Planting My 2012 Garden
Every year I intend to start my garden in March so that I can grow potatoes, onions, and peas and every year I find that it’s May before I take time to plant. This weekend a friend shared plants with me and it spurred me into garden planting action.
Mr. SP kindly tilled the garden for me. 
After he tilled, we planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, lettuce, and basil. The lettuce is a variety bred to withstand the summer heat. If the critters stay away from it, it should be really good.
We planted twenty tomatoes and eight peppers. To keep track of what’s planted where, I made tags by cutting a milk jug into pieces, writing the name of the tomato variety onto the tag with a Sharpie, punching a hole, and then attaching each tag to the cage with a zip-tie. They won’t be noticeable at all when the tomatoes and peppers get bigger.
Viva Italia is a favorite tomato for canning or for sauce making. I planted six of this variety and you can see that they are quite small right now but I know they’ll grow quickly.
Bloody Butcher is a variety that produces extremely early. This one already has a few tomatoes on the vine and it’s covered in blooms.
I mulch my garden with leaves that I raked in fall and let decompose over the winter. This method keeps the weeds down and enriches the soil.
My garden gets nice morning sun but by late afternoon is in the shade. I’d prefer a full-sun site, but I work with what I have and usually get pretty good results.
Watching my garden grow and then eating from it all summer is pure pleasure for me. There’s nothing like making a meal from food you’ve grown yourself.
Do you plant a garden?
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Your garden is beautiful!
I would love to plant a garden – it’s on the list every year! My hubby isn’t very handy and it’s up to me to get it done and I haven’t figured out all the details. We get lots of critters (deer, rabbits, groundhogs, etc) and the fencing will be really important.
Nothing better than eating from the garden 🙂
What a lovely large garden! I tried my hand at gardening but struggle. Can’t wait to see your progress!
I haven’t gardened in years — too many critters. But this year we put in a new fence and added a fenced-in garden plot 12 x 16. I’m doing square foot gardening and have built 6 4′ squares where I’ve planted lettuce, radishes, bush beans, 2 kinds of tomatoes, 4 kinds of peppers, cucumbers, and a little bit of corn just for fun. It’s looking great!
I wish we could garden, but I do not have a square inch of level property. We are hugging the side of a mountain, so I will have to live vicariously through you! Happy Belated Birthday!!!
Your garden looks wonderful! My garden spot also gets morning sun and no afternoon sun. I’ve been saving leaves, etc. in a pile for a few years and it’s amazing how plants respond when I top dress my beds and garden with the leaf mulch! Please keep us posted on your garden’s progress. Leslie in Texas
Your garden looks great! Yes, I garden and it’s a LOT of work but well worth it!
What a beautiful garden! We’re hoping to garden some this year, but with the crazy Arizona heat, we’re not sure how it will work. I can’t wait to see all the beautiful food you produce
(also, happy belated birthday 🙂 )
Those tomatoes are looking wonderful. You planted some of my favorites – squash especially. YUM!
I wish we had room for a garden (for Hubby to work since I kill plants) but our extra puppy is living in our garden spot.
I have GARDEN ENVY!!!! Paula- it’s awesome!! I want to hire you and your husband to come do my entire back yard! Gorgeous! And we’re planning to be at SML again this weekend… I always keep an eye out for you on the water 🙂
Oh, how exciting! I always had a small garden when I lived in a house and just loved it. Since I’m in an apt now I try a few things in pots but it just isn’t as neat as watching a full garden bloom and then eating from it. My mother always had a huge garden, as did my aunts and I think my love of fresh veggies started then. 🙂
Good luck!
xo
Pat
What a GREAT idea for tags. I have to do this. So thrilled.
It’s too hot and arid here in our semi-desert to have a garden – too water inefficient. So I will go to the farmer’s market to buy produce and watch your lovely garden grow.
Thanks for sharing!
What a lovely garden you have! I wish I didnt have so many rabbits around here so I could plant more veggies:) Stop over sometime! Deidre~ http://simplysimplisticated4.blogspot.com
Your garden is gorgeous, Paula–just like all your grounds! Love these photos. Thank you for sharing them.
We have a deck garden this year! I think we may try to create something even better next year. Baby steps!
Thanks so much for joining Grace at Home!
When my kids were small I used to plant a garden because they wanted to be outside all day and I figured as long as I was going to be outside I may as well be productive. I haven’t planted one in ages. Maybe next year, I’ll just watch yours grow this year 🙂