Front yard vegetable garden: The beginning

In January, I posted (here and here) that I was going to turn my front yard into a vegetable garden. That area gets at least 9 hours of sun each day and I thought it'd be a great spot to plant edibles. The excitement! The designs! The ability to feed my husband and I off the land!

It's not that I've never grown veggies before. I have and have done so for most of my life. But I think the snow and cold this year added a layer of forgetfulness to my noggin that I'm only now starting to shake off.

In March, we borrowed a rototiller and went to town on one side of the front yard. This was the end result:

Which quickly turned to this during the rains in April:

This would be a great home for a pig

My neighbors kept asking what I was up to. They seemed a bit horrified at my mud pit. 

In late April, I threw my original design plans out the window when Neighbor M drew up, in 2 minutes, a new design for me. It included a curve and some anchor bushes (like boxwoods). Well, I managed to get the curve in with some old Belgian blocks we had lying around. I still haven't figured out what I want as the anchor bushes, if I want anything at all. They'll need to come later on as there's something currently planted where they would go (next to the curve).

Sugar snap peas are currently taking up the place where one of the bushes should be (see bullet point at the bottom about a plan). I decided that everything in the vegetable garden would be non-GMO and organic if I could help it. I bought seeds from either Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds or Cubit's. These peas were the first direct sowed seeds to germinate.

Sugar snap pea seedlings

I also direct sowed carrots, turnips, and three varieties of beets. I started them in April and nothing happened. About two weeks after my first sowing, I tried again. Still nothing. It took a conversation with my mother to realize that they're all root vegetables and so it's probably my soil (common sense is not my forte). When it cools down in the fall, I'll amend my soil with some sand and try them again.

Sugar snap peas today

In February/March, I started some seeds indoors. I started Black Cherry tomatoes, Bonny Best tomatoes, Butternut-Waltham squash, and California Wonder peppers. I think I learned a tremendous amount about vegetable seed starting this winter thanks to other garden bloggers and look forward to an even more productive indoor growing season this winter. What I didn't count on with my seedlings was my schedule in May. I was out of town four of the five weekends in last month, including one 10-day stint in Mexico. It was still pretty cold in May and I felt like it was definitely not time to put the tomatoes in the ground. Hardening off did not happen, unless you count hardening off for two days. After those two days, left my seedlings at the mercy of Neighbor M to water while I went south to frolic (aka, read) on the beach. She left them outside. They survived. They're doing well.

Phew!

My tomato patch, pre-stakes. They're flopping over but alive.

I do want to figure out a different way to stake the tomatoes. The cages are ugly and as they're all in my front yard....I'm not a fan. But for now, they're helping the plants grow upright instead of parallel to the ground like the picture above.

Clearly one of the things I didn't take into account was the weeding. Plants take time to grow and in the mean time, weeds sprout up everywhere in barren soil. I'm constantly weeding. Or at least, I should be constantly weeding. The picture below shows some greens (spinach and arugula) in front of the curve and then some peas and weeds behind it. The crabgrass makes my eye twitch every time I walk out the front door.

Butternut-Waltham squash and weeds. The squash plants are on a little bit of a slope so hopefully they'll enjoy growing downhill.

Despite my best intentions to keep everything natural and without GMOs, sometimes one's partner steps in and buys plants you don't necessarily want. To wit: The pepper plants and strawberry plant below.

The California Wonder peppers I grew from seed didn't do well (my fault, I think, as I didn't give them a deep enough container in which to grow roots) so J went and bought some peppers. He buys pepper plants every year and then doesn't eat them. It's a vicious cycle.

