Friday, August 5, 2011

Hard Work Pays Off


Hey everyone!
Hope you're not hungry! So sorry if you are. 
We had a really great dinner a few nights ago where almost all of it came from our vegetable garden. Had I served it with venison, all of it would have been from our yard (green beans were from a friend's garden).

It all started when we decided to cut these loropetalum's down. They grew so fast and had to be trimmed twice a year. Did I say they gave me itchy dermatitis whenever I touched them???


 Mr. Fanatic and I built raised beds. I wasn't sure if veggies would grow here at this point. Oh ye of little faith!


Fast forward to today. In these beds we have 6 tomato plants, peppers, carrots, onions, lettuce and basil.

I planted marigolds on the ends of the beds because I heard they keep bugs away. Haven't seen any : )




purple basil




Oh, except for a bunch of these. 
I mistook this guy on my carrots for a tomato worm and collected more than a dozen & was going to throw them in the trash.

It's a good thing I looked them up on the internet right away, because...

... they turn into these:
Silly me. I immediately put them back on the carrot tops and hope they are ok.


Back to the garden... here's some of the harvest:

In the backyard, I have a little sun where I planted potatoes and one heirloom tomato plant.
So, the harvest went into the frying pan...


And with a little chicken, became dinner! (sorry, no recipe.... I tend to just wing it!) I took this photo after we had eaten...these were just the leftovers!

I've learned in our first year of vegetable gardening and I'm already planning next years garden! Any of you veggie garden pro's out there, feel free to give me advice!

Pam

12 comments:

  1. That looks delicious, Pam. You've done wonders with your garden!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful! Such a great idea to build a raised bed like that!
    We started late on our garden..we have some vegies about ready now. Can't wait!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, I was hungry and now I am starving. Fantastic Pam!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your garden is wonderful and the bounty is fantastic. Dinner looks amazing. Hugs, Marty

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good job! Your little garden is so cute. And marigolds are awesome to keep the bugs away. We plant them in between our rows of tomatoes especially. (Our garden is 3,800 square feet...takes a lot of work!) It's so rewarding to get your first harvest! Hope you enjoy it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. YUM!!!! That all looks so good!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes, I am hungry and that looks so good. I usually wing it, too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As a matter of fact, I am hungry and that looks delicious. Your garden looks great too. Isn't it fun to eat what you grow yourself?

    ReplyDelete
  9. When I saw the caterpillar, I held my breath- oh no she's going to kill it. But then you researched the butterfly. I overplant parsley every year to these cat. can have some and leave some for me.
    Love how your raised garden follows the slope.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That looks good! I always have this crazy desire to plant a garden and then I get wise!!! I kill everything so it wouldn't really be fair to the plants!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a tempting dish it is chicken and veges hmmm I am feeling hungry now... great photos to tempt ...
    Now I am back from my vacations and in blogging world too…
    A little post to share some of my moments of vacation... hope you like to visit and enjoy it...
    http://craftaworld.blogspot.com/
    Love
    Farah

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love your raised beds! It's a nice way to add plantings to your foundation and reap the rewards at harvest.

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment and let me know you stopped by! If you are not on blogger, leave me your email or some other way of getting in touch with you in the comment. That way I can reply to your question or comment.