Gardens 2011

I've gone a little overboard with gardening this year. We have a 30' x 30' plot in the BC community garden. Here's what we are growing there:

• tomatoes (4 varieties I think)
• fingerling potatoes
• red potatoes
• broccoli
• brussel sprouts
• sweet corn
• butternut squash
• green beans
• sugar snaps
• basil

At our house we've got two plots, one right by the house that's like 4' x 20' with:

• lettuce
• parsley
• thyme
• rosemary
• oregano
• dill
• basil
• lavender
• cosmos, calendula, sunflowers, plus a couple other flowers I can't recall
• more sugar snaps
• carrots
• onions

The other is off in the yard that's about 12' x 12' with:

• more tomatoes (2 varieties)
• tomatillos
• 2 hot peppers
• more green beans
• more sweet corn
• pumpkin
• cauliflower

I am beyond thrilled to have all this in the ground. There's deer fencing at the college garden but nothing really at our house. I'm hoping the dogs and their fierce barking and constant peeing on everything will discourage them? It's a theory anyway.

So far I have squashed countless potato bugs on my potatoes. We've got a couple of tomatoes already, all tiny and green. I'm hoping for enough tomatillos and hot peppers to make a big batch of green enchilada sauce. I also want some pesto in my freezer this winter and some jarred tomatoes. It might not be hot enough to get enough tomatoes to put up for the winter but I can hope.

We also started composting. Aside from a small mauling by a bear (!) the bin is still standing. Apparently there are numerous bears out here and they are hungry in the spring. Luckily our trash has not been raided. The nature sighting I love the most are the tiny chipmunks that run super fast across our road with their tails up high. We also had some weird calls that we thought were birds in our backyard until we realized they were frogs in the half abandoned pool. It's since been dismantled coincidentally, but for awhile we were the local frog hotspot.