In The Garden

This picture has nothing to do with the garden......I just love it:)

Neither Kenny or I grew up having a big garden or farm animals....but from the day we got married we have talked about wanting our own little "homestead". A couple of years ago when we moved back to Georgia and knew we would be here for awhile.....we set out to find a little piece of land. We found five and a half beautiful acres, complete with 2 creeks and a lovely little, old, tiny, doublewide trailer house. (Have you ever thought you could not get homestudy approved while living in a small doublewide? And raising 5 kiddos in a tiny space? I'll save those posts for another day:)

When we first moved in, the backyard looked like a jungle. It's taken years to clear, weed, and break the ground. Each year our little garden plot grows a little larger. We've made tons of mistakes, and have pretty much learned as we've tried. This year, the garden finally looks about the way we envisioned it. We love going out in the garden as a family each evening after dinner, and working in our "little slice of Eden."

Landis is our chicken boy:) We love these little bantams.

It has gotten too hot in Georgia for lettuce. We enjoyed it over the winter, and are now letting it flower and drop seeds. We are going to gather up the seeds to plant in the fall. We'll see how that works:)

......onions......only a few more weeks and they will be ready!

String beans....these are the bush type and do not need to climb. They are beginning to bud!

We have put out about 100 tomato plants so far. I have a slight obsession with canning.....and hope to put up lots of salsa and sauces this year:)

In case you've ever wondered....this is where lettuce seeds come from. One it gets hot, the lettuce turns bitter, flowers shot out from the top, and seeds fall!

More green beans....these ones are climbing up saplings Kenny cut down from the woods:)

Pickling cucumbers!

Can you see them?!?! Another week or so, and it will be time to start making pickles!

Squash and zucchini.......yum!

Kenny loves to grow fruit trees. The blueberry bushes are looking good so far......if we can keep Samuel from picking them all:)

We have already starting enjoying a few blackberries. These are our favorite thing in the garden!

Not sure if you can tell....but they are really big! Just a few warm days and they will be deep purple and ready!

I love this! I told Kenny I wanted to make a "bean tee-pee" for the kids. You put several tall stakes in the ground like a tee-pee for beans or sunflowers to grow up, and the kids can use it as a fort. Kenny made an awesome long arbor instead. It is so neat! We have green beans growing up one side and sugar snap peas up the other. The sugar snap peas are about finished producing, and I'll soon pull them up and plant more green beans.

Isn't it neat?

More blackberries and raspberries.......

The muskadine vine is growing strong this year......

...and more tomatoes.....

We have also put out all types of peppers, some herbs, cantaloupe and watermelon....but I must have missed taking pictures of those:)

The peanuts have already spent hours in the garden. They are always happy when they are strapped to one of us outside:)

If you have any great gardening tips or fun plants we need to try....I'd love to know!

Better run...the peanuts are calling!

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