Say Hello to My Vegetable Garden
Spring has sprung!!! It feels more like summer outside, but the fact that it’s not cold and that plants are growing and thriving is all that matters to me.
Let’s talk about my garden… If you don’t know already, I’m a #CrazyPlantLady. I have 100+ houseplants, probably 300 succulents, and this year I’ve taken on an outdoor garden. It’s a lot, trust me. I get it.
Brad and I moved into our current house in May 2019. (We just celebrated one year of living together! WOO!) One of my most favorite parts about our house is the massive backyard. Yes, it’s a pain in the ass to mow every week, but there is soooo much room for planty activities and opportunities. Plus, the more I fill it up with garden space, the less mowing I have to do. Honestly, it’s a win-win situation.
Because we moved in May, I spent the majority of last spring/summer painting the house, decorating, and trying to get our lives in order. It didn’t leave much time for transforming the backyard or gardening to say the least. I had a few felt grow bags with two peppers, a cucumber, and a zucchini in them, and while they did decently okay and produced some veggies, it definitely wasn’t what I was hoping for.
Fast forward to this year. We decided to renew our lease for another year which meant I was able to actually plan an in-ground vegetable garden!!! WOOOO!!!
2020 Garden Timeline:
- January/February – Solidify garden layout
- February 14th-ish – Indoor seed starting begins
- February/March – Prep the garden beds and get them ready for planting
- End of March – Start hardening off seedlings
- April 1st – Last frost date
- April – Start transplanting mature plant starts
The Garden Space
In the above pictures, my parents and I just finished doing initial prep work for the garden. Because the whole area was full of grass and weeds, we tilled the soil, raked up and removed all of the debris, and then covered it with brown paper. The paper acts as a natural weed barrier, and it’s actually doing a fairly decent job. Would I change how we did things in the future? 100%. But for the first attempt at an in-ground garden, I’m pretty proud of how well it’s worked.
I decided on this particular location because A. it was no fun to mow and B. it surrounds our outdoor area and gives us a little more privacy. The garden is a fairly decent size, but I do kinda want to go bigger next year if we’re still in this house. See that grass under our bay window in the background? I want to turn that into a garden bed as well.
Seeds & Plant Starts
I am very proud to say that I started 85% of my garden from seed. It honestly amazes me how one tiny seed can produce such humongous plants and fruits. Science is crazy, man.
This year’s plants include:
- Zucchini
- Spaghetti squash
- 25+ pepper plants
- Tomatoes
- Beans
- Cucumbers
- Herbs (Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Parsley, Sage, Catnip)
- Zinnias
- Marigolds
- Dahlias
To make the garden more #aesthetic and productive, I have a bunch of flowers and herbs intermixed with the veggie plants. Flowers attract such amazing pollinators to the garden, and herbs are great because who doesn’t love fresh herbs in their meals & drinks?!
A Current Look At The Garden
So, here’s what the garden looks like as of May 25th, 2020! All the plants are thriving and growing so amazingly well, and I actually just harvested my first three zucchini yesterday.
Not only am I having such a blast growing a garden and learning each and every day, but I’m also saving a lot of $$$ on groceries. Brad and I eat zucchini and peppers like they’re going out of style so to be able to fuel our consumption for a fraction of the cost is amazing.
I’m so excited to share the transformation of the garden with you over the next few months. Having a garden like this has been a dream of mine for years now, and the fact that it’s actually a reality is crazy to me. I hope y’all enjoyed this little look into my backyard garden oasis where I spend 80% of my free time!
Have you ever grown an in-ground garden before? Or do you tend to have a brown thumb? Let me know in the comments!
~abigail gray
