Happy Wednesday! We are in full on cozy season here, but I am still trying to get outdoors as much as I can even if it’s just for a walk with my dogs.
A crisp morning where you can truly see all the signs of changing seasons.
Speaking of the outdoors, I am just wrapping my second summer of growing a garden and year two went very differently than year one.
Here’s my post from the start of the season when I had high hopes for this summer.
This year I had a mix of seeds and plants for vegetables. I had plans to harvest pumpkins, squash, strawberries, onions, peas, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers (yes, I know, I had a lot of expectations).
I kept my plants in a mix of soil and pots in different areas. I checked on them every day and watered them consistently and made sure they had lots of sun.
Unfortunately, this year’s harvest was not as plentiful as my first year. I found that the plants that I purchased did better than the seeds.
Halfway through the summer
Some of my seeds did not even produce vegetables, which was a bit disappointing.
The end of the season
I did get some vegetables like a tomato, a cucumber, and some strawberries and they were delicious and so flavorful!
Some of the tomatoes I grew
My cucumber!
More veggies
Once again, it was a fun experience, but a bit frustrating when I didn’t get the results I was hoping for.
Enjoying some of the fruits of my labor
My plan is to try and grow more vegetables next year and I goal is to buy plants instead of seeds.
Some of my fruits
Even more fruits, small, but mighty!
If you are an avid gardener, what advice would you give and did you have a successful harvest?
The last of my harvest
I would love to hear about your experience so I can better prepare for next year.
Happy Wednesday! I hope your days are filled with sunshine, summer snacks, and sunrises or sunsets. Summer is in full swing, I can’t believe we are halfway through July, time needs to slow down. I have been doing my best to savor the summer days as much as I can without rushing through life.
Soaking up summer fun like by mini golfing!
For the second year, I decided to grow a garden. Last summer, I started small with carrots, peas, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. I learned a lot about over and under watering plants, daily plant checks, and most of all, patience.
A perfect salad with all the veggies from last year!
The best part was enjoying the fruits (and veggies) of my labor and sharing them with others. I was satisfied with my experience last year, that I decided to do it again this year, with some changes.
Cucumbers growing.
My tomatoes!
I thoroughly enjoyed the process and I was eager to do it again this year.
I decided to spread out my garden to two different spots, one in the same section, and the other in planters since I decided to add more veggies this year.
For summer 2024, I decided to grow cucumbers, peppers, carrots, onions, peas, strawberries, squash, pumpkins, and tomatoes.
I planted the pumpkins, strawberries, squash and cucumbers in one spot.
Then I planted the carrots, peas, onions, tomatoes, and peppers in the raised beds. I did this method for this year to give more space for the vegetables to grow.
This year I also got a mix of seeds and some plants that were already growing. I decided to do a combination to see how the vegetables would fair. I have noticed that the plants have been growing faster than the seeds for obvious reasons, but I have enjoyed the process of seeing them both grow and mature.
Growing a garden has brought me a sense of peace and connecting with the earth. I always like to start or end my day by checking on and by watering my garden. It’s a few moments of peace before or after a busy day that brings me joy and contentment. I love getting the fresh air daily and I like seeing the hard work pay off, even if it takes a whole season.
I am eager to see how my veggies and fruits do, especially the new ones that I planted this year. I am by no means an expert gardener, but I have enjoyed this new hobby and was happy that I could do it again this summer. Plus, it gives me more time outside, which I will never complain about.
I really enjoyed year one of growing a garden and year two has been off to a great start as well.
Tell me: if you have a green thumb, what’s your advice for planting and growing?
Plus, if you started a new hobby, what have you enjoyed the most about it? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a great week! It’s starting to feel more and more like fall. The leaves are starting to change, it’s getting cooler and it’s almost time to start pulling out legging and long sleeve t-shirts.
Today’s post is a bit of a different spin on the weather. One of my summer goals was to grow a garden. I have always wanted to get my hands dirty and see if I had a green thumb. I love vegetables and planned to challenge myself to see if I could grow my own. My first summer of being a gardener is in the books, so I wanted to share what I learned and a bit about my experience. I am by no means an expert gardener. This was my first year giving it a try and I’m happy with the results, even if it did have some ups and downs. I learned a lot and I will be taking what I learned this year and using it when I garden in the future.
I started the process back in May, with the help of my boyfriend, who has helped grow his fair share of vegetable. I did some research on what plants vegetables to try and grow. Since this was my first year, I decided to not go overboard and start small by planting seeds for tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, carrots and peppers. I got the seeds at our local nursery and went home to plant them.
I found a section of the garden, dug the holes, planted the seeds and covered them with fresh planting soil and gave them some water.
The start of my garden
I like to be creative whenever I can, so I made signs for each plant so I could keep track of what I planted and where it was located.
The signs
Then the tending began. I checked on my garden every day and watered them frequently. It was exciting to see the progress of my vegetables grow through the summer, what started out as seeds, turned into stems, blossoms, leaves and eventually fully grown vegetables.
Just the beginning
The biggest thing I learned through the process of growing a garden this summer was the power of patience and accepting trial and error. It takes a while for things to grow sometimes things don’t always grow according to plan or grow at all.
My garden growing- peas, carrots, and cucumbers.
For example, I started out with a lot of peas, but they quickly died, after researching I think it was due to being overwatered. I also got blossoms on my pepper plants, and they grew a lot too.
Early pepper plants.
While it was frustrating and disappointing, I still had other plants to care for.
My first set of veggies! Peas!
Other vegetables did fairly well. I got a handful of tomatoes, while small, they were tasty, and I was very proud of them.
The fruits of my labor
My tomatoes!
I used them to make a Peach Caprese Salad.
A fresh salad with veggies from the garden
I also got a handful of cucumbers, I really enjoyed seeing them grow from week to week and lastly, I got carrots!
My cucumbers!
I started the summer with the hopes to grow five different vegetables and ended up with three, for my first time growing a garden, I’m pretty proud of successfully growing different vegetables and being able to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
My baby tomatoes
I will definitely be growing a garden again and I want to try my hand at some new vegetables too. I really enjoyed the process of growing vegetables, and my favorite part was having something to show for a hard summer’s work. Next summer, I may change where I grow my plants and may change my watering habits. I have a much better appreciation for fruits and vegetables especially when I see how long it takes to grow the individual vegetables.
Cucumbers growing.
There’s no better feeling than accomplishing your goals and it feels pretty good when they are a success and taste good too.
If you have grown a garden, I want to hear about your experience! What did you learn and what have you grown?
