When I was a girl my favorite game was secret garden. I would play for hours and hours… creating a little world all my own. I think that is part of the reason why I love flowers so much, and the mystery and magic of teeny tiny seedlings growing into bushes, plants and flower blooms. I am a bit nerdy when it comes to garden planning- and I just love, love, love walking others gardens, seeing plans, and watching things grow- even virtually. I like to share our garden progress- so here is a garden tour of our kitchen garden for 2016. I didn’t plant all I had hoped, but I was able to fill the raised boxes, the open garden plot in front of them, as well as extend it’s borders just a bit.
This year we planted the following fruits and veges:
- potatoes
- geen beans
- peas
- carrots
- celery
- tomatoes
- peppers
- jalapenos
- onions
- rosemary
- thyme
- oregano
- zuchinni
- watermelon
We also have raspberries, strawberries and 2 new apple trees, all of which are getting more established, and will come back year after year. I had plans to grow corn and dahlias, as well as some lettuce in pots- but I just didn’t get around to it this season.
I planted the following flowers in my garden plot:
- marigolds
- cosmos
- snap dragons
- sunflowers
- nasturtium
- zinnias
- sweet peas
- calendula
- lupins
- wildflowers
- peonies
- daisies
- pansies (these self seed and come up every year)
Last year we built our garden boxes- you can read more about those here. They have worked great for us- eventually I would like to seal the wood.
I always like to plant zinnias around this blue pot- you can see the curve along the right. I planted a full circle- but for some reason only 2 popped up between the thyme and garden oregano. The rest of the black dirt is potatoes.
We had some late frost which really hurt my tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and beans. So that was sad. Then something was either eating or digging up my second sewing of beans- so I’m afraid they may be a pitiful harvest this year.
The middle box is probably the happiest- the beets are very cheery- as are the dwarf sunflowers. The marigolds and cosmos have really taken off- and the peas and beans are coming along nicely.
You can see the carrots, and second sewing of peas and beans… they are pretty sad! The carrots desperately need thinning- as you can see something dug up the seeds/ate them in some areas. So that was a wee bit disappointing. I think next year I will add some posts and mesh to create a bit of a fence- to hopefully keep the critters out.
I didn’t get a good shot of the strawberries- but this spring we transplanted close to 100 root ball plants, as well as a good chunk of raspberries. They are located just behind the planter boxes- raspberries to the left of the compost and strawberries to the right behind the teal wagon. Here is a shot from back along the fence… 
It is amazing to think how far along this yard has come from a mound of dirt just last spring!
I hope you enjoyed our garden tour…. what’s in your garden this year?
-Miss Ash
More posts about gardening:
shared: Remodelaholic
I remember so well, you in our backyard playing “Secret Garden” for hours, a wonderful memory ❤️
Yes- one of my favorite memories! thank you for the endless hours of imagination and inspiration in your secret garden <3