In one month…one measly month…the garden went from THIS (on May 27th) to THIS (June 27th)

Can you say JUNG-LE? AM-A-ZON? Wow! Though, let me admit that here in northwest Indiana, we have had the perfect growing season – rain, sun, rain, sun – Mother Nature has made gardening rather easy and time efficient for us this year.

Even the jalapenos have decided to finally rear their tiny green heads. We were getting impatient a little concerned about them. Even though the plants were covered in buds, peppers were yet to be seen…until now! We were told that they take a bit longer to start forming, but once they do, look out!

Arrribbaa! Yip yip yip!

It’s salsa time.

And poppers time. And pickled peppers time. And beef roast time. And. And. Anddd…burnt fingers and taste buds time. Oh, which leads me to warn you: Whenever working with hot peppers, be sure to wear plastic or rubber gloves (baggies over your hands at the least.) If they are super hot, you may want to wear eye protection (for fear of flinging pepper parts or accidentally rubbing your eyes with contaminated fingers.) If you happen to be cooking with them, or boiling them…just open the windows and leave the kitchen all together…because you will start coughing.

Trust me. Really. Learn from my mistakes.

*squeeeee* See that? Even our very first tomato is beginning.to.turn.RED. Tomatoes can now be found on every plant…waiting…waiting…

Gardening is a REAL test of patience.

And, of course, the lovely containers. Onions are growing nicely and the greens obviously need a hair cut. We have already been clipping and making salads from the little yummies. We just re-seed as we consume. Hint: a salad spinner comes in REAL handy with the delicate leaves. Otherwise, they tend to just fold up when you rinse them. Spinners are $10 or less…and can easily be found at yard sales for barely anything.

Isn’t this pot amazing? Okay…so it’s not edible…but it ‘shore is purty. Which brings me to the fact, that we love Miracle Grow. The Mr. waters all of the blooming plants with Bloom Buster and all of the veggie plants with Tomato & Vegetable blend – every Sunday. If you happen to use any sort of fertilizer, be sure it is the right type. Putting regular Miracle Grow on your blooming plants, will only help it to become more green, not necessarily filled with flowers.

So…how is all of this helping us?

• For one, it gives us sanity. How nice to walk out in the mornings, when the town is quiet, to give a little care to something living, that will end up giving us so much.
• I haven’t had to buy lettuce for a few weeks. Now we won’t be buying peppers and tomatoes will soon follow. When the abundance arrives, we will start canning. Throughout the winter, we’ll be able to pop open a jar and enjoy the fruits of our labor the whole season!
• I have this strange belief…call me crazy…that when you freshly pick produce it still thinks it is “alive.” If you eat it right away…it just tastes different.
  

  Yummy. Better. Fresh.

Alive.

Do you agree with me?

Simple. Grow it yourself!

I’m serious! It doesn’t take much room and isn’t difficult at all. If you think you need a farm, 100 acres, a tractor and a few cows in order to have a garden, think again.

See, we have this small spot in our backyard. For the past few years, it has been more of a decorative type space…well…the weeds started taking over a bit so I’m not sure it was REALLY decorative anymore, but anyway. This year, we decided it needed to be used in a more practical, economical way. We should have done this WAY before now, but for the past four summers, I have managed to hurt myself in some shape or form (remember the cankle?) This season, I am taking NO chances. With a goal in mind, we pulled ivy, removed pine trees and even dug out an old, stubborn tree stump that was right in the middle of it all (we didn’t have the heart to take out the rose bush or the lilies – though we will transplant those this fall.)

Next, we turned in a few bags of organic composted manure and we were ready to plant (this is only about $2 per bag.) Oh how nice is the dirt! So dark black and rich – filled with earthworms – what a good sign! (here in the Midwest, we can talk dirt all day long – about how you can “Throw your hat down and grow it!”)

We ended up planting: 2 green peppers, 1 hot banana pepper, 2 jalapenos, 1 Early Girl tomato, 1 Better Boy tomato, 1 cherry tomato, 2 yellow pear tomatoes and 1 German Queen (which are tomatoes that grow bigger than baseballs.) Around the edges are 17 Buttercrunch lettuce plants and there in a pot stands the Basil. When the planting was finished, we did cover the area with a chunky mulch to help in reducing the weeds and for retaining moisture.

Finally, here it is. I took these pictures on May 27th.

Nineteen days later, on June 15th, I took this picture. Can you believe the difference? Talk about short term goal satisfaction, holy cow! It’s like a jungle out there.

The hot banana peppers have gone from this…

To THIS!

And…I started counting the buds and there are over 30 of them on this plant alone! One plant…we may end up with over 50 peppers by the time it’s done.

Even with the small area of land we have here in town, I know others have even less. Whether you live in a house, duplex or apartment, you most likely have an area to keep plant containers, right?

After our garden was planted and we stood and stared at it for a bit (like it was going to grow right before our eyes), we decided we needed something else to mess with. So, we pulled out some decorative containers and planted some onion and mesculin leaf lettuce seeds (which is just a mix of tender greens.) Around the corner, I have a huge container FULL of chives. I *heart* them. I started that container about 6 or 7 years ago. I never have to do anything to it except harvest the herb. It just keeps coming back on it’s own every year. Plants that require no attention, how I love thee.

You can also plant peppers or tomatoes in the containers as well. Just make sure the container is big enough to support the plant as it grows, start with good dirt and keep it watered.

Even with only a few plants in our garden, my little family of three is going to have WAY more produce than we can ever eat. We plan on making salsa and canning peppers and tomatoes to use over the winter. Also, we find so much joy in being able to give to other people: family, friends or food programs!

How is keeping a garden a frugal effort? Yes, starting this garden cost us somewhere in the range of $100, but we will greatly profit in produce. Expense could have been lowered by buying smaller plants or starting them from seed, but we chose to purchase bigger plants that were marked down on clearance. Even with paying $3.98 for a pepper plant, each pepper is only costing around seven cents.

Next year, our expenses should be even lower. Reasons?

• We will already have the tomato cages from this year.
• We are starting a compost pile with our yard and produce scraps – will eliminate the need for manure. (or, if you know someone with a farm, ask them for some old, composted horse or cow doo-doo.)
• Now that our garden area is prepared, we can plant “on time”, eliminating the need to buy more established plants.

So, have you decided to grow veggies of your own now? Grab some seeds and dirt…and get planting!

OH! And don’t forget about the little ones – did you know that when children take part in growing their own food, they are more apt to eat healthy vegetables? Get yours involved today!

**Something interesting…as we removed the ivy from the garden area, we found this mortared into the stonework…what’s it’s story?**

Also linked to Coupon Teacher’s Thrifty Thursday.