Vegetable Garden

Today is 'no d day' when we try to make it through the day without mentioning the d word.  For more info, to participate, or to read more no d day posts, visit Ninjabetic.

This spring we added a vegetable garden to our back  yard.  We bought a raised garden bed kit from Home Depot and built a 4 x 4 square, filling it with topsoil and compost.  We're still working on eradicating the weeds and vines which came with the house's existing garden beds. Starting fresh gave the plants a fighting chance with fresh soil and few weeds. 

Our plentiful crops of cucumbers and spinach are finished. What else did we grow? 



We're eagerly awaiting our next crop of lettuce.  The first round provided countless salads.

We grew herbs. Basil and parsley are pictured here.  We also grew mint and rosemary.  I love going out back to pick just what I need for a recipe.

These sweet little grape tomatoes just keep coming.  My daughter, who doesn't ordinarily like tomatoes, has been eating them off the vine all summer.

No, it's not a vegetable.  But it's a gardening success.  The seed for this sunflower came in my daughter's Easter basket.  We started it inside, assuming that like every sunflower we've tried to grow it would instantaneously die once transplanted.  I decided to help it along a bit by planting it in the corner of the new vegetable garden.  We staked it up.  More than once we thought we'd lost it.  But here it is...about to bloom!

We planted marigolds too, amongst the tomatoes to repel pests.  We had no tomato problems, but next year, I might not need so many marigolds. They kind of took over.

Next year?  We're seriously considering adding another bed.  We'd love to try growing green and yellow beans, summer squash, peppers and more herbs.  Yum!