Veggies

This year I started my first-ever vegetable garden. I should probably track the experience so next year some of the same mistakes aren't made. Please keep in mind that I went into this expecting failure, since I really have no clue what I'm doing. Can we say Charlie Brown garden?

Mistake #1: Putting the garden over a heavy grassy area. Of course Jeremy marked it off, dug and tilled it, but I didn't realize how persistent grass can be when you take over its territory. Now I've got random grass growing throughout, and I didn't get a good start on picking it out (technically Mistake #2). We keep tilling between the rows, but I'm in a battle of de-grassing around the plants...picking thin strands one by one. Not cool. Give me a weed instead. I know over the years this will get better and the grass will diminish, but not a fan of it this year.

Mistake #2: Not putting some type of edging around the garden. The grass is being a creeper, and it would look ten times nicer. Project for later this summer.


Mistake #3: Planting seeds instead of plants for peppers and onions. Who knew? As a result, the row of onions is non-existent. But my mother-in-law dropped off some new pepper plants for me from Drummer's this week. The garden looks more plentiful already!

Post mistake...plants!

mucho nacho

I love jalapenos and hot peppers of any kind - excited for these bad boys

Mistake #4: Not getting tomato cages around the tomato plants right away. This isn't a problem anymore, though. Jeremy and Chad built some tomato cages on steroids, so we're set.



Mistake #5: Telling Jeremy this would be "my" project. Once he cleared the space, I said I wouldn't need his help. Already he's helped me plant seeds, done all the tilling, made tomato cages and "encouraged" me to keep up on the de-grassing and weeding. He's definitely been a huge help (whether he planned on it or not)!

The garden hasn't been a complete failure - cucumbers, summer squash, radishes, tomatoes and a variety of peppers are all up and looking good so far. And let's not forget we have a random patch of asparagus on the other side of the yard from an old garden that was here when we moved in. So we'll just keep picking that in its separate spot. Only about one snap pea plant and three green bean plants are up out of an entire row, and for some reason the lettuce is basically non-existent. Not sure of the culprit, since those should be "easy." Other than that, it's been a good experience so far, and I'm realizing it's more work than just planting a seed and poof...a vegetable. Wishful thinking, right?