Garden Update

I looked at the blog the other day & realized that it was time to post a garden update.  I posted pictures on May 15th, one month after I planted things.  It's almost June 15th & you just won't believe how big things have gotten!
(Make sure you look at the last post to see the difference just a few weeks can make!)

The plants closest to the front of this picture (with the enormous leaves) are okra plants.  Can you believe we planted those from tiny little okra seeds?

What looks like a bush on the right side of this picture is actually our jalapeno pepper plants. Oh my goodness, we've picked a ton of them and they are HOT this year.  Tonight I made some bacon-cream-cheese-stuffed-peppers and they are delicious but they certainly light a fire in your mouth...but I still can't stop eating them!  Sorry I don't have a picture of the cooked peppers, but they didn't last very long.
The plant in the middle is our Early Girl Tomato & the one to the left of her is our Better Boy Tomato.

Speaking of tomatoes...I went to Dallas for the weekend and look what I came home to! Shane found this little guy in the garden while I was away. Isn't she a beauty? I haven't tasted it yet-I just hate to-but I think I'll try it tomorrow night. I'll let you know how that goes.

I'm anxiously waiting for these guys to start ripening, as well.

We've picked three small green bell peppers and there are a few more that are getting close to ready.

Our carrots are still small little guys, but they are growing.

Take a look at this lonely pepper.  Well, it just looks lonely, there are about 1,000 more on the plants! (Too bad they aren't tomatoes!)

And last but not least, here's a picture of just some of the things we've already harvested: cucumbers (both regular & pickling), a few jalapenos and I'm very excited about that okra-I can't wait to pick some more.

If you are anywhere near Tulsa, I'm sure we have plenty to share (well, at least plenty of jalapenos!), so stop by and visit.

Gardening

We planted the garden several weeks ago so I thought it was time I posted an update.  First we've got some pics of the whole garden.  We must have had a storm last night because all the peppers plants were leaning over this morning.  We had to stake them upright again-that's what the white ribbon are.

Minnie is checking things out near the garden.

The plants on the left front are okra...the tiny guys on the right are carrots; taller guys in the back are cucumbers and peppers.

Check out the huge cucumber we've got! Actually, we've got more than one...but I'm going to give it another day or two on the vine.

Look at these tiny little okras...aren't they the cutest ever?

Can you see all of the tiny jalapeno peppers growing? We're going to have a gazillion of them!  Shane picked about half a dozen today.

Can you find our largest bell pepper in this picture?

...and look at all of these tiny little bell peppers. They are super cute!

Currently we've got 6 tomatoes! Three Early Girls & three Better Boys. (Thanks for all the advice, Uncle Benny!)

Lastly, it looks like the strawberries and blueberries are going to survive the neighborhood bunny-yay!

I'm sure we'll have plenty of veggies to share with everyone!

The Happiest Bunny on the Block

Apparently the Happiest Bunny on the Block likes the tastes of fresh spring hostas...

Either the dark green ones aren't as good, or our little garden guy bops her on the head with his shovel whenever she gets close...she' left the nibbling on these hostas to the slugs.

It's a good thing she's a cute little rascal...

Most of the time she stays close to her house.  We usually call her house "the woodpile."

I'm calling her a "she" because she's a little portly & we suspect she's nesting in the safety of her new home.

 But she sure is causing a lot of trouble around here!  Remember the lovely job Shane did planting the blueberries & strawberries?

Apparently, they were very, very good strawberries and blueberries!

That ornery thing gobbled up all the fruit and all the leaves on the strawberry plants...

And virtually the same on the blueberry bushes!

In a last-ditch effort to save the poor little plants, we took a trip to Lowe's.  After we found some supplies, Shane whipped up this little fence (with a little help from me)...

We planted a few more strawberry plants so they can be our "test" to see if she can get through the fence or not.

I'm pretty sure he would have preferred it if I had let him turn her into bunny soup!

At least she doesn't eat roses.

Or at least she hasn't eaten them yet. Without access to the berry plants, who knows where she'll turn for her next meal!

Gardening

Spring is here & we are loving working in our gardens. Well, at least I am.  Shane has been hard at work, but I'm not sure that he loves it...

This is what our vegetable garden looked like last summer.  It didn't look much different at the end of the season...our yard is mostly clay, which apparently plants don't enjoy.

Shane decided we had two options.  1) Dig out several feet of clay with a shovel and fill the hole with soil, or 2) Build a raised bed and fill it with soil.  Easy decision- he got to work using his new miter saw (thanks Nanette & John).

You don't want to know how much dirt it took to fill that garden.  Rest assured that was more than you see pictured.  Thankfully, after all of this was carried to the back of the yard one bag at a time our neighbor had pity on us and brought over a wheelbarrow.

Here's the final product:

We've already planted some yummy veggies...eating & pickling cucumbers, green & red bell peppers, okra, jalapenos & carrots.  Uncle Benny shared his tomato growing wisdom with me and as soon as it's warm enough I'll plant tomatoes.  I'm sure we'll have enough vine ripe red beauties to share with everyone we know.

The electrical box in our back yard has been an eyesore since we moved in. 

Also an eyesore, these red tipped photinias were way too tall for the front of this bed.

But we took care of two birds with one stone & fixed both problems.

Two rose bushes from our front bed were failing to thrive (apparently roses love the sun), so once the photinias were moved, we transplanted the roses to the back bed.

The roses have filled out so much since we moved them, here's a close-up.  Two many buds to count!

I love having a bed full of pink roses right outside our dining room windows.

Shane also made another bed for beside the electrical box.

Then he planted strawberries and blueberry bushes.

In the front beds I've planted several flowering plants: begonias, double-impatients, fuschias, columbine and caladiums.

The large leaves on the sides of this bed are what's left of my tulips.

We have the cutest little brown bunny living under our woodpile on the side of the house. We've seen him several times but I haven't gotten a picture yet.  He must have seen these little bunnies from my mom and decided that he was welcome at our house.

We do love bunnies around here...but he might soon find himself evicted.  I'm thrilled that all six of my hostas have come back this year, but not as thrilled as our bunny friend, who seems to think they aren't only pretty, but tasty, too!

Wrascally Wabbit!