Growing up, my mom was always growing something in our backyard! Whether it was the roses that lined both sides of our patio in various colors, the beautiful yellow and orange, butterfly-attracting lantana, zucchini, carrots, bell peppers, eggplants, marigolds, peas, garlic, you name it, she was growing it. When I was younger, I didn’t have as much of an appreciation for it as I do now. But, isn’t that always the way it goes, unfortunately? She still has an amazing, all-organic garden that I love to look at whenever we visit them. I always come home with a bounty of delicious produce from her garden!
When my husband and I lived in our apartment, I had dreams of having a balcony garden, but never went ahead with it. We lived on the bottom floor so between cats and squirrels, I felt like my efforts would be fruitless, no pun intended. When we purchased our home last year, I knew that I was now ready to get it started. I had several conversations with my mom and she even sent me several packets of seeds. I took a trip to Home Depot, bought some planters and soil and planted my very first garden this past Saturday! I am still SO excited!
My Spring / Summer garden this year consists of:
- Kaleidoscope carrots
- Swiss chard
- Cilantro
- Yellow onions
- Dwarf blue curled kale
- Arugula
- Baby leaf’s hybrid spinach
Everything was planted from seed except the yellow bulbs. The chard and kale are in a 20 inch planter, the cilantro and carrots in a 12 inch planter, the yellow onions in a 12 inch planter, and the arugula and spinach in another 12 inch planter. The first to harvest should be my arugula and spinach. I am pretty excited for the swiss chard to start growing because it is so gorgeous with its deep red coloring! And these carrots – red, orange, purple, and white! You literally have no idea what you will be pulling out – the size OR the color (well, you can see the ‘shoulders’ slightly above soil, but still!) I am looking forward to having some of the kiddos in my life come over to help me with my mini harvesting once things are ready.
Shopping for soil was an eye opening experience for me. When I grabbed the first bag of potting mix by a brand that is a standard in gardening, I decided to look at the contents more carefully. I ended up picking out an organic and natural potting soil which aligned with my desire to grow an organic garden.
I’m so very excited to see my seedlings come up!
Have you ever planted a garden? Did you plant one this year?
A Learning Wife 
There’s a sowing and harvesting chart from the tx agricultural extension. You enter your zip code and they tell you dates based on your location! Here it seems like the bunnies, cute as they are, tend to eat more of our fabulous veggies that we do!
Hey CIndy! Yes, my mom has been an amazing resource. She is like having my own personal reference just a call away! And I haven’t seen any bunnies in our yard… yet. Hopefully having my crops in planters will be a deterrent!
Awesome Jenn. I’m excited with you and for you. 👏🏽👍🏾❤️
Thank you, Aunt Ev!
This is wonderful! What can be better than having your own fresh garden vegetables? I’m reminded of God’s original provisions for man and how He intended for us to live. Keep up the healthy-living lifestyle. It’s very inspirational.
Thank you, Mom R! :-) I am super excited to be able to walking my backyard and grab produce!