June 9, 2010

In which we plant a garden.

Memorial Day.

While most people were laughing with family, roasting hot dogs and swimming in pools, we were doing what any other normal person who lives in the frozen tundra of Evercold Town with no immediate family around would do.

Plant a garden.



If there is one piece of advise I could give to any person trying their green thumb on for size, it is this; make sure you have little kids with you.

No really, it's a must.

If you don't have any of your own, borrow some.


They are so helpful. 

They eat the extra bean and corn seeds that get dropped on the ground, they step all over your freshly planted seedbeds, and they are sure to pick any "unwanted" blossoms that may appear of your little tomato starts! Ha ha!


Okay okay, honestly, it's just plain fun! Usually.

And I just have to say, I have often wondered at the consistency in which people give me a hard time for not making my kids wear shoes in the backyard.

I don't see the big deal. Shoes are so overrated.

If I had made my kids wear shoes while we planted the garden, I would have missed out on these!




And that would have been a tragedy.

Once we got our meager garden in, we did what any other normal person worried about strong winds and potential frost at night in the middle of June would do.

Cover our beloved starts.

And since we are all about face around here, we made sure to get the fancy covers! We would NEVER use something so cheap as milk jugs and other such things as plant covers.

Oh, wait....


Just kidding. They really do work great!

And lookey lookey lookey! A pea shoot! Hooray! Since we planted on Memorial Day, this is the first sign of green that's NOT a weed!!


There is hope for our garden after all.

Last year the only things that really grew were our tomatoes, zucchini and squash. Our corn, spinach, beans, cucumbers, watermelon, and broccoli were a bust. Onions, carrots, bell peppers, and peas did okay. Our strawberries and raspberries are looking better!

We are hoping for bigger and better things this year!

So, what is your FAVORITE thing to grow in your garden? 

If you don't have a house, have you ever tried container gardening?

We did once.

Our biggest watermelon grew to the size of a tennis ball.

We gave up after that.

36 super cool people speak:

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

Wow! Your garden look fabulous! Seriously!
I think the kids will enjoy the garden when it starts to grow. I can see you being showered with lots of freshly picked GREEN tomatoes cause they are so dang excited!!!!

Shoes are overrated, they are harder to clean than feet.

Kerin said...

Love your garden! I always say...it's never too early to train new gardeners :)
I love growing herbs . They are wonderful companion plants for flowers and veggies and are gorgeous to look at and yummy to cook with. We live in Utah...so my favorite herb will not winter over. Rosemary is my favorite herb!
Have a fun filled day :)

Living the Scream said...

my kids never wear shoes either.

we have a little area in front of our condo that we can plant flowers in, but have not yet! we really need to.

Saimi said...

Bare feet and dirt go hand in hand...or would that be foot in foot...well, you know what I mean.

I've never planted anything by seed so I decided to grow beans and lettus with seed.

Other than that, it's the traditional garden for me. I use starts from the store, This year's garden consist of cabbage,tomatos,onion,garlic,bell peppers, lots of rasberries, rhubarb, zucchini and cucumbers.

gigi said...

I've never tried to grow Milk jugs, is it very hard? I guess they are very hardy in that artic Idaho weather.
I planted some broccoli this year it came up green and tall but I have yet to see the flower?? I mean I'm sure it is above ground isn't it? Maybe I should dig it up and see if it is underground like potatoes. Gardening is very hard and maybe it's because I made the GRAND~girls wear garden boots???

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

Yes, growing milk jugs takes a very experienced hand. They are quite hardy actually!

Sorry about your broccoli. I would definitely blame it on the garden boots.

All the way. :D

Unknown said...

Looks like...fun...but totally worth it! YUM!

Jennifer said...

We are trying watermelon this year. I've given up on zucchini. It doesn't like me. It grows big beautiful leaves, a few lovely yellow blossoms, and (if I am lucky) 2 or 3 actual zucchini. Our strawberries did very well this year, though!

Stacy said...

Adorable pictures. And you guys should come live by us, because we don't have family around either and end up being epically (is that even a word?!) boring on most holidays.

Cute pictures.

