bit behind, we had some cold weather. The garden was actually in the middle of a winter wonderland the last two nights. Since the young plants have been cozy under the lights, I thought it might be best to wait until the snow passed before transplanting. Hopefully, they will be out in the garden where they belong within the next few days and reduce some crowding indoors.
Garlic
The garlic seems to be getting bigger every day. This year we planted about 150 bulbs. Planting garlic couldn’t be easier. It takes such little time to plant in the fall. Then it just needs to be left alone to do its thing. In July it will be ready to be harvested and used throughout the year.
Strawberries
The strawberry plants are standing out in the garden now. Prior to this year we have only had an 8×2 area dedicated to strawberries. We recently decided to dedicate an additional 8×4 garden bed to them and added more strawberry plants.
We go through so many strawberries around here and thought it would be a good idea to plant more. Unfortunately, I don’t think that our small little patches will put a dent into what we eat in a year.
Parsley
Our parsley plants from last year want to keep hanging around. They are coming back to life. They will go to seed soon, but we will continue to enjoy the parsley until then.
Parsley is super hardy, easy to grow, and is full of benefits. Check out all the benefits of eating parsley at healthline.
Lettuce
Last year I decided to stop buying lettuce from the grocery store. After consuming all of our greens in smoothies and soups all winter, I am so ready to start eating fresh salads again.
We had some growing in the cold frame until early winter and I had a small patch that started growing in the cold frame as soon as the weather warmed just a bit. Unfortunately, our chickens quickly found it and took out most of it.
Luckily, I started more in the cold frame and we currently have quite a bit that will soon be ready. I also just started a large succession crop of a variety of lettuces this week.
I used to struggle with getting any significant amount of lettuce in the garden. Now I prefer starting many of my seeds inside. That allows me to fill in the gaps after direct seeding and seeing what doesn’t grow.
Greens
We had quite a few kale plants and some chard plants that we have been using all winter. Just recently the kale has started going to seed and is pretty much done.
Luckily we have some fresh chard that will be ready soon in the cold frame and some collards have been growing for about a month under a hoop tunnel.
The new kale is still patiently waiting to find its spot in the garden this year.
Cabbage
I couldn’t wait to get my tiny cabbage plants in the garden so we can soon make fresh sauerkraut.
I covered the cabbage with a low tunnel to keep the worms off of them. Yesterday, I had to go out and quickly brush off the heavy snow from the top of it. It was a bit low in some spots, but I was too cold to check if any of the plants were damaged. Fingers crossed they are still good and ready to keep growing.
Gardening Tips From Bread and Bucks.
Best Plants to Grow in a Vegetable Garden
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