It's hard to believe that it's almost mid April already! The weather is getting warmer and our backyard garden is taking off! Matt and I love our backyard, especially our garden....that's where we spend most of our time. We like to plant veggies and watch as they grow! We are also very good at it...well Matt is. He is the green thumb in the family. I actually helped a bunch this year, I got out there along with him and got dirty. We started planting our garden late February.... we had a bit of a frost and lost some green bean sprouts but it actually worked out. Matt had to go back and re-plant the summer squash and zucchini. It's growing very well I must say.
These aren't the most beautiful pictures in the world but it gives you an idea of what we are working with. Our backyard and Garden are fairly large so it takes awhile to get everything into shape. Matt had been tilling the yard weeks ahead of time to prepare that dirt. He finally splurged and bought an electric tiller instead of using a ho like he had been in the past. It is back breaking and brutal. Seriously.
We actually bought tomato plants this year.... we do have some that we grew ourselves out on the porch ready to be transplanted but they thought "what the heck". I love cherry tomatos the best. There's nothing I find sweeter than walking out into your garden and picking your own fresh cherry tomato's and popping them into your mouth. Straight from the vine. I love the smell and love the taste. It's truly the best. The same goes for green beans.
This year for "row markers" we decided to use some of Matt's many fossils. He literally has tons! He is such a collector. I don't know how he finds them so fast.... he really has a hawk eye. There are shoe boxes full of them stored away in our house and some that we have on display. He is so cute... he can tell you facts about every single one of them.
Here is a before picture. We planted two rows of corn on the far right hand side, followed by four rows of green beans along with zucchini, summer squash, tomato's and my favorite.... my herbs!
Just some of the wild life that you will find in our back yard. I love grass hoppers! I always giggle when they bounce around. Now that the chicken's are growing Matt is working on building the coop. These little grass hopper's are going to be a tastey treat for them!
Flash forward to mid April.... here are some zucchini sprouts! As you can see the ground is in need of a good watering. It's been raining like cats & dogs here recently but the dirt just sucks it all up!
Here's my glorious herb garden on the left side. I have parsley, cilantro, sage, mint, thyme and basil! I'm so excited... this is the biggest herb garden I've had yet. I love that I can just walk out the back door and clip fresh herbs for cooking. I have two different types of mint. I have chocolate and orange.... and they smell surprisingly just like that! I use a ton of basil and cilantro in the summer and have recently started putting mint on a ton of stuff. It's soooo refreshing.
Look at our little baby corn stalks! Aren't they so cute? Hopefully this year they will actually produce an ear of corn. Last year we got one little baby corn. It was cute but not edable.
Beans beans and more beans!
One of my favorites! Dill. Some people can't stand dill. I guess you either love it or hate it. Same goes for Cilantro. I've heard people tell me that it tastes like soap to them.
Check out our crazy Bamboo! Matt bought this tiny bamboo plant online. It's been over a year now and it finally just starting to get bamboo shoots. I didn't even know this is how it started to grow. Lol
Once again....my lovely herbs. Check out the Sage on the bottom next to the Parsley.
My little Gardening helper Lucy! She loves to soak up the sun.... she will just sit in the Garden and lay there while we dig around in the dirt. She is really good about not eating the plants and not scratching around. She loves to eat fresh green beans straight off the bush just like me. Like mother like daughter I suppose.
That's it for my first garden post of the new year! There will be more to come and hopefully the pictures will be more lush. It doesn't stay that green here in Austin. What veggies are you growing in your garden this year? Any herbs?
xoxo
