Our Winter Wonderland

Gazing out the window the garden is painted in a delicate display of white beauty.  The tree branches hang heavy with snow and the contrast of light and dark emphasize the detail of each limb.  The garden is asleep for the winter anticipating the spring to come.  In our home we have begun planning and dreaming of what this year may bring!

Our new seed catalogs have arrived in the mail with pictures of beautiful heirloom varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers!  I must admit that I always want to try a variety of vegetables but I have to remember that I only have so much room in the garden. Its hard to pick just 1 or 2 varieties of squash when I would love to try them all.

This last year we welcomed a new addition to our family and I took a small break from writing in the fall and early winter.  However, I am excited to start up this year with new information and lessons learned!  The beautiful part of gardening is that each year you start over again and I never tire of being part of the process.

OVERALL GOALS FOR 2015:
 1. Share my heart: I started this blog to share the ways that God has moved in our lives through starting our garden and the ways he has used the garden to teach us amazing lessons.  
 
2. Involve the kids: with two little ones my goals are to find ways to involve them in the process. This year I am going to be dedicating some posts to this topic! 

3. Garden Tours: Sharing knowledge from friends, family and other garden enthusiasts! I am going to continue my posts showing a variety of gardens.

Journey along with us in 2015!

Alabama Garden Tour #2

Below you will see just a taste of the bountiful harvest from Garden Tour #2!  This garden is located in the sunny southern state of Alabama.  Take a look and be encouraged learning that even a small garden can produce many tasty vegetables.

Eggplant, Red Peppers, Tomatoes and Basil

I was encouraging a family member to start a garden at their home in Alabama.  However, there were several challenges.  First, the yard was very small and didn't have space for a typical raised bed.  Second,  they needed a bed that was easy to assemble and something that could be disassembled easily if they had any future relocation.   Then most important of all it needed to be attractive so that it was accepted by the homeowners association.   I found this incredible solution at Gardener's Supply. It's called the 4 in 1 Modular Raised Bed and can be arranged in 4 different ways to fit your space. 

This Modular raised bed fits into the landscaping.

I passed along my new found knowledge companion planting to help guide her selection of plants.  She choose (2) Eggplants, (2) Peppers, (2) Tomatoes, Basil & (1) Zucchini.   She also added a drip irrigation hose to water the plants.   The plants were planted at the end of May, because that is when she received the raised bed.  However, next year she can start planting earlier because of the longer growing season in Alabama.

Drip irrigation hose on far right

Below you can see a picture of the bed in August.

Happy Happy Tomatoes!

 She also experimented by growing a Zucchini and a Tomato plant in pots on her deck.  These plants received more sun in this location and their leaves started to show signs of distress.  I researched this problem and found out that plants can get sunburn!  They can get yellow spots on their leaves and fruit and then the plant tissue is affected. 

Zucchini plant in pot

To remedy this she moved the plants on the deck to an area that was in the sun during the morning and shaded in the afternoon.  In the raised bed she then added a lightweight white fabric covering over the Zucchini plant. 

Banana Tree

Banana Trees

This garden also has (4) Banana trees!  At first you may think that these plants could only grow in the south, but I have discovered that you can grow a  Dwarf Cavendish Banana Tree if you live in zones 4-11.  Our garden is in zone 6 so we would make the cut.  In order for it to work for us we would have to keep the plant in a large pot and then bring it into the house during the late fall & winter.  (For the fruit to ripen it needs a frost free environment). This variety is dwarf-sized maturing to 8-10 feet in height.
  

You too can make your garden fit the yard that you have whether it is small or large!  There are even solutions if you have no yard at all!  You can use a planter, an elevated bed, pots and you can even grow vegetables and fruit on your apartment balcony.   Get creative and enjoy!

Texas Garden Tour #1

Unique. Creative. Beautiful.

That is how I view other people's gardens.  I love to see how someone else has tailored their yard, land, or space to make something grow.  

I find that I learn so much from "visually" seeing different ways of doing something.  I believe there are many other people out there that learn this way also, so I have decided to randomly select some gardens to tour (of friends and families we know) throughout the year.  Maybe this will spur you on to a new concept or simply show you that there are a vast amount of ways to garden!  

Along the way remember that your garden doesn't need to "look" one certain way or follow certain steps to be successful.  You learn as you go.  The key is to start a garden in order to gain experience and then keep at it to develop and have success. 

Last year we were able to see my Uncle's garden in Texas and I was amazed!  At the time were still newbies to the idea of raised beds and we had just installed 2 of our own beds back home.  Imagine my shock when the  I discovered the "small garden" my Uncle had consisted of 8 raised beds!  Not to mention the fruit he had growing along his fence line.

He took me on a tour and I felt like a child asking what everything was.  The thing that astonished me the most was the variety of plants that he was growing.  He had carrots, onions, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, asparagus, radishes, basil, lavender, cilantro, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and black berries.   Enjoy the pictures below!

Green Peppers

 

Banana Peppers

Lavender & Basil

Cilantro, Basil (both purple & green)

Bed of Strawberries with Asparagus plant

Red Skin & Yukon Gold Potatoes

Yukon Gold Potatoes & Cucumber

Grapes

4 varieties of Grapes growing on fence

Carrots

Blackberries

Hope ya'll enjoyed the first Garden Tour!  More to come.