How Does Your Garden Grow?

This is my third summer attempting a small veggie garden here at home. I followed the instructions found in the Square Foot Gardening book when making my raised bed and was ready to enjoy the bounty that would surely follow.

Year 1 produced virtually nothing. I think I got a few handfuls of green beans and that was it. The enemies that year were rabbits (who mowed down all my lettuce just as it was ready) and a mystery weed that shot up through my weed block and choked out the roots of my other plants.

Year 2 (last year) I built a cage to go over the garden to keep the critters away from my food and I added a bottom to the garden so that the mystery weed couldn't get in. Still not much to write home about in the way of food. Hmmmmm...

This spring I stood at my back door and looked at my garden, wondering what kept going wrong. Then I noticed how sunny the other corner of the yard was. I continued to watch that part of the yard periodically and suddenly realized it gets sun virtually all day whereas the other side only got sun about 4 hours a day! How did I miss this in year one?! I'm going to blame it on my infant triplets...

So this spring I loaded all the dirt into buckets, had Nick help me carry the box across the yard and I refilled it. Know what? It looks better now than it EVER has in early June!

There are a couple of squares where the seedlings didn't make it after transplanting, but all in all I'm thrilled! I've already harvested some spinach and lettuce, and I've spotted some zucchini and cucumbers starting. I also noticed these - little green beans!

I also have two tomato plants growing in pots on my deck and I planted 6 strawberry plants along the side of my house. The boys love running over to those to see if any berries are ready for picking yet. Speaking of berries, ever seen a Mulberry Bush? You know, like all around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel. No? Well, behold our Mulberry tree (much too big to be called a bush)!

This bad boy is COVERED in berries! The birds and squirrels get the stuff on the top half and I try to pick as many from the bottom as I can. A good number end up on the ground though...

For those that haven't ever had a mulberry before, I'd say they look like a blackberry but taste more like a blueberry. I'm plotting all kinds of things I can make with them this summer - muffins, jam, ice cream topping, etc. 

Know what else is growing? My boys! I had fun taking pictures of them yesterday as they were goofing around. Here are my 3 favorite shots. (Jackson is in the backwards green shirt, Tyler is in yellow and Chase is in gray.)