Gardening

For the past few years, Twink and I have been trying to garden in the "blank" spaces between all of the beautiful bushes, trees, shrubs and flowers in our backyard.  Since Hubs owns a landscape company, you can rest assured that the spaces that we've been utilizing are few and far between.  And, our landscape is beautiful - but we wanted a garden. 

I would buy the seedlings from the greenhouse at the school where I work and Twink and I would plant and nurture through the summer.  We've gotten many, many tomatoes; one summer we were picking them by the bucketful.  We've had cantaloupes, green peppers and a few hot peppers.  Last year we didn't have much luck.  Our squash and pumpkins fizzled.  Our many cucumber plants yielded us 2 cukes.  We didn't have quite as many tomatoes as we did the year before. 

This year was supposed to be different.  Hubs promised us a garden.  In March.  (You know before the onslaught of the busy season and working round the clock 7 days a week.)  He even went as far as contacting his friend from school, many moons ago, who has a company in South Carolina called Verde Garden.  (See their Etsy Shop)  Verde Garden is a licensed and inspected facility who is authorized to ship agriculture to all 50 states.  Verde Garden hooked us up with seeds this year!  So many seeds.  I was nervous that we wouldn't have enough garden to plant them in. 

Twink was very conscientious about getting her seeds started inside.  We got a little bit of a late start but we had at least 9 containers of all but a few things.  (the most important one forgotten?  tomatoes!!)  We've been planting like mad ~ once again in the empty spaces we can find because we cannot find time to create the garden we had envisioned.  That would require someone who knew where our irrigation is, a sod cutter and just time in general.  Something you need for a garden.  Something we are lacking. 

About a week ago, while planting, Twink took the seeds we hadn't yet used off of our porch and outside.  The seeds we hadn't used yet?  WET.  Which ones?  TOMATOES.  3 different kinds.  I'm a little on the devastated side.  I planted all the seeds I could save into planters on the patio and in one of the beds.  Yesterday, I came home to discover that Hubs' crews had left me beautiful new viney type trumpet flowers ~ in those same planters.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry.  I think I'll enjoy them for now then get the laugh when and if those tomato seeds grow into the tomato plants I'm hoping for. 

Did I mention that we have about 5 green beans that we can eat?  And about 2 dozen radishes?  All in planters.  But ready to eat.  We've planted 4 cucumber plants and 3 eggplant plants in a flower bed.  They're not looking so hot.  The plants that we haven't planted yet that are bunched together on a tote top, under the tree?  Looking wonderful.  I am seriously considering leaving them there to see if they'll produce any veggies. (Zucchini, Eggplant, Peppers, Yellow Squash, etc.)  What do you think?

PS - that succulent wreath pictured above?  Not at my house but advertised by Verde Garden on their facebook page. How beautiful is that??