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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Garden Post

Well, I took these pics last week of my little kitchen garden thats right outside my door and everything has grown so much already but I would love advice by any of you garderners out there....

Here's my tomotaoes and peppers, 6 of each....
Then I have some basil in a pot that I need to add some mint and parsely to and I have a little pot of lavendar that I got from Monticello when we visited....I want to add more lavendar to my hillside by the pool as soo as I get it weeded (YUCK).

I aslo bought one of those topsy turvey hanging plant holders for my strawberries (havent seen any berries yet) and they say I can take it down and hang it in the garage near a window in the winter and keep it damp and it will come back next year....please any advice here would be soooo appreciated ...
Then we gte to my first window box of come and cut again lettuce....we eat a TON of salads and spend almost $40 per moneth just on lettuce. I think I may have planted them too close though....I used a whole packet for this one window box....again any advice ? I have 2 more planters to plant si we can stagger the yield.
This is actually WAY fuller already and is getting pretty high so I hope I didnt screw up here.

The above picture was a grassy area bu the pool that I finally am dloing something with....my inlaws have given me a few hostas and I have more flagstone to add and maybe a few flowers for some color.
This is our lower yard where my family jokes that I have never actually been all the way to the bottom of the steps. To the left of the little deck we have a TON of blackberry plants and even some raspberry plants but they are hard to get to....but I dearly love homemade jellies, jams, granitas on hot summer days and even syrups and the hubs loves rsapberry tea.....any advice here ? They seem to have taken over that back hillside but someone suggested transplanting them along the porperty line and along our fence ??????
We are having 3 tons of gravel delivered tomorrow to fill in our old extra parking spce that now holds our wood for our woodburner (bikes are going in garage sale) and we just got a bid to reseal the driveway ($1600....YIKES....we might have to do it ourselves)
Here is a picture of our pool, which I have yet to be able to have time to get in and do anything but clean it !!!! GRRRR Now to the right of the pool is a small hillside with a flagstone retaining wall that is starting to come down (of course) and is over-run with weeds and yucky plants that are too heavy....so I want to take it all down and fill the hillside with lavendar becaue it makes a nice ground cover, wont be too taxing on the hill and put too much pressure on the rock wall (once I rebuild it) and it will smell heavenly. Of course that means transplanting a rhodedendron, a holly bush and the rest is just ugly, stinky box wood....I wish the family who lived here before us had taken a little better care on the upkeep of all the landscaping because it ALL needs redone...and can you believe we had terrace lights all over the hillside and electrical outlets for the pool and lights etc and they CUT them all....I guess we will go with solar lights.
The last picture is of the patio which is our fvorite place in the summer but I have got to get it "primmed" up for sure. I am painting the floor soon....thinking either a brick red or a colonial blue ???? Suggestions are always welcome.

Well thats it for now and no I have NOT forgotten about my promise of a giveaway...I will have it up soon I promise...I also have some great before and after projects to show you all. What would you think of something easy like a gift certificate giveaway or is that too lame ???? Give me some suggestions for what you guys would like to win.

OK gals, I am off to watch tv with the hubs and try to get cooled off !!!

Grace to you,
Margie

13 comments:

  1. Hi Margie,
    Would love to trade gardening tips. Visit my blog and leave a reply and I'll email you. I'm pretty good at hostas, tomatos, and container veggies and what I don't know my daughter does! It looks like you are off to a great start!

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  2. Hi, Margie,
    My advice:
    Tomatoes need lots of water and FERTILIZER, they are very heavy feeders. Lettuce is a cool weather veggie, so when it gets hot, don't expect much. I see your basil is starting to bloom, Don't Let It Bloom! Cut it back and the more you harvest, the more you will have. Lavendar likes it dry, make sure you plant it where it won't have wet feet in the winter.

    Did you plant your tomato plants deeply? If not, don't worry, but next year pinch off the lower branches and sink it way down in the soil so that only the few top branches show.

    Hope this helps. Sorry if you already knew this.
    Hugs,
    Melinda

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  3. Hey Girlie, I don't do a veggie garden because living in the country and the woods the small animals EAT everything we plant even deer have been in our yard so I just buy my veggies at the local farmer.
    I do plant flower's the I add to 2 or 3 every year becasue they come back every year and I plant annuls in my buckets and have them around over deck and they look pretty with our pool.

    I hope you give yourself time and get yourself in the pool and RELAX, YOU NEED to RELAX lady and enjoy yourself for a day.
    Summer Blessings,
    Tricia

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  4. I agree with melinda's tips but will add that lettuce if tended to will grow all summer.Looks like yours just needs a little thinning but if it's cutting lettuce it doesn't mind some crowding.I've always heard strawberries don't produce to the second year.In the past every year I tried on the second year we moved so I don't try anymore.LoL.I go to the berry farm and pick.Hugs!~Amy

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  5. Everything looks good, as for the lettuce you can plant it thick but as it grows just thin it out, go in an pull some out othe full bunches. Even though your tomatoes may look like they will crowd, they should still do good, you will definetly have to stake them and tie them or use tomatoe cages to keep them from falling over. Great job, it takes time and engery that is for sure. :)
    ~Rhonda~

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  6. Hi Margie...what a fun post.
    I love seeing how our blog friends live (outside their homes).
    Oh my it's so peaceful by the pool and you haven't been in...get going girl! Life's too short to just 'look' at something that awesome.

    Your kitchen garden is coming along beautifully...if only I had enough sun I could do wonders too. We love salads and I too spend lots on the fixin's but I also find that they don't last long either and some spoil faster than I can keep up so a kitchen garden to pick at will would be so awesome.

    Hugs to you and stay cool....it's 90++ here and aiming higher.

    Karen

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  7. Hi Margie, I love your little garden. You did a very good job. Enjoy that lettuce, it looks delicious. Good luck with your plants, but ladies I have to comment about my package of wool from Margie that I received yesterday. The wool was absolutely beautiful, I have never had colors as deep and luscious as this package is. I have another order in to her and absolutely can't wait for it. Anyway, have a wonderful day and find time to get in that pool... Gloria

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  8. Margie,

    Forget everything else and get in your pool and enjoy! Everything else will wait! Great little garden you have going. I had hoped to get one put int, put it didnt' happen. So I have one really big tomato plant in a container that needs transplanting. Enjoy! OLM

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  9. Margie,
    Hostas like lots of shade, so if they are in the sun move them so they get at least half a day in the shade, mostly the hot afternoons.

    My tomatoes are about golf ball size, but I planted them in late April and keep plastic around the cages to keep them warm in the NW cooler nights.

    Don't do lettuce so can't help you there.

    Lavender is grown in commerical fields here. They cut them way back in the late fall. Hope you are going to dry the flowers. I buy lavender bags and put them in my wool bins, wool smells good, and suppose to keep away the moths, so I've been told.

    Your yard is looking good. Stay cool, come to visit me-only 73 today!

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  10. wow your gardens and yard looks great and provides lots of fun and good stuff! i love to can also and grandma always made the best chock cherry jam. enjoy your evening!

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