Tour of MY Garden

Last weekend I want on a garden tour. So today I took some photos of my garden. It is now a year since I started this and I am learning more about what will work in my little shady back yard and what won't. I am feeling pretty successfull. I had a salad yesterday of spinach, onion, radish and bell pepper, all from my back yard! Pretty cool.

So this is some of my lettuce. I have two different kinds growing and I grew them all from seed instead of transplants, which is cool! These are a little further along than the others. The others are in more shade.
I've got some strawberries. The plants are doing pretty well now, but no flowers yet. I'm optimistic though.

This is a type of cucumber. This was a transplant from the nursery, but I've also planted some different kinds from seeds. I am interested in some bush cucumbers I planted. We'll see what happens. I had bad luck with aphids on these last year.

This is armenian cucumbers. I also planted some seeds of this.

I have just a few flowers here and there. These are from bulbs, some rannuculus and freesias which are just on the verge of blooming. I'll take photos once they open.

This is my younger lettuce and spinach patch. It's a different lettuce than the previous one. All from seed.

These are the last of my onions. I've been eating them pretty regularly. I am enjoying them.





And this is my mint. I haven't eaten any of it yet.

These unpromising little sticks are my thornless blackberries. They just got put in a little while ago and came bare root so they haven't sprouted any leaves yet. I have five of them and they are in a really shady part of my little yard. I'm not sure if they are going to work, but I am hopeful. I LOVE blackberries!

I had a bumper crop of swiss chard that I've already eaten and given away that I grew from nursery stock. Here is the next generation that I am growing from seed.






And this is one of my future producers of heirloom tomatoes! I have one little plant that is supposed to produce purple cherry tomatoes that when chilled have a bit of a concord grape flavor. I hope it grows!

This little basil bush grew from seed and has been going gangbusters for a full year. I trimmed it back and hope it's ready to just keep going.

I love the flowers of sweet peas. I have tried to grow them in the past before I had my raised beds. These seem to be going to make it this time and I can't wait for the flowers. They smell amazing. We saw sweet peas in bloom on the garden tour, but my backyard is so shady, that it is always behind the sunnier locations.

I never used to care that much about radishes until I started growing my own. They are yummy. Most of the time I don't even bother to put them in a salad. I just wash them off and eat them. I am almost out of this group that I grew from seed and just planted some more seeds. They grow so fast.

This is my flat leaf parsley. It has grown enourmously. I just whacked it back too. We'll see how it does.

I finally pulled out my chilis that I planted last year. The only thing left in that section is my bell pepper. It has been producing for a year. It looks a little sad, we'll see if it can keep going.

I planted these alaskan nasturiums from seed. Another flower that I really like. Again, mine are a little behind, but they are taken off and should start flowering soon.

My dwarf meyer lemon that I have in a pot looked kind of sick last year. But it seems to be doing better this year. Hopefully these flowers will produce some fruit for me. My dwarf peach died last year. I have a new one, but I didn't take photos because the flowers are already a little past. I am hoping it pulls through and produces too.

This is my "old" spinach patch. I have been cutting off spinach leaves and harvesting for a little while. It's been fun. Hopefully when it is done, the new spinach will be well on it's way.

And my peas! I usually pull off a pea pod when it's ready and just eat them without trying to cook them. I don't have very many at one time anyway. Something else seems to be eating them besides me. I am not sure but I suspect my dog Winston. It could be one of the cats though because they like to sample things too.

And this is my new bok choy patch. I had some bok choy from transplants that I already ate. It was really good. These are called toy choy and are from seed. They are a little smaller than the other ones. I am planning on starting to eat them soon!



I also have a lot of other seeds that I just planted recently. Corn, beans, squash, some other cucumbers. We'll see if my animals eat them or not. They seem to like seedlings. Which is why I am so pleased that I have been able to get what I have from seed!

And finally, my daffodils are blooming. I only have a couple but isn't this one pretty?