An Account of the First Garden

Have you ever wanted to try something new, but you had NO IDEA how to do it?  And just the thought of trying made you cringe, but at the same time get so excited you could hardly stand it?  This is what gardening was to me.  A daunting task that only the most amazing and competent of homemakers could pull off!  And so it was, with great apprehension, that I started learning how to garden.

This Summer was our first year of growing a real garden.  We did try last year, but failed miserably.....we won't even get into that!  This year we started anew.  We prepared early: boxes were built, homemade compost was added, seeds were bought, and we couldn't wait to start gardening!  We bought several types of seeds to grow (although it was hard to narrow it down from what we wanted to grow, to what we figured we should try for our first time).  Here's what we planned:

• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Tomatoes
• Pumpkins
• Zucchini
• Lettuce
• Iceberg
• Romaine
• Spinach

• Peppers
• Anaheim Chiles
• Banana Peppers
• Bell Peppers
  

Planting day was so exciting!  We tried to set up a drip-line system, but that didn't work out how we had hoped.  Maybe next year.  For now, we are hand-watering.

At first, we had a hard time getting some things to grow.  We had planted broccoli, tomatoes, and peppers inside.  They grew nicely as seedlings!  However, not long after we transplanted, I went into labor with my third child.  My husband and I remembered to get someone to take care of our cats, but we totally forgot about getting someone to water the garden, and so three days of no water took it's toll.  This is what we were left with after replanting some of what had died:

• 1 broccoli plant
• 6 pepper plants
• 1 row of lettuce
• Pumpkins
• Zucchini

  The pumpkins and zucchini had a slow start, but now they are flourishing!

These pictures were taken in July.  This was the point where I finally believed I COULD grow something!  Woot woot!

The top picture is pumpkins and zucchini.  The one to the left is banana peppers, bell peppers, broccoli, and lettuce.  One of those pepper plants has since died, but we have gotten so many peppers form the other plants, that it didn't really matter.

Then little baby pumpkins...





 



...and zucchini started popping up!





A month later, we have been able to harvest some of our veggies.  Here is just a sampling of what we have picked:

See that huge zucchini?!?!?!?!?!

 
We had so many ups and downs trying to grow this garden.  But I learned a lot through trial-and-error.  Next year is going to be awesome!  I can't wait to try this again.  Maybe I'll tackle strawberries, too....mmmmmm.

Plus...another great reason to try again: homemade Chocolate Zucchini Cake!  YUMMMMMM!!!

Yes, we ate it before I took a picture...it could wait!

We also had a run-in with some squash bugs...YUCK!  To see what genius method I found to deal with these, you'll have to check back next Monday when I chronicle the "Attack of the Squash Bugs"!