Lessons I've learned so far with my front yard vegetable garden:

• Though I often garden without a plan, a plan would be best here. I was wandering around without any real vision about what to plant and where which resulted in some seeds being planted haphazardly. I had a basic plan but could benefit from a more detailed one in the future.
• My intentions may be good, but it's okay if there are some non-organic, GMO-style plants in there my first year (or even my second, third....).
• Don't bite off more than you can chew! Pace yourself. I had the option of tilling the other side of the front yard but didn't because I knew it'd be too much to manage in my first year.
• Figure out a better method of weed control. Cardboard, perhaps?
• It's okay if my front yard perennial beds still haven't been moved from the vegetable garden. Do what you can. In any case, they add interest for now.
• Watering is definitely easier in my front yard than in the community garden. One point for positivity!

In between

This has been a tough year so far. Winter seemed to never end. Even now, the second to last day of May, it's in the low 60s and feels chilly outside. A series of sad events have occurred in my life that have left me...blah. And being away four out of five weekends in May mean that I'm behind in the garden. I look at all of the weeds and keep walking. I write blog posts in my head while running and then don't type them out. I'm just not that into it this year. But I'm trying to be. Fake it 'til you make it, right? In any case, this isn't supposed to be a depressing post or blog, so on to happier things. 

Peony bud - May 14

Peony opening - May 29

I had pictures taken for my May 2014 Bloom Day but it was the day before J and I left for a 10 day vacation, so the post never happened. But above all else, this blog is a place for me to catalog my garden so I wanted to post an in between Bloom Days update. So I wanted to share some then and now pictures.

Baptisia australis - May 14

Baptisia australis - May 29

By the way, I'm 5'8 and this Baptisia australis is at eye level. I didn't realize it was "special" until Neighbor M kept exclaiming about its height. The usual websites list it as growing to 3-4'. I guess mine likes its spot very much.

Allium - May 14

Allium - May 29

Allium christophii - May 14

Allium christophii - May 29

I bought some Allium christophii bulbs from White Flower Farm (and then my big box store had some, too) last fall after seeing them all over garden blogs. I'm glad I was able to see their show when I returned from vacation.

Allium christophii with Amsonia 'Blue Ice'

Assorted pictures from May 14:

Creeping phlox

The azalea I thought I lost during the winter

Kerria japonica

Euphorbia polychroma 'Bonfire' (Button Spurge)

Wide view of the back yard - from the back patio

Wide view of the back yard - from the back fence

Assorted pictures from May 29:

   

My newest Peony, 'Bowl of Beauty'

 

Peony 'Karl Rosenfeld' with Baptisia australis

'Twilite Prairieblues'

Astilbe in the shade of 'Twilite Prairieblues'

Lady's mantle from my mom

Baptisia australis 'Solar Flare Prairieblues'

Iris

Allium christophii, Baptisia australis, and spiderwort

Centaurea montana 'Amethyst in Snow'

 

Wide view of the back yard - from the back fence

Wide view of the back yard - from the back patio

And there you have it. After a long winter, plants are growing again with vigor. There's a lot to see and be thankful for. What's new in your garden?

Surprises around every corner

Bulbs blooming, peonies growing, trees budding. There is so much going on that sometimes the small details are lost in all of spring's glory. But those small surprises are just as enjoyable - moreso, even, as you don't alway see them at first glance. They're like a secret between you and the garden. Here are a few of mine.

Tulip fringed with purple reveals a blue and white center.

Daffodil from my unlabeled bag of 50 I planted in the fall. This sweet one is about the size of two quarters.

Tulip 'White Emperor' has a touch of green on its petals.

Bi-colored daffodil. I've never seen anything like it.

I know it was a long winter, but I'm a little scared that I have no recollection of this pink
 creeping phlox (front of photo) on my front wall. Season-induced memory loss
 makes for great surprises.

Have you discovered any surprises in your garden?

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2014

I'm back, baby.

After a whole lot of nothing to say during the winter that destroyed my soul, spring is here. Let me say that one more time, because there's a part of me that still doesn't believe it. Spring. Is. Here. I won't comment on the fact that t was 82* on Sunday, and we're having a freeze warning tonight. Whatever, Mother Nature.

