Our Garden: Part 2

When we planted our garden several weeks ago, I wrote this blog post about it  http://thehappyhomeschoolmom.blogspot.com/2013/05/our-garden.html.  I wanted to do an update and let you know how our first attempt at a garden has been going. I really was not too hopeful that anything would grow since I am not the best at growing things, but I have been pleasantly surprised!

Our pinto beans grew well.  A good friend of mine borrowed Chelsea for a day and taught her how to can the beans that we picked.  We ended up with one pint jar.  Not too bad for a few seeds started in a container garden!  The children had a good time picking them and shelling them.

Our squash has been growing really well!  I have a huge pile of squash on the counter right now.  So far we have only made some zucchini bread from it, but Chelsea wants to try to make pickles and we found a few other recipes that we want to try.

Our tomatoes have also grown really well!  We have picked many tomatoes, and Chelsea, Alex, Lily, and Emmie made some salsa the other day.  We have also enjoyed plenty of fresh tomatoes in our salads on on our sandwiches.

Our eggplant is growing well.  Eggplant attracts a lot of bugs, so I do have to spray it quite often to prevent it from being devoured.

The watermelon is also growing quite well.  We have several watermelons growing out there and more vines that have started to flower.

We had some corn grow, but not very much.  Alex is still hoping he will get to eat some of it very soon.

 The bees are really enjoying the sunflowers!

They have gotten really tall!!

The butterflies are quite happy with the Lantanas!


The pumpkins, peppers, and cantaloupe did not grow at all.  I think next year we will need to start some of those seeds inside in containers and then transplant them outside.


We really have enjoyed having a garden.  I like working out there in it (in the early mornings and evenings anyway!)  The children love checking it everyday and watching it grow.  They are very excited when they get to pick things, and they even have helped with the watering and the weeding.  We have been blessed that this summer hasn't been as dry as the last few and we have gotten quite a bit of rain.  We have had some pretty good storms though, and several of our plants were uproooted after one, but Chelsea and I managed to go out and get them replanted and they continued to grow.  Next year, when the children are planting we will have to make sure that they spread the plants out a little more.  But they grew very well even though they were crowded!