Backyard Garden - Week 7

Backyard Garden - Week 5

The hot weather is really starting to kick in and the garden is loving it. We have had a perfect combination of heavy rain and sunny days. The tomatoes are responding by doubling their size in just one week. The many flowers promise good yields. The onions look very healthy. The garlic has pushed up even higher, reaching about 3 feet.

Backyard Garden - Week 4

The last week has been quite warm and the garden has responded favorably. The tomatoes are growing at a furious pace! I saw a flower on one of the plants today, which means that the beginnings of fruit is not long now. The spinch is growing and looks happy. Even the onions have really perked up and are a great green color.

In the herb garden, the sage put up beautiful purple flowers that can't help but draw your attention.

Backyard Garden - Week 3

Week three in the garden saw a lot of action. We got flowers to make the front of the house look nice and a bunch of herbs for our kitchen herb garden. The herb garden is now planted with chives, rosemary, dill, oregano, basil, and sage. These are the herbs I work with the most in the kitchen and it is nice to have them on hand. They taste so much better than the dried variety. I am hoping to learn how to dry them so I can have a year round supply of herbs from the garden.

The vegetables survived a cool week that saw temperatures go all the way down to 37 degrees. The tomatoes continue to grow, the onion is starting to look really healthy, and the spinch has sprouted. It is shaping up to be a good year in the garden.

Backyard Garden - Week 2

Over the last week not much has changed with my garden. The weather is still somewhat cool, so the garden is growing slowly. I am happy to report that so far all the plants are healthy. The tomatoes have grown about an inch and my spinach has just begun to sprout. Over the next week I hope to get my herb garden cleaned up and planted with some basil and parsley.

Backyard Garden - Week 1

One of the highlights of each year is eating fresh tomatoes straight from my backyard garden. I have been growing tomatoes for around eight years now and I have yet to have a bad harvest. I decided this year it might be fun to track the growth of my garden as well as what I am able to eat out of it.

In addition to tomatoes, this year I am growing garlic, onions, and spinach. I have had mixed results with onions and spinach in the past but I have high hopes this year. Every year I have a great garlic harvest which supplies about 2/3 of my usage. This is quite a bit considering I cook a lot at home and most of my food has at least some garlic.

I am feeling constrained by the small amount of garden space I have, though I have enough space for my "essentials". This summer I will likely work to expand the garden so I can accommodate peppers, beets, beans, squash, and perhaps even some pumpkin.

Total cost for the garden this year is as follows:

Spinach seed- Free, left over from last year
Onion sets- $1.50
Tomato plants- $2.00
Manure- $13.70
Garlic- Free, stored from last year
Organic Fertilizer - Free, pulled out of storage

Total Cost to Date: $17.20

Total Harvest to Date: 0