And yeah, planting a garden with the kids. I have a row of spinach in my garden, and I use the term row very loosely. Yesterday, my husband asked me why there was spinach sprouting all over the garden. The answer? Because the 6 year old and the 8 year old helped me plant.

We have spinach, two kinds of peas, lettuce and strawberries. Our garden plot is very small, I wish so much that it was bigger. I would love green beans, peppers, and tomatoes.

WV: biblog. Definintion: a blog about the bible. Alternate definition: not suitable for Serene's blog.

Cluttered Brain said...

tomatoes. Love them.
And peppers.
And figs.
we have a dwarf fig tree!
And it is branching out!!
yippee!!!

Your garden looks fabulous too!!

And I agree, shoes are SO overrated.

Amy said...

My hubs does all the gardening. I just watch. I'm not much of a green-thumb.
But we've got tomatoes, TONS of squash, zucchini, corn, peppers, jalapenos, cucumber, canteloupe, and uh that's it. It's nice to feel all home-grown and organic when we're totally not organic people. ha ha ha!

Larsen said...

Oh, don't ask me about gardening. i hate it. i everything about it. Seriously name some thing you would think one would love about gardens, and I will complain about it. Drive my DH nuts.

Planting it? Heck, I have to weed it for there to be anywhere to plant anything.

Eat fresh veggies from it? NO. I dont' mind fresh veggies, but most of our "produce" from it is a bust too, or way to much and I don't/won't can it.

Someday, this might be a thing I do for reals, and I think there is a time and season for it in one's life.

Sure with little kids is a great time to teach them. I will rely on animals however to teach my kids life's lessons, and Kyle's job.

Heehehehehh! Bwahahahahh!

I know, how rude of me to hate gardening. Come this fall however, I know that someone will offer me some zucchini, so in that assumption, I take relief.

Katie said...

I was so excited to find out that Josh's work offers him a garden plot, so we are doing organic community gardening. I feel like a fake granola. In Wisconsin they plant around Memorial Day too. We planted peppers and tomatos, squash, zuchinni, and onion, and some sunflowers and zinnias that I'm anxiously awaiting. I prefer flowers to veggies any day.

Lisa said...

We planted our square foot garden just this week. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm afraid the birds are going to eat all of our strawberry starts. Good thing they make such a pretty song.

InkMom said...

I cannot resist:

I grow a perfect matched set of milk jugs every time I have a baby.

And my garden is growing like crazy -- so crazy, in fact, that I'm certain the square foot garden guy is from some place where stuff doesn't pull moisture out of the ether, because my plants have all taken up more than their allocated square foot.

Here's what we have: swiss chard, broccoli (lots), red onions, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, peas, squash, zucchini, eggplant, leeks, cantaloupe, tomatoes, green beans, sweet peppers, scallions, romaine lettuce, cilantro, chives, peppermint, flat leaf parsley, and basil. Yay! It makes me happy!

Marie said...

Still livin' it up in an apartment! :) Can't wait to have a garden someday. Yours is amazing! And your kids are darling.

Pitterle Postings said...

Ohhh, I so love a good garden! We try and grow chard, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, broccoli, lettuce, peas, carrots. We usually don't get too much because the bugs love the chard, and the weather changes to cold too fast so the growing season is too short. But we try. One of these years, I will get a green house!

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

InkMom: Okay honestly, I was just waiting for someone to make a crack at the "milk jug" thing! LOL!
And WOWZA! Your garden sounds amazing!! There are so many of those things I would LOVE to try and grow!

Patty: I SO hear ya on the short growing season. Dang cold!

Katie: Oh yea! I hope it works out! I got these giant sunflower seeds for the kids to plant but Luke wouldn't let me. Party Pooper.

Larsen: LOL, oh Gina, you crack me up! Maybe someday you start to like it... just a little bit?

Amy: Thanks awesome!

Jennifer: Good luck with the watermelon! And I had to laugh at your zucchini. Since when did that plant not grow?

Saimi: Hey, starts work awesome! Sometimes better than seeds.

Kerin: I SO want and herb garden!!

Neisha said...

hard to say what my favorite thing to grow is. I just love having a garden and going out there to pick produce.

