How Does Your Garden Grow

I am starting to think I may be single handedly responsible for our local drought.  Since moving here I have steadily increased my gardening skills, starting with pretty plants and then focusing more on edible plants.  But the drought stopped me cold.  It became nearly a full time job to water plants and it seemed irresponsible to water plants that didn’t produce food.  I gave up.  Then last year we had rain, glorious rain and I decided to start gardening again.  And would you know it…since I started this year’s garden…no rain. 

But alas it’s too late to stop.  All I can do it obsessively watch the Weather Channel hoping for rain.

Gardening step 1. Plant seedlings so you are obligated to build the garden so they have a place to live.

Heirloom tomatoes (Black Krim, Powers, Aunt Rubies German Green, Homestead 24,
Crimson Cushion, Yellow Brandywine Beef Steak), zuchini and basil starting to come up.

If you build it they will come...starting on the cedar raised beds.

We took out a huge bank of shrubs and trees.  Maybe one day the back yard will be a nice place again
  (we have pretty much ignored it for about three years).

Husband tilled for me.  I really wanted a "real garden" but because the garden is on a slope
I decided beds were the only reasonable alternative.

Till baby Till

Beds in place and time to ammend the soil.  I have started a huge compost pile but until then I am using various bagged amendments (mushroom sompost, natures helper, all the usual suspects.

thats better

They are getting bigger every day.

I am so excited about these tomatoes.

Almost there