My previous garden post shows what the space looks like before we had it cleared out. Here’s what it looked like shortly after getting the curbstone, landscape fabric and raised beds installed.

Plants went in May 1st and Noah decided to “help”:

The soil is a mix of raised bed dirt and compost. I normally add in material to aerate it like vermiculite but I couldn’t find the big bags this year and didn’t want to wait to order. Since I was already behind schedule, I wanted to start in April, I skipped it.

I didn’t want to go overboard with planting this year so I stuck with my go to plants and added some new ones like this baby zucchini. It’s funny because zucchini is one of my least liked vegetables. It’s so fun to grow though!

I also planted several types of tomatoes, herbs, a few pepper varieties, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, raspberries, cucumbers, onions, and sprinkled in some zinnias, amaranths and marigolds. Totally not overboard lol.

These zinnias are becoming my favorite flower in the garden…

I’ve been gardening for years. Even when I lived in a small apartment, I found ways to add a garden. What I love the most is that despite how long I’ve been at it, there’s still so much to learn. It’s a constant process of trial and error and figuring out what works or doesn’t. Year after year there are garden ups and downs. The biggest win for me is finally having the foundation set. It was my husband who told me to just get it done now. He’s seen the space take on a new shape every year and still not be what I envisioned. So we paid a higher upfront cost and now I can focus on actually planting.

There are still some additions I would like to make like, gravel over the landscape fabric and adding some more trellises and such but those will come in time.

Have you tried your hand at gardening yet? If you’ve been waiting you should totally rip the band aid off and just start. Even if it’s a small container on your patio. There’s nothing like eating something that you’ve grown yourself!