Another garden project! We got alot of veggie gardening done as well as ornamental. Alot of work, but we are having fun. In the veggie garden I got transplants of pumpkin, cukes, basil, and cantaloupe all in the ground, as well as transplanting a few more peppers. I’m working on what is going to happen next as we have a full other growing season to think about. We can actually still plant corn if we want…crazy! I’ve been checking out gardening books from the library and practically inhaling them. I’ve got the bug bad all of a sudden. I’ve always enjoyed it, but lately it seems like I HAVE to get my hands dirty. I think it has to do with it being the very first time in our lives together, that we are actually producing our own soil, starting seeds from friends rather than just store bought, and really getting into the nitty gritty of biodiversity with having the chickens, successful composting, etc.. This is our home, and our gardens and we are really making things happen. It’s a really great feeling and quite addicting I must say.

Not only are we having a blast with the veggie garden, but our front yard ornamental gardening has taken a huge upswing. We did alot of work once again this weekend and changed the entire look of our front yard with a new rock garden and some plants. We went to the nursery to pick up some Hens and Chicks, and found an amazing deal on our favorite Poinciana – $15 for a 3 gallon pot and it’s just about ready to bloom as well. So worth every penny to us! We also got an Echinacea plant, which I’ve been wanting for awhile now. I actually want more than one, but I’m hoping this will reseed for next year. If not, I did get seeds this season, I just wasn’t successful at getting them to grow for some reason. So hopefully this one will take and spread the joy!

Here are a few pics of our work. Hope everyone is healthy and happy. Peace!

The Texas heat is starting to set in, the plants are growing like crazy, and our water bill is rising. But life is feeling alright. We are learning, growing, changing and loving our world more and more. With everything this last month, I’d gotten out of my normal habits of eating as healthy as we can, creating new things, and just enjoying our environment here to its fullest. Back to cooking with our own vegies, working hard in the yard and home, and just being. Our goal right now is to continue improving the soil down in the far back property – we have alot of kalichi rock and dirt; expanding our produce base and improving aspects of the house that we can afford right now. We are starting from the outside in…so the front yard is continuing to evolve. It’s nice to feel motivated again…

Our new table on the front porch, courtesy of Mom and Dad:

Pole beans!:

Remember those tomato sprouts from a couple months ago? Here are some of the ones which made it, all heirloom:

Flower children!:

A few days ago you got some blooms…today you get more farm pics. Things are growing like crazy now that the weather is warm. We are starting to enjoy some of the bounty on our dinner plates too! Oh, and I made the Minestrone Soup that I posted a few weeks back…one word, YUM!!! I used chard instead of spinach (we have huge chard plants growing now). I’d say about 75% of it was from our garden…can’t wait until we are consistently cooking 100% of our own homegrown.

So back to the pictures, these are just some of what’s growing, it’s very fulfilling…

Peace!

Potatoes:

Zukes!:
Radishes all in a row:

Is that a tiny bell pepper I spy?:

And the first tomato! We have about 25 volunteer tomato plants, plus another 20 or so heirlooms (the heirlooms are just now taking off, so we should see fruit in a few weeks on those). We have no idea what type of tomatoes these are:

Just a few of the pepper plants – we have about 50:

Pomegranates:

A huge rose bush on our fence. It’s got the most beautiful old fashion pink roses:

Kubra doing her thing:

June looking at me warily:

And of course, Mongo…who is full of personality and was very curious about the camera:

Just pictures of some of the blooms currently happening here on the farm, along with a mama kitty. Peace!