One of the reasons I started a blog was to see how my garden looked from year to year. In my April 2013 bloom day post, I mentioned that things were coming up later than usual. This year, everything is coming up even later than last year. There's not much to report going on here in this city garden except bulbs. Thank goodness I went on a bulb-buying binge in the fall.

Let's get to pretty things now, shall we?

In the front, my $20-for-50-daffodil-bulbs purchase last fall paid off. This is just one clump that I planted.

Creeping phlox just starting to flower. It was already in full bloom at this time last year.

On the side, I finally trimmed the forsythia. I mean, I hacked the crap out of it, not that you can tell.  I know, you're not supposed to do it until after it flowers but if I'd waited, the 25 little baby forsythias I removed would still be there and my neighbor's car would continue to be scratched.

The allée is looking a little tacky with the brightly colored pink and blue hyacinth that were an impulse buy last fall. But boy does it smell good when you walk through.

Early tulips are blooming. In the fall, I finally made sure to get a variety of early and middle blooming bulbs.

There's not much to report in the back except a) there's no snow, and b) there are green leaves popping up here and there, so it's a win-win in my book.

My helleborus x hybridus 'Snow Bunting' bloomed! Sure, the flowers are all facing the fence so I have to do a weird yoga pose to see them, but it bloomed! Note to self: Plant more hellebores here for next year.

That wraps up my bloom day for this month. Spring has finally, finally arrived and I can't wait to see what continues to pop up in my garden. Thanks to May Dreams for hosting.

Practical ideas from the Philadelphia Flower Show

I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show yesterday with Neighbor M. I haven't been in a couple of years but I had nothing else to do (spring break!) and thought it might be nice to see some flowers during this never-ending winter.

It's the only flower show I've ever been to so I'm not sure if my issues are with it or with flower shows in general. I've avoided it in past years because I always found it ostentatious with few practical ideas, super crowded, and really, there are only so many rhododendrons one can see. This year's theme was ARTiculture and many of the displays were interpretations of a particular painting or of the works of a particular artist. So, a lot of it was really out there. (And then, of course, there are those displays that don't even pretend to stick to the theme and do whatever they want.) Hellebores were apparently this year's rhodies, which was a sort of pleasant surprise.

As photos and show reviews are ubiquitous across the interwebs,  I'm not going to add yet another review of the show or of its grand displays. Instead, I made a conscious effort to seek out practical ideas that would inspire me in my own garden and will share those here.

Seating areas

I'm not a fan of my seating area or outdoor dining table in the back yard. Neither are comfortable and they stick out too much, and both are too big for my small space. I saw some ideas at the Flower Show that inspired me, though I'd certainly need to bring them down to scale.

In these first two photos, I liked the plantings behind the chairs (try to ignore the furniture itself. I'm not going for bright red!). I can dig out a foot or a foot and a half from the fence where the current outdoor table rests and then get a smaller table. Alternatively, I can group some pots behind the dining table and chairs.

There were also some nice bench ideas. One was on top of a wall (that I keep building in my dreams). The other was between two flower boxes.

And finally, there was a really great vignette of a dining table under a pergola. I've thought of putting up a pergola over my back patio and then growing vines up and over it. There's a lot going on in the picture as far as table settings, orchids, and hanging lights, but you get the idea.

Veggies and herbs

The next few pictures show some creative ways to grow veggies and herbs. I don't know that I'm going to run out and get a giant barrel in which to plant herbs (actually, I know I'm not going to) but it was nice to see the lushness of them all. I particularly like the basket of herbs.

Assorted design ideas

This final set of pictures has some random things I liked, from hardscaping to vertical planting.

Flower petal-inspired hardscaping:

Small flower beds in between a patio and some Belgian block:

A lush screen of evergreens (I'll pass on the Monet-inspired bridge):

A well-designed wall of vertical plantings:

I'd say this year's Philadelphia Flower Show was a success as far as practical inspiration goes. I can look back on these pictures and try to incorporate some of the ideas in my own tiny city garden. What about you? 'Tis the season for flower shows - do you attend any? Do you come away with any inspiration?