Gardening 102 ... progress at last!

I've been a bad, bad blog updater this past month. But somewhere in between birthdays and weddings and deaths, we actually got some stuff done. Unfortunately for those of you reading this blog, I have not yet taken the time to figure out how to link photos to this blog. And I know it's not hard, I just haven't tried yet. Someday ...

But on to the advances in my yard arena ...

I HAVE A RAISED GARDEN BED IN THE BACK CORNER OF MY YARD. And yes, I was yelling just there. A dream I pontificated about months ago has become a reality, if perhaps a bit later than I'd hoped. Prodded by our fairy gardenmother and her ability to find lots of free things and give us kind hints, she prodded my darling husband into constructing a fence around said back corner with the plan of a raised bed and dumping in lots of soil. Fence is up, poles stuck in concrete, and chainlink surrounds -- except where the gate is, but I don't expect perfection. At least not yet. A bit after the Fourth I called in to TAGRO for a giant load of potting soil, which was dumped into said area ... and after I hauled buckets and buckets and buckets of the stuff around the rest of my yard to flower beds in the front, side and back yards to use as cover -- after sweating and sweating and sweating in the hot, hot, hot days of summer -- well, then we planted. We planted VERY late, in the heat of summer, and then it rained ... hard ... for the following week. And then got hot again. If there was any hope for us getting anything out of these seedlings, this was it. After one week, things had popped out of the ground. After two and three weeks, we had some hearty plants back there ... and the tomato and melon starts are flowering nicely ... and they all just keep getting bigger. I'd had the seeds for months if not years, so if no "fruit" (we planted corn, sunflowers, pumpkins, carrots and a couple other things) pops up, I'll consider it training for next year. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the view. That corner had sat fallow for the entire five years we'd lived her, other than weeds and brambles, and not it's a garden.

THINGS I'VE LEARNED THIS GARDENING SEASON (so far):

• I've learned that when you buy onion and beet seedlings at the store, that you're supposed to SEPARATE them when you plant them. Not plant what you were given in a big clump. Oops. Lesson learned. Which is the point of my this year's gardening. So my failure is still a success. So there!
• If you're going to plant herbs, plant ones you use a lot or don't bother, because if you don't pick them a lot they go to flower and apparently aren't as good. At least that was our cilantro. ;(
• You need to keep on top of spinach, too.
• Kids who won't eat fresh greens just might eat them out of the garden. Peas, too.
• Just when you give up hope on a zucchini plant, it springs into action.
• I'm sure I'll think of more ...

MY FAVORITE PART ABOUT THIS YEAR'S GARDENING: Next year I'll be better.