What’s in My Garden?

First, show me around. What does your garden actually look like?

Currently, my garden is on the side of my home in the backyard. It used to be directly south-facing behind my dining room, and it was just one tiny little 2×8 raised bed. But the sun was too much, and it always made my plants burn!

So now it’s on the side of my home, where it still gets 8–10 hours of sunlight a day, but the home is able to shade it from the blistering heat. It’s mostly in the ground currently, with the exception of my 2×8 raised bed. I have a couple of pots placed, but still need to grow plants in them.

It is absolutely organized to a T. I hand-drew the measurements and plans for the area, laminated it, and made little stickers of my plants so I know what’s where, and I can change it around in the future! This also helped so my husband could get a drip system installed, custom to my garden. He works hard to make sure I’m happy 🙂

What did you plant this year?

I have SO much this year, especially compared to previous years.

Raspberries — Right up against the home, growing on a lattice wall.

Jalapeños! — Not something I’d normally grow since I hate spicy foods. However, a neighbor brought us some homemade jalapeño jam last year that they made with jalapeños from their garden. My husband was a HUGE fan of this, so clearly, I had to start growing my own jalapeños so I could make some jelly too!

Potatoes — We always go through tons of these in stews in the winter. Plus, who doesn’t love a home-grown baked potato? Or home-grown French fries!

Cucumbers — The drip line isn’t actually installed to go to these yet, but somehow they’re magically growing. I don’t know their water source, but we will see what they end up producing!

Carrot seeds — Haha. Oops. It’s literally just the seeds. The drip line still doesn’t go here either, but they definitely aren’t getting watered. It would be an act of God if we have a harvest this year.

Blueberry bushes — These are my experiment plant for this year. They apparently don’t grow well in the climate where I live, so we will see how they fare through the winter and into next year. I haven’t been able to harvest any fruit from them yet.

Cherry tomatoes — I feel like these will overtake my garden every year. These are over 5 feet tall and about 8 feet wide. Maybe I should just start a cherry tomato garden and forget about everything else.

Strawberries — These fruited last year, so they haven’t produced anything this year. But I did transplant them from another spot in the garden this spring, and they’ve rooted nicely and are beginning to get longer vines!

Garlic bulbs — Also an experiment for me. I’ve never planted garlic before!

Onions — I’ve grown green onions or scallions before, but never the full bulb. I’m excited to see how these turn out!

Watermelons — I have a bad history with these. Either I let them sit on the vine too long, or I pick them prematurely, and when I cut into them, it’s all rind and no melon. However, just a couple of days ago we had a SUCCESSFUL pick! It wasn’t overly sweet, and was so beautiful inside!

Canning pumpkin seeds — I’m at a loss with these. They were seeds from my pumpkins last year, as well as a few packets of new seeds. None of them grew 🙁 I have them right under a trellis so when I try again next year, they can vine up the trellis and we will have a cute little archway with magical little pumpkins hanging down.

Blackberries — So good.

Grapes — These are new this year too, but they haven’t grown… like at all. We will have to see what comes of it.

Zinnias — A beautiful flower to pull in pollinators. My husband loves them so much, he asked me to sprinkle some seeds around the garden beds in the yard for next year too!

Bell peppers — We frequent this vegetable in our home. We snack on it, we cook it into our meals, and we love it!

Snap peas — A gardening staple! I honestly only grow these because my grandma grew them, and I remember eating them fresh from the vine as a child. It was my first garden veggie!

How did you decide what deserved a spot in the garden?

They all have intention behind them. They’re either something we eat all the time (we have a toddler in our home—of course we need berries), something we’ve wanted to try, or something that’s great to keep frozen for a rainy day.

What are you most excited about this year?

The jalapeños, man. They are so fun!

Plus, I had a little caterpillar situation. One was very hungry and made himself happy on the pepper plant, eating the leaves. I never found him, but his trail of destruction seems to have left.

What’s absolutely thriving?

The cucumbers? How is that happening?

And the cherry tomatoes are ALWAYS booming every year. I can’t control them—they grow taller than I do!

And what’s… not thriving?

I don’t have anything super embarrassing or humbling currently (which I’m thankful for), other than the fact that the weeds try to overtake the garden occasionally. I have to weed once or twice a week until my ground cover plant, clover, takes over.

What have you already harvested?

Regrettably, I forgot about my snap peas. In my defense, I had delivered my second baby when they started to come in! So they all dried up, but I was able to harvest the pods and will plant them again next year.

Are there things you’re growing specifically to preserve for later?

I was trying to grow some herbs, but we didn’t get the water lines out to them just yet. So those will be a task for next year.

I always let my zinnias grow until they’re crumbly, and I harvest the seeds to grow again next year. They’re a beautiful flower to bring in pollinators, so I always see lots of bumblebees and hummingbirds enjoying them. Then when they die off, I get plenty of seeds for the next year!

I’ll also probably try to harvest seeds from any other vegetable that I can to attempt to grow next year.

I don’t do canning, but when my gardening goods are ready to harvest, if I don’t have the means to enjoy them or cook them in a day or two, I will chop them up and prepare them, then freeze them for a later date.

Do your kids spend time with you in the garden?

Absolutely. Every. Single. Time.

My oldest daughter has her own little gardening set, complete with trowels, gloves, an apron, a hat, a little spray bottle for water, and all of the accessories she will need to play in the dirt. She is so careful when she’s in the garden and loves to observe. If she finds a bug, she will drop her tools so she can squat and watch it in its natural habitat.

She’s a very good listener too. When I’m doing my weekly weeding, she will wait for me to tell her what plants can be pulled, and then very thoroughly and thoughtfully pull the weeds.

Most days, she will come inside absolutely covered in dirt from enjoying the garden. Being the independent and responsible girl that she is, she will walk inside through the back door, promptly say, “I’m dirty. I be right back!” and run upstairs to get a change of clean clothes.

What has gardening taught you so far?

That I don’t know everything 😂

I thought it would be so simple. Water, dirt, seeds, sunlight. That’s it, right?

It takes patience, nutrition, pruning and trimming, and so much more to have a good, healthy garden. Sure, you can throw some seeds into a pile of dirt and see what grows, but what’s the intention behind that? I want my garden to grow to its full potential. I will always give my plants the love and care they need to thrive.

If we came back next year, what would you do differently?

I definitely need to plant fewer cherry tomato seeds. They seem to find their way into different parts of my garden, even if I didn’t intentionally plant them there, so I know that they will always grow regardless.

I definitely need to add in herbs next year! I have my raised garden bed box that’s sitting vacant, so I would love to get it some tenants next year.

I’m hopeful that a lot of my same plants will grow next year as well. I need to be more patient with the pumpkins and try those again for sure.

And finally, why do you garden at all?

There’s something so fulfilling about creating and sustaining life in the form of a plant. Seeing something grow from something so small into something so beautiful and magnificent. On top of that, using that beautiful life to fulfill my own family really makes it feel like it comes around full circle.

I also love the time that I get with my daughter when we are out in the garden together. She almost becomes a different person when she’s out there. She becomes a lot more thoughtful and quiet. Sure, she is her typical toddler self and can get into mischief, but it also reminds her and myself to slow down and watch the bugs.