In 2010, we put in three cherry tomatoes and two bell peppers in the back;
carrots and Gerber daisies and marigolds and cukes out front. In the fall, I dug out the back bed, expanded it and the area around the (cut back) lilac, and turned over the beds out front. The kids thought it great fun to poke around and find worms.
This year, I have a plan set up for our six planting areas. In no particular order, meet the beds!
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| The Lilac Bed, with unknown spring bulb |
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| The expanded Back Bed, with various bulbs |
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| The Raised Bed, sometime home to neighborhood chipmunks |
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| The North Porch Bed - not much to look at now |
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| The West Porch Bed, with containered chives |
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| The Planting Boxes - the long ones are specifically for the kids |
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| A bonus bed for something tall! |
I'll post later on the specifics of each bed, but overall we're hoping to produce tomatoes (cherry and Roma), bell peppers, green beans (bush and pole), carrots, radishes, okra, cucumbers, basil, cilantro, oregano, chives, thyme, and rosemary. We'll definitely salt in some marigolds here are there, and there may be some other herbs, but that has yet to be seen.
I'll also keep a running list of garden tasks, more for myself than anything. Tasks so far:
Mark out planting locations in the back bed done
- Clean out leaves from all beds
- Turn over soil
- Add topsoil, sand(?), compost
- Save eggshells and coffee grounds
- Transplant mums from raised bed to west porch bed
- Buy seeds/seedlings
But first, we need to wait for things to warm up! We're still nearly two months out from our average last frost date, and we're still dropping below freezing some nights, so it's still planning at this point.
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| This may be our first bulb to bloom - any day now! |
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We are ostensibly homeschooling our two kids (ages 2 and almost-5), although it's been rather informal so far. We are however seizing opportunities as they arise to reinforce reading, math, and other basic skills, with the hope of laying a solid foundation for when we ramp up a formal curriculum.
This garden update is part of The Homeschool Village's Garden Challenge - we will continue updating through the growing season. Photos of the garden beds were taken March 30, 2011. Check back to see our progress!
