Our garden this month experienced two nights of frost and a couple of days of 90 degree heat. With the extreme temperatures, our garden has survived. Thankfully, I did not kill it. 🙂

I have pruned lots of leaves that dried or froze, but overall the garden is growing.

Strawberries

We lost one more strawberry to a bird’s snack, but our strawberry plants are rebounding from the cold and heat. Though no more berries at this time, the leaves are healthy and the plants are growing.

Tomatoes

One of our tomato plants is producing four cherry tomatoes. They are green and perfectly round.

April 21, 2012 with 3 tomatoes               May 1, 2012 with 4 tomatoes

Overall Progress

We started with a few plants, harvested our strawberries last month, and watched our tomatoes grow this month.

April 21, 2012                              May 1, 2012

Though I have forgotten to water a few days here and there, our garden has been very forgiving and continues to bless us with outdoor activity, topics of conversation, and beauty. In using time wisely, I enjoy spending time tending our garden while watching the changes to our fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Happy tending!

Question: Did you plant a garden this year?

May was a great month for our garden. The rain and the pruning resulted in new and continued growth.

In addition to watching the garden, my children take turns watering the garden twice a day. My daughter had this responsibility during the school week. But with summer, my son wanted his turn as well. No matter who waters, I appreciate the extra help as we watch our garden change.

Strawberries

Since losing strawberries in April, our plants rebounded and are growing again. To deter the birds, I plan to purchase a net within the next week to protect our fruit.

Tomatoes

Our one cherry tomato plant produced 5 tomatoes. We harvested 4 of them while one continues to grow. The other cherry tomato plant has 5 green tomatoes growing. I am looking forward to harvesting those this month.

Cucumbers

Our two plants are beginning to show the prickly buds under the flowers. Growth is slow, but steady.

Onions

Thought I killed the onions. The green stalks had shriveled to brown, so I decided to remove them from the garden. To my surprise, I uprooted 3 perfectly round, white onions.

Realizing that my onions were doing well, I replanted them and continue to water. Though the pictures show the stalks as brown, the onions are alive and well. (Did I mention that I am new to gardening? Guess I should just let them grow. Oops!)

Lettuce

Our bibb lettuce and Romaine took off this month. With lots of pruning and focused watering, the lettuce has grown sturdy and tall. I look forward to watching our spinach take off once the plants sprout.

Though still waiting on the bell peppers, carrots, and spinach to produce, our family watches the growth, waters the squares, and harvests the fruit.

In using time wisely, I find our garden a source of joy and excitement for our entire family. Happy tending!

Question: Did you harvest any items from your garden this month? 

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Gardens are great! Besides producing food for your family, a garden offers lots of teachable moments from watering and growing to fertilizing and harvesting. Our family enjoys the garden, especially eating the strawberries.

Realizing how fortunate I am to have garden experts as neighbors, I know that without their help I would not have known where to begin.

Now that our garden is underway, I feel confident seeking answers to my questions from garden clubs. Questions like, “What does it mean when my onion stalks wilt?” or “How do I harvest my basil?” can turn up answers quickly while sharing tips and tricks for added growth.

With lots of garden clubs, I can browse multiple sites to find specific answers to my questions.

The following is a list of free on-line garden clubs, compiled by Katie in South Bend, IN, originally posted on the Krazy Coupon Lady’s web site on May 27, 2012:

• Home Depot Gardening Club:  Sign up for this free club and receive over $300 in coupons, a free newsletter, access to online how-to videos and demonstrations, monthly lawn care tips catered to your region, and advice from experts.

• National Home Gardening Club:  Sign up for their free membership and have access to an online community, expert advice, and printable coupons for home improvement stores. You will also have the chance to enter one of their many contests.

• Buzzy Seeds Club:  By signing up for their free newsletter, you will have access to expert gardening information and be notified of specials and sales on Buzzy Seeds products.

• Springhill Nursery:  Join their free club and receive an e-newsletter with gardening tips, a free catalogue, and a $25.00 coupon good on your first order. You will also be notified via email of any upcoming sale events.

• Burpee Seeds:  Join their free club and receive an online newsletter, full color catalogue, a savings certificate, and have access to gardening tips via their online forums. Burpee also gives out samples if you email them and request them!

• Nature Hills:  Join their free gardening club and receive their color catalogue, a free issue of Gardening magazine, and a free pair of pruning shears. You can also enter their many contests or browse their online gardening information!

• Kids Gardening:  The folks at Kids Gardening offer a variety of tips, activities, and products designed just for kids. Enroll for free and have access to their online forums, free catalogue, videos, and more!

• Brecks:  Brecks offers seeds and bulbs straight from Holland and wants to help make your garden an amazing one! Enroll in their free club for an online newsletter, color catalogue, and savings certificates. You will also have access to the gardening tips they offer on their website!

• Gardens Alive:  Enroll and receive a free gardening catalogue plus a savings certificate of $25.00. You will also have access to the many tips and expert information via their website!

• Grow Organic:  If you are interested in organic gardening, enroll for free membership into this site! You can request catalogues, access tips and information, download helpful booklets, and so much more. There is also an extensive online shopping forum.

