This year, I decided to create a raised bed garden. I built 6 5x8 foot beds and 3 3x3 foot beds (for the girls) and I filled the beds with a mixture of "Murray Blend" (a special compost based soil) and top soil, except for the Tomato bed and the girls' gardens where I put 100% Murray Blend.
My secondary goal is to have a good harvest. My primary goal is to enjoy time with my children as we learn together what gardening is all about. So, with that in mind, I created small gardens just for them. They help choose what to plant, then they do the planting, weeding, and watering. To start off, Ava choose lettuce, which has already produced well and tastes really good.
We've enjoyed Ava's lettuce on sandwiches and also as a greek salad. Riley planted three strawberry plants in her garden, but a few days ago, we think rabbits found the strawberries and they ate them all! So, just yesterday, we transplanted the strawberries into a pot and replanted Riley's bed with watermelon seeds. Emma's garden is growing some heirloom bean seeds passed down to us from Henry and Margaret Holt (Brooke's Uncle and Aunt). We have enjoyed the harvest from these seeds for several years, as Aunt Margaret and Uncle Henry share with us. This year, I hope to be able to enjoy our own harvest of these tasty green beans and also be able to pay it forward to others.
I took the following pictures today (April 25)
the first bed has 1 squash, 1 zucchini, 4 varieties of bell peppers, 2 pepperoncinis, and 1 jalepeno.
the second bed has 6 tomato plants. the three in front are grape tomatos and yellow pear. the ones in back are larger tomatos which will taste great on a BLT, burger, or just plain!
The tomato plants in pots are smaller bushes and they are located near the girls' gardens. Ava and Riley are very helpful in keeping weeds, gumballs, and pine cones out of the gardens, and they also help with the watering.
Ava standing next to Kentucky Blue Pole Beans planted on April 1.
Riley picking up a gumball that fell into the sweet corn garden (planted on April 9).
Sweet corn planted on April 1
Kentucky Blue Beans planted on April 1.
Yellow Pear Tomato plant
The whole garden
After a Saturday of working in the yard, we headed to the river. The water was a little high, but that made getting the boat in and out a little easier. We landed this nice size rainbow and ate it as soon as we got home. Actually, Riley and Ava snarfed it and left me with a few bites.
I took the girls to the Palmetto Sportsmans' Classic at the State Fair Grounds. We toured the buildings which were filled with exhibitors, tried some home made camp stew, and downed a couple of bags of boiled peanuts while watching a dog show. The girls fished at the trout pond, but didn't catch any. then, we went inside a building and colored some pictures and decorated some rocks. We had a great time together.
Picked up this rainbow April 7 when the water was a little bit higher than I like it for trout. Flies were all over the surface, and the trout were consistently rising. I wish I would have had my fly rod!
This year, I decided to create a raised bed garden. I built 6 5x8 foot beds and 3 3x3 foot beds (for the girls) and I filled the beds with a mixture of "Murray Blend" (a special compost based soil) and top soil, except for the Tomato bed and the girls' gardens where I put 100% Murray Blend.
We've enjoyed Ava's lettuce on sandwiches and also as a greek salad. Riley planted three strawberry plants in her garden, but a few days ago, we think rabbits found the strawberries and they ate them all! So, just yesterday, we transplanted the strawberries into a pot and replanted Riley's bed with watermelon seeds. Emma's garden is growing some heirloom bean seeds passed down to us from Henry and Margaret Holt (Brooke's Uncle and Aunt). We have enjoyed the harvest from these seeds for several years, as Aunt Margaret and Uncle Henry share with us. This year, I hope to be able to enjoy our own harvest of these tasty green beans and also be able to pay it forward to others.
The tomato plants in pots are smaller bushes and they are located near the girls' gardens. Ava and Riley are very helpful in keeping weeds, gumballs, and pine cones out of the gardens, and they also help with the watering.
Ava standing next to Kentucky Blue Pole Beans planted on April 1.
Riley picking up a gumball that fell into the sweet corn garden (planted on April 9).
Sweet corn planted on April 1
Kentucky Blue Beans planted on April 1.
Yellow Pear Tomato plant
The whole garden
