Pink Forest Calling: Our Garden

Our garden is growing like crazy! After being here for the winter it has been fun to watch the seasons change and all the plants, flowers, and trees morph from one stage to the next.

There are many flowering plants that I have inherited that I have no idea what they are. They sure are beautiful though and I'm sure I will slowly learn their names just like I did down in the South.

Here are some shots of the various flowering plants in the front. This is also where I planted my dahlias a few weeks ago which are coming up very nicely and I am excited to see them grow to be 5 or 6 ft tall and bloom large size 6 inch blooms! (My first year growing dahlias!)

On the side of the property we have a massive vegetable garden. It is about 150 ft long by 30 ft wide. This includes about 12 large raised planter boxes, a grape vine area, a blue berry area, an area to plant vine plants like pumpkins and gourds/watermelons. This area also hold my future chicken coop area which is 25 ft x 30 ft. I wanted the chicken yard to be accessible to the garden so I can let the chickens in my garden under supervision. I will be following a method from a book my Aunt Venus got me called "Free-Range Chicken Gardens" link to book

In our garden now we have the following growing like crazy:
blueberries
chives
onions
beets
brussel sprouts
asparagus
grape vine
sugar snap peas
cilantro (for rabbits)
parsley
thyme
oregano
spearmint
mint
wheatgrass (for rabbits)
butterhead lettuce
bok choy
tons of strawberries

In fact I did my first strawberry harvest just now.

I have a lot to learn about these plants, and how to harvest/care for them. Most of them I have inherited from the previous owners like the very invasive strawberries, the asparagus, blueberries and grapes. But then a lot of the rest I listed I started from seed this season.

There is a TON of weeding to do, and it is getting difficult for me to bend over so much at 24 weeks, so I think I am going to hire a garden hand to help out once a week. We have also hired a lawn company to come out and cut grass and do edges with weed eater and I am going to have them show us how to use our very elaborate sprinkler systems that spans all the garden beds and vegetable garden. So far we cannot figure out how to use it and I have been having to water everything by hand which takes FOREVER! :(

Yummy Brussel Sprouts (above)

The invasive strawberry plant (takes up entire massive box and is even spreading into other boxes and into walkways!)

The asparagus that I know nothing about but have already consulted several websites on how to take care of asparagus plants and harvest. Lets just keep it simple and I will say "It is complicated!"

Bok Choy! Will be very yummy in a recipe I make for Patrick with shrimp.

Some kind of onion/chive that I inherited. Seems to be different than the chives I have growing. These are thicker and have blooms on top. If you know what they are exactly tell me!