South Side! :)

 The south side flower bed has become my favorite, especially this time of the year when she's in her glory! :)

 The Siberian Iris that I added a couple years ago, are getting mature enough to start adding new color! :)

 Each year as they grow they will become more spectacular. :)

 Eventually they will add as much color to the bed as the mature ones do! :)

 The peonies, iris, and ground covers all come in bloom at once, in my favorite color pallet of blue, pink, purple, gold, and white! :)

 Although the bed still needs a lot of work, (edging, weeding, and fresh bark), it has the nice flow I envisioned when I planted it! :)

 The peony and iris blooms don't last very long, I'm afraid, ...

 So I take photos to remember, ... after they fade. :)

 While this bed is full of gorgeous color I'll be taking advantage of it! :)

 If you're looking for me ...

 You can find me ...

 on the South Side! :)

If Only There Were 10 Of Me! :)

 The last two days I finished planting the two ends of the garden! :)
 Tomorrow morning the nursery that I plan to buy my tomato and pepper plants from are expecting their new tomato shipment in! If all goes as planned, I'll be planting the greenhouse tomorrow, and will have most everything planted! :)
 The space is now filled, but I still want to find a way to squeeze in some herbs and sunflowers! I have a few ideas about how I'm going to do that! Wish me luck! :)

 Sometimes I have to be a bit creative to squeeze more in, and still leave walkways! :) When I planted a row of cabbage, I got an idea when I placed the fabric cover hoops on the row! :) I decided to use them in another row as wide row markers in order to plant more varieties! Each section has different items and some sections have multiple items! :)

 When I planted the three pole towers, I decided to also use the space in the center for growing lettuce! :) As the beans and peas grow they will provide shade for the lettuce, thus providing a place to grow the lettuce that I otherwise wouldn't have! :)

 I'm also experimenting with using these three folding tomato cages in a new way! By turning them on a tight angle I'm hoping they will work to trellis cucumbers and cantaloupe! My aim is have them growing up instead of out! :)

 I took a close up of the dozen red candy apple onions I planted within the open greenhouse last Fall! So far this experiment is working! If they provide full onions for us this season, I will plant some onion seeds to grow in the greenhouse this winter for next season! :)

 As I mentioned in the previous post, I planted the squash and watermelon hills too close together. We'll see which types do well and I'll likely grow less varieties next year, to give them more room to ramble. I'm planning to direct the vines down walkways as best I can this season! :)

 I'm trying a new corn this year (Honey Select) that a friend recommended! :) Instead of growing 5 rows, I'm growing 4, the bare minimum amount for good pollination! :)

 Not only do I squeeze to get more in the veggie garden, but I'm also finding the need to try to find a way to fit more into the flower beds! :)

 There is always more I want to buy and add to our yard, but the beds are running out of room! :)
Aren't the peonies pretty? I still have three other peonies in the back yard that I need to move into a bed so my Honey doesn't have to mow around them, ... but where!? :)

 The hardy geraniums are taking more ground space than I anticipated, but I like them! :)

 As you can see, the beds have gotten full! :)

 Sometimes I look at our acreage and dream of adding more flower beds, and flowering trees, but then I remind myself that one gardener can only upkeep just so much! :)

 Especially when this one gardener also has the decent size vegetable garden to tend! :)
It doesn't stop me from dreaming of more loam soil all fluffed and waiting to be planted! :) ... If only there were 10 of me, ... the fun I'd have planting!! :)! :)

Let The Gardening Begin! :)

 This morning we lifted the black plastic, my Honey 'tilled the garden, and I spent most of the day playing in the dirt! :)

 There's something about fresh loamy soil that makes my heart sing, and I just can't wait to get my hands in it! :)

 Every year it's a juggling act, trying to see how much I can cram into our veggie space, and still leave walking room! :) The squash and melons are planted too close together again this year, but I am determined to grow many varieties, and still have space for other veggies! :)

 At least half of the garden is planted! The middle section is the corn, squash, and watermelon! :)
Note how well the onions are doing, especially the row on the far left, after spending the winter in the open greenhouse! So far it looks like that experiment worked! :)

 There's still a lot of weeding to do in the fruit section, but I'm working at making it tidy! :)
It's fun seeing all the strawberries in bloom and hoping for good production this year! :)

 The greenhouse is repositioned with cages (for the tomatoes and peppers), and the towers are set up for the snow peas, green beans, and a new pole shelling bean! :)

 There's still some room left (on the two ends) for potatoes, flowers, and a variety of other vegetables! :)

 Nothing but blue sky, and temps' in the 80's and 70's, with more expected! :)

The rhubarb is already getting ready to use! :)
The weather and growing conditions couldn't be more perfect! :) Let the gardening begin! :)