The Front Yard Farm: June Update

Here is our Front Yard Farm, to date.... and I can't begin to tell you how astonished I am by how well everything is growing! Really, astonished! I'm sure I've mentioned that neither my Mister nor I have very much {ANY} experience with gardening, especially on a bigger scale like this! So you can imagine that there was a wee bit of unspoken nervousness that our investment in building materials + plants might be for naught. Would we be able to invest the time? Would we have the green enough thumbs to make our garden a success? I can't help but wonder if these same thoughts have kept other families from embaking on "Farming Life"... But alas, I stand before you a believer! Embarrassingly enough, I am reminded of that line from that 80's Kevein Costner movie, Field of Dreams. Costner's character is being told to build a baseball field; "if you build it, they will come", a mysterious voice says again + again. Well, that is kind of like our experience with gardening: If you build it, the plants will GROW! Indeed, all of this growth is entirely possible without the use of pesticides or magical green thumbs! Infact, we have done little more than water daily {when it doesn't rain}, deadhead flowers + weed occassionally. In truth, while we are still reading + learning as we go, most of our "work" was done before our garden was even planted; getting advice from friends who are fellow gardening enthusiasts, reading...+ doing some research on ye olde internet on Companion Planting. {This is when you find out which plants grow well next to each other by either enhancing the others growth, flavor and sometimes serving as a repellent for certain insects. For example: Plant Basil near Tomatoes as the Basil repells insects that will eat your tomato plants. Marigolds in your garden, while encouraging bees which help with pollination, are also a repellent; thier pungent smell helping to keep away pests. Who knew!}
Right around now, you are probably thinking, "Geek!" And so what if I am! What an adventure this has been! We have been able to harvest our first 2 raddishes + some swiss chard. I can scarcely wait to see what Mother Nature has in store for our garden as the season rolls foward!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo.