My Not-So-Green Thumb

We have a big garden in our back yard and our amazing neighbors usually tend to it and I just get to reap the benefits; this year they were too busy so I am solely responsible for our garden and I am not doing a very good job.  I started lots of plants indoors and was excited when they started to grow; then on a perfect warm day in May (5/11) I started planting! 

Knowing that it was still cooler in the nights I built a greenhouse (pinterest!).  It was working okay and I finally got Ben to help.  I set down our drip line, put down week barrier, mulched, planted the garden, set in the greenhouse and was VERY pleased with myself. But the forces of nature were against me and that night it snowed and snowed, hard. My greenhouse held out for a couple days, with vibrant living plants, and then the snow melted and my plants were all flooded, molded and died! (The greenhouse didn't really make it either- bummer).

Hanging out outside while I build the greenhouse!

 

 Then I started plants inside again, planted them outside and they were eaten by rabbits (sprinkled the garden with cayenne) or bugs (got an organic bug killer).  Then I started plants inside AGAIN, planted them (this time in June) and they died from heat and lack of water. So it is now July and my garden is a sad sad sight to behold.  Other people are already getting bountiful harvest and we still have tiny wilted plants!  Hopefully they will perk up soon and, cross your fingers, I will get something from my garden. 

Not only did the rabbits eat my veggies but they burrowed down and made a nest in the garden. 

Through this all Elizabeth has been a big help.  She helped me plant things in pots and in the garden, she likes to help me water and she keeps me company when I weed.  Other than eating dirt a couple of times, she has been a great gardening companion. 

5/2/2014- She was watering the starts with a Tbs.

 

5/3/2014

 

 

 Although my backyard is in a heap of mess, I have had some small successes in the front.   I had some great perennial success (ha- which had nothing to do with me).  As always I got my beautiful spring tulip and daffodil growth but it was cut short by that horrible snow! I also had my perennial iris come back in full force; it is huge and will probably need to be split soon.  I also got another flower (I don't know the name) that I dug up the summer we moved here and thought it was dead but this year it has come back in full force; it is a beautiful dark purple that almost looks black. The problem with these is that they die out sooner and leave my flower beds looking sad.  (I got some bush like plants that were supposed to grow bigger and fill the emptiness but they haven't.)

 

 

I also planted some pots that grew and looked beautiful, they have since died down a bit due to the heat but I was glad that I had that small success.  Here is hoping the rest of the summer works better!

*Another thing I did outside (not really garden related) is killed all the grass and weeds on our back porch, scraped them all out, cleaned it up and made it more Elizabeth friendly (and it has been great spending time outside). The before picture is our neighbors porch but ours was that bad, or worse. It still looks cluttered but it is kid toys- so I guess that clutter is better!?