This year's garden(s) . . .

Well...how 'bout that sign, eh?

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I just discovered the Tractor Supply Store.

Um...seriously...where have I been???

Nice little middle of summer 50% off treat for one of my favorite things of all time to grow every year. And, yep, it's just hanging out there above the peas, ha!

This year's "side of the garage" garden got a bit of a late start and doesn't have every one of my favorites because mid-June begger planters can't be choosers really. But, I'm still pretty pleased if it all grows as it should.  

1. Eggplant, the large kind this year, would have preferred the cute little kind I got last year but am looking forward to giving these a go.

2. The whole front row is greens this year, kale, spinach and swiss chard. Already picking the chard, a few of the spinach plants keep getting wiped out by a crack in my gutter right above them combined with our torrential rains of the past weeks. Someone mentioned kale chips as being great so I'm looking forward to trying them...others scrunch their faces in disgust at the thought and say, "good luck." We shall see...

3. Couple of pepper plants, one orange and one yellow. I have NEVER had success with non-green peppers.  We shall see...

4. A large variety of tomatoes, looking forward to the Sungold cherry tomatoes someone gave me last year. Was thrilled to stumble upon them quite late.

5. Pickling cucumbers that I don't pickle but LOVE to eat. Been growing those since pots on my patio in college.

6. Variety of herbs, basil (struggling), rosemary (over-wintered in the house), flat and curly leaf parsley (I overwintered one and it did great all winter and then didn't like the transfer back outside, was awesome to have inside for cutting for many months).

7. Brussel Sprouts! Wow, last time I grew those was at this house 14 years ago.  We shall see...

8. Oh yeah...Yellow beans too. So far one plant completely eaten by something, two really giving it a go at surviving and one giving me a few beans a day starting this week.

In the overgrown bamboo work in progress three of these poppie plants popped up and OH MY GOODNESS was it the coolest surprise.  You see... I have always LOVED poppies and 14 years ago threw seeds in the ground back here and never saw the results.  Even last summer, when the bamboo was thicker here (I'm working on it), no poppies.  Then, this year, out of the blue these little beuts pop up and...the "Oh, yeah, I did that all those years ago," came flooding back.

You see...red used to be my favorite color.

It's coming back recently as a close second to my new favorite purple.

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The "Side of the Shed" garden that I wasn't going to plant up this year . . . 

I put these peas in by seed nice and early in the season and they're still producing large handfuls and more some days. Most are eaten right in the garden, occasionally I share with the children (-: and I even managed my first garden saute of swiss chard and peas with store bought yellow squash last weekend.

Giving a go at garlic for the first time.

Doesn't that look delicious?

During my garden photo shoot Samantha came out.

Samantha must be Suzy's cousin from the old house.

When I first gardened at this house summer of 1999 I actually screamed like a little school girl and ran to the neighbor's house shouting, "snake...snake!!" to the neighbor husband guy because I was freshly back from NYC and don't think I'd ever seen a live snake in my yard in my life.

Now . . . 

Samantha can literally climb my shed walls all freak snakish and I just give a little chuckle and say, "Thanks for eatin' the bugs Sammy!"

If someone ever plods back through this blog they'll see I've been having to get along with snakes for years now, no big whoop!

(Not that I'll ever pick one up though...)

Any way...back to my delightful peas...

Still have the rhubarb I've been carting around house to house since my folks moved from the home I grew up in. Yep, this rhubarb was from our old house and I've managed to transplant it along the way. Made rhubarb desserts for a number of my 2nd grade kids "Michigan Foods" day at school and currently have a baggey of rhubarb from the garden in the fridge waiting to become rhubarb bread.

Not pictured is that I also managed to bring my asparagus from the other house. Score!  That stuff takes a while to start and grow, I don't have  a lot but what I have also gets picked right out at the garden and eaten uncooked and fresh.  It's amazing.

Not beautiful I know but for the garden that I wasn't going to plant up this year, it has a lot more activity than I expected.  I have some summer squash plants out here and some mini-pumpkin plants that I started from seed and almost killed each and every one (and there were only five seeds in the packet!!) because I thought it'd be a great idea to use cut grass as mulch over the seed.  Yeah...DON'T DO THAT!  Cut grass is awesome for killing weeds...and seeds...not porous at all like my chopped leaves.  Whoops.  I think I managed to keep two plants going at least. I also have three mystery viney plants growing that sure looked like a squash started when I found it around the yard but it's growing all over the place and no flowers yet indicating anything more than a vine will be coming.  We shall see...

Oh yeah...back behind the summer squash is this black pot thing that my old neighbor from the first time we lived here used to grow strawberries in.  I put some herbs in there hoping they don't invade the land like the oregano I put in 16 years ago...it's everywhere now...in here I have Liv's 2nd grade chives, a little thing of thyme and mint leaves that came tucked inside three huge, free hosta plants I got earlier this summer. Mint can take over your world if you're not careful.  We shall see...

Again, not exactly Better Homes and Gardens photo worthy but some perspective of the Shed Garden and the Back of the Garage garden at the ol' homestead (that I still walk around, jaw dropped, in a state of thanksgiving and wonder that I've been blessed with such a miracle!). Anything at the Shed Garden really has to be quite self-sufficient, I can't be hauling watering cans and hoses back here much.  I get 'em started with a little attention and then, off they go.  We shall see...