• Blooming Bulb:  If you are a gardening newbie, this site offers helpful information on planting a variety of plants and bulbs. Just click on the name of the plant you are planting, and you will be given how-to instructions. Sign up for their free e-newsletter as well!

• TreeDazzled:  Sign up to receive ten free conifer tree seeds! Just leave a comment on their site and submit your information, and your free seeds will be mailed to you.

• Wildseed Farms:  Sign up to receive a free newsletter, catalogue, and flower identification guide! You may also download their newest catalogue and access professional planting tips.

• Gardening Savvy:  Visit Gardening Savvy which is a place for folks to come together and share about gardening, how to grow vegetables, flowers, herbs and fruits as wells as share gardening tips and reviews. Membership is free!

• Better Homes and Gardens:  Visit this site to download free landscaping plans, access expert information, and chat with others about your gardening dilemmas! It is free to join and there is a wealth of information waiting for you!

If I find two sites that disagree, then I’ll ask my neighbors. But for the most part, these free garden clubs will point me in the right direction.

In using time wisely to seek answers and expert advice, visit one (or more) of these free on-line garden clubs. If you find one that you frequent often, sign up for their newsletter which will come to your inbox. Happy tending!

Question: Where do you find answers to your garden troubles?

Our garden continues to prosper. With the intense heat, we keep watering twice a day – once in the morning and again in the early afternoon.

My son completes the morning watering while my daughter and I take turns in the afternoons. My helpers give me updates on the progress made after watering.

With the fertilizing last month, we saw a huge growth this month and enjoyed eating some of the fruit of our labors. 🙂

Strawberries

Purchased the net this month, installed it, and harvested our strawberries. Success! We picked 6 beautiful strawberries, washed, and munched on them.

Tomatoes

After picking last month’s 4 tomatoes, our plants multiplied. We picked five more this month and have 10+ tomatoes growing on the plants.

Cucumbers

After a day of watering by my son, I went out to check on the garden. When I saw the cucumber plants lying in the dirt, I went to investigate. Finding the vine heavy, I inspected the plant and found a 3-inch cucumber. This fruit sprouted in a day. It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. to see.

We have lots more cucumbers growing on the vines, and the vines began climbing the wires this month.

Lettuce

For our salads this month, we have snipped from our garden. Since the bibb lettuce has a tart taste, we only eat our Romaine lettuce. I do purge our lettuce leaves to keep the plants healthy and growing. Not quite sure what to do with the bibb lettuce.

The spinach we planted never surfaced. So, when my children received a sandwich bag of seeds at a Kidgit’s Event, I planted them in the empty section. We are waiting to see if anything comes up.

Peppers

Our pepper plants have buds and the stalks have strengthened. Just watering and watching our peppers for more growth.

Herbs

Once our herbs began invading other areas of our garden, I cut the extra and am in the process of drying our herbs.

In ending the month, we harvested lots of parsley, basil, and oregano along with 4 strawberries and a cucumber.

After harvesting the overgrown areas, we ended June with a manageable, growing garden.

This garden experiment continues to impress us. In fact, my husband would like to double or triple our garden next year.

Though I am still learning, I love checking, weeding, and harvesting from the garden. If you have posted about your garden, please add your link in the comments. I would love to learn from you. Happy tending!

Question: What are you growing in your garden?

This garden experiment continues to surprise me.

As a green (read: inexperienced) gardener, I missed the second watering a few days in a row. Yikes!

Though my efforts have not been perfect, our garden continues to forgive my mistakes and produce well.

The results by the end of July looked like this:

Strawberries

We picked 20.5 strawberries from our 4 plants. Yeah, they exploded this month. The half was due to a bug or bird getting the other half, but it still counts. 🙂

Tomatoes

The cherry tomatoes took off resulting in 47 red ones and 1 green one that fell off while harvesting the ripe ones – oops! (I really am green. ;-))

Cucumbers

Our two plants produced 5 more cucumbers. I’m amazed at how fast they grow. I will check one evening and discover a little bulb. Then the next morning, the little bulb expanded into a 4-to-6-inch cucumber. Incredible to see.

Lettuce

Both types of lettuce began flowering. Honestly, I’m not sure what that means, but I chopped down the buttercrunch bibb because we don’t eat it – too tart even with salad dressing. The romaine wilted somewhat, so I pruned it back as well. Now we wait to see what the plants will do.

Peppers

Are you ready for this update? We have two green bell peppers growing. Finally! The yellow pepper plant is on its own time table. Just watering and waiting some more.

Onions

Alive and well, our onions have sprouted green shoots again. I will check on their growth in August and report back.

Herbs

Cut, rinsed, and dried parsley, basil, and oregano. These are the herbs I use in making Italian dishes like lasagna, spaghetti, manicotti, and chicken parmesan. Yum! Though not baking much this summer, I will have the herbs ready to make our favorite fall dishes in the coming months.

Our garden has its ups and downs, but I haven’t killed any of the plants yet. In using time wisely, I am learning a new skill, preparing for the fall, and enjoying the process. If you are trying out gardening or are a seasoned expert, then please share your gardening adventures. I welcome your suggestions. Happy tending and harvesting!

Question: What are your favorite herbs for Italian dishes?