My sad sad garden
First off I want to apologize for the quality of some of the pictures in this post. I just got a new phone a couple of months ago and I am still trying to figure out all of the optimal photo settings. I think the smart phone is trying to be a little too smart and focusing on the wrong things when I am taking a picture.
I feel like every year I say that I am not going to plant a garden and then somehow I get dragged into planting something here or there...
It also never fails that I get a pretty slow start on my garden each year. Most of the time when I head to the nursery to pick up my plants all of the veggies are already gone and all I am left with are the sad looking plants that no one else wanted.
It is hard since the beginning of May is usually dedicated to pulling our travel trailer out of storage, repacking the wheel bearings and getting it home.
On top of that, we had some pretty significant frosts well into the end of May, so that put a bit of a damper on getting my plants in.
In fact, this year I didn't even bother with plants for the most part. Instead I tried my hand at starting from seeds and I think that is where the bulk of my problem lies. I didn't start them in the house early enough, so I think I am going to be well behind the curve when it comes to my garden this year.
As you can see in the photo above I have a small zucchini plant coming in as well as the Dhalia I planted to help attract the bees.
This is one of my Campari Tomato plants that I started from the seeds that my dad gave me. Ideally by the middle of June the plants should be several inches high by now. You can see that mine are far from that.
Also, if you look closely, it appears something is eating the leaves of my Dahlia. It is a fenced area, so I think it has to be bugs versus rabbits or something like that.
Here you can see another one of my zucchini plants as well as the petunia that I bought to once again hopefully draw in the bees. I have to give props to my mother in law, she is the one that got the zucchini plants started, so I actually think those stand a chance this year.
From what I have heard it is pretty hard to screw up zucchini, but you know, leave it to me...
A closer look at the petunia. I need to get in there and pull that weed just to the right of it.
And here is a little closer look at the second Campari tomato plant. I don't have a lot of hope for this one either. I have a feeling that by the time it is ready to start producing fruit the growing season will be over. That is how late of start I got. We have been in a bit of a dry spell as well, but I am always afraid I am going to over water my plants.
Another small zucchini plant. I figured if I planted enough of them at least one of them would have to be successful right?! My biggest fear is that the bees won't pollinate them again this year and I am going to have to walk around with a paintbrush doing it by hand. I just don't have the time for that!
Here is the other dahlia that I planted. You can see what is happening to the leaves a little better on this one. I am actually surprised that these are doing so well. The soil is really good in this raised bed, but I didn't do a very good job of getting the straw worked in with the roto-tiller. I was in a rush and the layer of straw was much too thick. I think I just stirred it around versus actually working it into the soil.
Finally, these are the jalapeno plant seeds that I put in around the same time as the tomatoes. The plan is to move them to a hanging basket when they get more mature, but I think that is a long way off yet. You just never know. As soon as we start getting the hot humid weather like we have this week things kind of take off and go crazy on you sometimes.
I might come back from our camping trip this weekend and be looking at a totally different garden!
I am going to leave you with some (blurry) photos from the flower bed that the people before us planted when they lived in this house. Besides the mulch and cutting the plants back every fall, I can take zero credit for how well this area has turned out!
You can see in that last picture there is a small maple tree that I need to yank out of there at some point. I am always amazed at how those roses come back even though I cut them right down to the ground at the end of each year.
Pretty sad compared to your gardens @steevc and @bdmillergallery right?!
Anyway, there you go. That is my garden. My wife and I were looking to add some barrel planters as well, but we haven't been able to find a style that we like yet. I guess it will have to wait until next year. Again, the main focus is to draw in more bees to help our veggies grow.
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All pictures taken by myself or @mrsbozz
Nice, I haven't planted a garden in years. I did do some flowers in front of the house though. I was thinking about a couple tomato plants, but never followed through.
They can be a lot of work if you really want them to turn out nice. Then the problem is you have more tomatoes than you really know what to do with unless you have a big family or something. I usually give a lot of my stuff away when it actually turns out for me :)
Ooof, that is indeed a late start. We are almost at the start of summer.
Yeah, I know... Late frost and all. It was rough!
Not sad at all as you are doing something. I have not planted anything new, but we do have some beans and other veg to plant out. I will get out one evening and do that when it is cooler. I need to clear some beds that have got overgrown. I'm just glad we have lots of stuff that comes up every year like berries and rhubarb.
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Yeah, I think this fall or next spring I am going to need to give this bed a good cleaning. There is a ton of weeds and extra stuff around the edges. I was hoping the straw would help mitigate that, but it doesn't seem to have helped too much.
There will always be weeds whatever you do. I just try to keep them under control. If you can fill the beds with plants you want then there is less room for weeds.
Holy Cow would you look at all those Maple seeds!!! Now those will grow with no problem or attention at all.. Why is that? Anyhow, maybe it's better that you just grow and sell Maple Trees 😆
The garden has potential. I think your right, you may see a totally different garden come a week or two. If not, oh well.. less to do.
That maple tree is actually coming down today or tomorrow I think. It is huge and it is right next to the house. We already had a limb fall on our deck and my wife has a bit of PTSD every time it gets windy. It is a big old tree and part of me hates to have it taken out, but then again I won't miss cleaning all the seeds off the deck and everywhere else. I just wish there was a cheaper way to take it down safely!
Oh Man.. Yeah, tree removal is not cheap. Well, it could be but most likely not insured .. "Hey sorry about dropping the tree on your house. Bye the way we don't carry insurance." 😩
Haha, yeah exactly!
It's coming along slowly, I found moving the mulch away from the bottom of my zucchini plants helped.
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Oh dang, nope, I didn't know that! I will for sure check it out and join. Thanks for the tip on the zucchini!
No problem look forward to seeing you 😀
Looking at your garden makes me miss digging in the dirt! We used to have raspberries, grapes, and a full vegetable garden. It's a lot of work but so rewarding. We were pretty happy to take a break from it when we moved into our first condo in 2015. Now we're looking at buying a few acres and building a tiny home so I see gardening in our future again. : ) Hope your weekend was a good one!
Yeah thanks, it was really great. We were camping near the shores of lake Huron. Fantastic weather. Looks like my garden is coming along pretty well. That is awesome about the land and home. Good luck! I hope you had a great weekend too!
Thanks, glad to hear the camping trip was a success. We were looking at existing houses within the city limits and there weren't many with garages large enough for the camper we want to get. For what we'd pay for a house here in the city we could get 3-5 acres outside of the city and build a tiny home and a pole barn on the property. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Have a good week my friend!
Yeah, that is a definite no brainer! I'd love to own some acreage at some point. Probably less likely as I get older. More likely I am heading towards a condo where all of the shoveling and mowing gets taken care of by someone else!
Yeah, we're doing it backwards. Hopefully we don't regret it. We moved into our condo in 2018 and discovered it had drawbacks we never anticipated, mainly inheriting expense from a general lack of building maintenance. That could have been easily avoided if we would have known to look into the HOA's meeting minutes and budgets before purchasing, something I highly recommend. The plan is to find some acreage with woods keep most of the land natural though and just mow around the dwellings. We'll see what we can find.
Yeah, that is my thinking too if we ever plan on moving again. I've always wanted to live on water, so that might be an option too. Good luck! If the right piece of property became available, I think I would buy no matter how much work it entailed for us!