Tag Archives: herbs

Back Yard Tour

Now that you’ve seen the front yard, let’s go round to the back!

back yard deck

Ta-Da!

Now, close your eyes and imagine the umbrella is up. This scene is more picturesque when the umbrella is up.

Since these photos have been taken, something has eaten several of the plants seen in these containers. I suspect deer. And this means war. So, I’ve moved most of the pots onto the deck for safekeeping. I’m hoping that once the flowers have grown a bit more, I can move them back onto the patio.

window boxes

deck

This is the view from our back door and kitchen table. It’s lovely. And now features even more loveliness since I’ve had to move most of the other containers up here to save them from the d— deer. You may recognize my herb garden and made-over plant stand.

shade plants

We’ve also spruced up the space around our AC unit this year. The small bush is a Boxwood that wasn’t faring so well in our front yard. And the flowers are Torenia (shade lovers and deer resistant!).

That concludes our 2013 yard tour!

Oh wait, I think I forgot to show you the right side of our house… well… there’s not much to see here yet. I planted a few Foxgloves, but they’re not flowering, so just picture some greenery and you got it!

Thanks for touring with us 🙂

Garden 2013: First Look

I love this time of the year because it means gearing up for planting flowers and watching all of the blossoms emerge. We’ve had some crazy weather here in Cincinnati, so my flowering bushes are taking their sweet time to show some buds. My Knockout Roses seems to be the only thing close to blooming:

Knockout Rose

I’m hoping the weather holds out this weekend or next for us to build a couple of raised beds for my veggie garden. Last year, we cleared a spot and added topsoil, but things got a little unruly, plus heavy rains washed the soil out into the yard. So I decided that raised beds are in order for this year.

homegrown strawberries

In the meantime, a strawberry plant has taken over last year’s veggie plot. I was planning to uproot it, but there are a decent amount of baby berries growing! So maybe I’ll leave it. Or transplant it? Not sure if that will work too well.

Are you growing your own this year? What’s your favorite fresh veggie or herb to cook with? I love basil, tomatoes and cilantro!

Vegging Out – Part II

I have finally taken the leap & planted my veggies in the ground! Eek! I know it sounds silly, but this was kind of a big deal for me, mostly because I have an uneasy feeling that every deer within a 10 mile radius is going to feast like there’s no tomorrow. And I’ll be left with a bed full of half-chewed leaves.

But anyways, let’s get to how it went down. First, I chose the area that I wanted to use, then Tom & I cleared it. I loosely referenced square-foot gardening guides, and decided to try a 3×6 area:

clearing the future garden space of leftover straw from the grass seeding

Tom used the end of a shovel to section off the area, and then we began digging up the grass. We added 4 bags of topsoil and mixed in 1 bag of manure. We bought the cheapest topsoil and manure we could find at Lowe’s (the brand is Gardener’s Pride). Once it was spread around to our satisfaction, we drew 1×1 foot lines in the soil with the edge of our shovel so I could break down plant placement within each square.

1×1 foot sections — ready for planting!

I lined up my plants, and once they were in the right spot, in the ground they went! Here’s a shot of the final product (before we draped them in netting to keep the critters out):

the finished product

I won’t insult your design-savvy eyes with the rudimentary Microsoft Word table I drew of the bed plantings. Just know that I have it for reference 🙂  Hopefully, in the next few weeks, we’ll be reaping in crops of tomatoes, green bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, cantaloupe and strawberries!

Have you ever tried square-foot gardening? What was your experience like?