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okienurse

In love with my garden

okienurse
11 years ago

Ok, maybe not in love, but so happy with how it's going this year. I plowed and planted a regular garden late this year. Had planned on tilling the area and then using this year to get it just the way I wanted soil wise and planting it next year, but I could *not* resist the freshly tilled soil. I planted those extra tomato and pepper plants in it and put some radish seeds in and then decided to go ahead and plant soem cucumbers and watermelon plants I bought. The pole beans, okra, peas and sunflowers were already planted and doing ok.

I was getting a little disappointed seeing everyone posting about harvesting so much, but had to remind myself that ya'll got a much earlier start so I decided to just be happy with whatever came of it. I got some mulch on sale at Walmart a week or more ago and spent all day last Saturday mulching around all my plants. In addition to it all looking so much better, the plants seem to be thriving so much better after being mulched. They seemed to have doubled in size in a matter of days and have started getting blooms on them, and the little pepper that was growing on the pepper plant is growing so much bigger already. The difference in how the garden looks from Saturday to now is amazing!

I need to get some mulch down in the little side flowerbed garden I have. The tomatoes and peppers over there have gotten huge overnight and set fruit and the soil there is a little sandy, so it's not super supportive. I've been staking them but they have gotten so heavy that they are pulling the stakes over...if I mulch, not only will it protect them from the heat and preserve the moisture, but maybe will add some support at the base of the plants.

I must say that I've been dealing with some health concerns that make daily gardening difficult. Spending a few hours in the garden on Sat wiped me out the last few days and I haven't had any energy or strength to do much else besides go to work and come home. Last night I thought "I better go out and check my garden" and I am so glad I did...it just made my heart glad to see those plants growing so well...My little garden has come a long way in a couple of months...and I just had to share..:)

Comments (6)

  • countrysmiths
    11 years ago

    I have not posted for a long time, but when I saw the title of your post it just hit me how much I love my garden. It provides so much relief from stress and gives me energy for the day. I usually spend the early morning out in the garden, working and watching the sun rise. It is my quiet time.

    Mark

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    11 years ago

    I understand the happiness you receive from your garden. For what it's worth, I love my garden too and even if it did not produce a single veggie, fruit, flower or herb for the house, I'd love it anyway and I'd keep on gardening. While the end result--the harvests--are fun to tote into the house, it provides lots of intangible benefits including joy, peace and fun. Produce from the garden may feed our bodies, but the gardening process itself feeds our souls.

    And, about the mulch---it does make a remarkable difference. I'm a mulching maniac.

    Mark, Nice to see you posting here and to know you're still there.

    I think all of us are having a better year this year than last year, and I think we earned that just by surviving last summer.

    Dawn

  • mulberryknob
    11 years ago

    Us too, y'all. Dh and I get up every morning and go straight to the garden. From the time I was 7 years old helping Dad pick those "free" vegetables in our backyard I have been hooked on gardening and have never understood why everyone with enough land doesn't raise one. I am convinced that if they knew how much joy, and what wonderful tastes, they could experience, that everyone would have a garden plot. (In Italy, where very little land is available to individual families unless they are wealthy, there are thousands of small garden plots in villages, towns and cities. Americans have lost that tradition.)

  • countrysmiths
    11 years ago

    My family things I am obsessed with mulch. After last years disaster I decided not to till anymore-I just keep adding more mulch.

    Mark

  • Lisa_H OK
    11 years ago

    LOL, Mark. My family and friends think I am obsessed with compost and rotting food :)

    Keep up with the mulch, it is excellent for your ground. There was a video going around not too long ago about a guy who lived in the dry, dry part of Washington state (12 inches of rain a year?) and grew everything in mulch. He never waters. It was WAY WAY too long, but it was interesting. I'm growing squash in a very deep pile of tree grindings. They seem very happy.

  • soonergrandmom
    11 years ago

    The film was Back to Eden. The music drives me crazy and the Pennsylvania part is a waste, but I endure that part in order to watch the rest. I have watched the first part many times.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Back to Eden