TisforTonya said...

shoes? why on earth would anyone (adult or child) want to wear shoes in the backyard???

the only thing we grow in our garden? Iris... we have fruit trees in the yard, but I'm a perennials fan - and fruits and veggies don't come in the perennial variety.

Krista said...

I don't grow a dang thing in my garden, but I love it when my husband spends time out there so I can blog. :P

Kam said...

Totally; shoes are so overrated. :-D Love the milk containers, and they seriously do work! I loved growing strawberries, they were so fun to watch. A zucchini is fun to grow and watch too.

Kristina P. said...

Garden? Hahahahaha. I kill everything that I look at.

Jess said...

love the toes pic. Yeah, shoes ARE overrated. Where's the fun in hiding those ten little cuties? Great job mom!

Kazzy said...

We travel often in the summer, so I have been bad at gardening. When I tried container gardening it was a total flop. :(

Elisa said...

Your children are adorable! I need to plant a garden. I heard the Prophet said we should.

xo

Mama Smith said...

You KNOW how I LOVE GARDENING!!!! Now, that we are still MOVING INTO our home...I am mostly developing my ENVISIONED GARDEN in my mind......though...we did manage to plant "20" raspberry plants...Someday...I am going to have about a 1/2 acre or more of BERRIES of all varieties...

I know how you feel...it HAILED the other day (IN JUNE!!! I'm a California/Florida girl...) I just stood there watching it hail on my newly planted FLOWER GARDEN...Just kept PRAYING..."PLEASE...don't kill my sweet little flowers!!!!" Found out they are TOUGH...and came through...smiling! (well, I do believe my flowers are fully aware of me...I TALK to them all the time...telling them how BEAUTIFUL they are...and they RESPOND!!! They stand up just a bit TALLER!!!!! (smile))

I am going to put in RAISED beds...and do the 1 foot gardening...But, right now...MOVING is all we can handle...ONE STEP at a TIME!!! We finally decided which FIELD the garden is going in...Your dad is squeezing me out with his plans of COWS!!! Hmmm...the farmer and the cattleman!!!

Lara Neves said...

We live so far north that we can't put our garden in until the end of May/early June, either. And, we've realized that unless our neighbors on both sides cut down all their very tall trees, we won't have anything grow. My backyard gets very little sun. :(

So, I think we might try it in the front yard next year. For this year, we're just going to have to watch how the sun goes and the plants we do have in the yard work.

I wish your garden much growth and prosperity!

Carrie said...

we don't have a backyard, but I always do container gardens on my porch. Tomatoes and pepper plants are a must, but even more so my herbs. I can't get enough of fresh basil and thyme.

LOVE the milk jugs!

Susan Anderson said...

My favorite thing to grow and eat? Tomatoes.

My favorite thing to grow and smell? Mint. Especially when it's wet.

And you should be friends with my DIL, who is not a believer in shoes for the back yard.

=)

Polly Blevins said...

My kids love to plant gardens. I don't have one but my parent-in-laws do and so does my sis in law. Everytime we go over to see either of them my 2 year old says, "Mom, don't step on the garden." I am sure glad she warns me or I might just forget. I do love to see their pride though when things start coming up. They have to show me everything they helped with.

Nicole said...

We totally used milk jugs too - that's Wyoming for you. I think I learned how to do hard work from gardening with my parents(among other things) so way to go on getting your kids involved.

mCat said...

When we bought our house over 23 years ago, we purposely set aside a patch in the backyard for a garden. Then the boys started things like baseball, and planting season always conflicted.

Now, we just look at that patch of weeds and say "Next year". I think I've said next year for the past 8 years! : )

Evelyn @ Hanging by a Silver Lining said...

Ohhhh! My mom is a master gardener and someday...someday...I will grow a little one of my own. Love the barefoot shots. It shocks me that someone chastises you for that. Isn't that the only way to go??

Charlotte said...

We spent memorial day doing yard work. No garden until we get into a house of our own again.

The Kooky Queen--Rachel said...

LOVE your garden pictures!!! Beautiful! I can't wait for my pumpkins to come up! :)

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