May 22, 2009

How does my garden grow?

I finally located the camera and thought I'd share a few photos of my vegetable garden.


The garden is located behind the row of arborvitae on the far right.  It's secluded from the pool and is not an "eyesore" in my husband's eyes.

These are the four raised beds that my husband refers to as the "over boxes" - one for each parent.  Each bed is 4' by 8' and about 18" high.  Because of our "wild" animal problems, I've had to add a fence around the top of the beds to keep the critters out.

This bed has four tomato plants, one pepper plant and, hopefully, some pickling cucumbers.

Here's a close up of one of the tomato plants.  A few years ago on a show called "Ground Force" on BBC America I saw this gardening idea - "plant" a pot next to the plant and water directly into the pot.  The water drains out of the holes in the bottom and directly into the ground and to the roots.  I've done this for a few years and it does a great job of conserving water and promotes incredible root growth.  

This bed has snow peas, white onions and lettuce.


More snow peas - a family favorite including Maxie who will eat then off the vine when the vines get too heavy and fall over.  She eats the pods and spits out the vines and leaves.  Before the critter problem and her two knee surgeries, she would jump into the beds and eat the vegetables.

Four rows of beans are planted in this bed - two green and two yellow.  We eat a lot of beans.

Surprisingly, this garden will supply our family with quite a bit of fresh vegetables, with some to share.  


5 comments:

Mental P Mama said...

That is some beautiful dirt! Seriously. Don't let Annie see that or she'll be down there stealing it. Me? I'll be down for my salad soon;)

Nurse Nancy said...

OK so I am jealous.....of the pool and the garden beds. So far, things in our one bed are looking good. Nothing dug up and watered daily by Jr. Birdman. Enjoy that lettuce.....it looks great.

Wish I could click my heels three times and be in the pool!

abb said...

I hope to have 1 garden that looks half as good as your 4. I am also jealous. Very. And MPM is correct. I just might be visiting that All Night Nursery in NJ! :-)

EC Gefroh said...

Wow, this is great. Thanks for the watering tip.

Sue said...

lWhat a fabulous size garden...and there's nothing like Jersey tomatoes.....I am jealous..I can't even grow weeds here in Georgia..and what a nice pool. I'll be coming up towards the end of July just for fun...Let's make a point of getting together for lunch..I'll let you know the dates as soon as I know them....Sue.