Up to now

Our Corn is growing so well!!

Our Green Beans seemingly sprouted over night!

Our Onions are also growing fantastically!

Well, Diana and I are getting to the finish line! We are going to push to have the whole garden planted no later than Wednesday. I have been gone visiting my parents all weekend so we lost a few days and, of course, there is always the weather that we have to work around! It is looking like the tomatoes are not going to make it so, today I went and bought some at a local home and garden center. I am thinking that starting plants indoors is NOT my strong point. Next time I do this, I may be BUYING the plants instead! :) Besides, my cats think they are fun to nibble on which makes me angry!
Last Wednesday, I had a playgroup here, at my house. Of course that brings MORE kids into the mix. We tried to keep them out of the garden but, we did have a few veggie casualties... Thankfully it was only a little bit of our lettuce!

Here is a list of everything that we have planted up to today:

CORN- planted May 21
CABBAGE- planted May 22
LETTUCE- Planted May 26
CARROTS- planted May 26
PEAS- planted June 2
POTATOES- planted June 2
ONIONS- planted June 2
PEAS- planted June 5
RADISHES- planted June 5
SUMMER SQUASH- planted June 5
ZUCCHINI- planted June
GREEN BEANS- planted June 8
MELON- planted June 10
WATERMELON- planted June 10
TOMATOES -planted June 10

Getting Close!

I think we're finally getting close to having the entire garden planted!

Yesterday, Sarah and I weeded out grass and roots that went all the way to China! We started around 1:45 (when all the kids were down for their nap). One by one the kids woke up, but we kept working (and chasing them out of the garden) and worked until 5:45!! PHEW!!

In the end we planted tomatoes, watermelon and cantaloupe, all things we had started indoors. They're all cute little baby plants, and I'm sure they are much happier in the ground now.

When I went out to look this evening I could see a lot more little sprouts coming up! Cute little baby peas, onions, salad greens, cabbage, radishes, green beans and perhaps (it could just be weeds LOL!) summer squash! :-)

Hey if your reading our blog, could you let us know? We'd love to know! :-)

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

OUR BEAUTIFUL CORN SPROUTS

Diana and I spent several hours in the garden today- half of which was with kids! All of them were slathered up with Sun Screen and ready for fun in the June sun! We had enough toys for them to play with that they generally stayed away from our planted seeds but I love the look on Luke and Moriah's faces when we tell them to get off the garden. They just stop and stare at you like, "What?!" And Diana laughed when I actually said to my son, "Don't eat dirt- it's not food!" which was fine because I laughed when Eli smiled at us and we saw a huge dirt chunk stuck in his front teeth...apparently, dirt is a food group.

SO, here is a list of everything that we have planted up to today:

CORN- planted May 21
CABBAGE- planted May 22
LETTUCE- Planted May 26
CARROTS- planted May 26
PEAS- planted June 2
POTATOES- planted June 2
ONIONS- planted June 2
PEAS- planted June 5
RADISHES- planted June 5
SUMMER SQUASH- planted June 5

and much more to come!!!!!!

WEEDS!

Today's big project....YANK OUT THOSE WEEDS! I think we have just over half of the garden planted now (Sarah will give an update on what and when we planted when she gets a few minutes). The half that is not planted yet has WEEDS! Tons and tons of them! UGH! What a big pain in the butt! So out we'll go today to yank them out! Wish us luck! The kids should enjoy it though and since we'll be on the not planted side, it won't be ridiculously hard to keep them off the planted side. :-) Oh how I do love those baby footprints in the dirt though!

~Diana

Our Garden Plot

So, here are a few pictures of the garden before anything was planted. Big right?! Well, it's not- according to people around here! My (Sarah's) husband (Brian) said that he thought it could be BIGGER!

Sarah's Side of the Story

First let me tell you- I have never done any gardening. The first year I was married, I had a container with a tomato plant but that was the extent of the veggie gardening I had ever done.  I have memories of picking green beans- lots of green beans- with my grandmother when I was a little girl. I always enjoyed it and loved the taste of a freshly picked  bean. I think that has always stuck with me. I only have good memories of gardens so I thought that maybe I would try my own now that I have a family (and while I am not pregnant or have a newborn)!

I was so glad when Diana and I decided to have a garden together. Well, it was sorta decided FOR us but, I think all for the best! Everything was sort of intimidating at first so it was nice to have someone in the same boat along for the ride as well! Diana and I work well together and have known each other for about 12 years and good friends for about 10 years so that makes things easy! It's not hard to go out gardening and work hard in the sun when your friend is doing it with you!

Then we add in three toddlers! We are stay-at-home-moms and have little ones to take care of along with the garden. That adds a whole new element to gardening... how do you keep a one year old out of the cabbage patch? how do you tell a three year old that they can't help plant peas? Join us on our adventure... and fun!

Diana's side of the story

Reposted from my personal blog.

This year I was super excited about starting my first garden. I think I started dreaming about it last August when it started to turn cold up here in the North Country. I'd had some rather unsuccessful container gardens my first two years of marriage. I seem to grow flowers beautifully, but my veggies never produced much. The first year I blamed that on the yucky city air, and the second on the gorgeous new born. :-)

So this year, our first year in a house, instead of a cramped apartment, and the first year in the actual country I had BIG plans. BIG plans that amounted to a list of stuff I wanted to grow, advice from my awesomely amazing 86 year old grandma, and half flowers, half veggies and more ideas than I could ever imagine having time for. Caring for a home and these two adorable, rambunctious toddlers (I'm not at all partial to them, if you can't tell) is so much work, I could just imagine getting frustrated and totally in over my head.

So...I settled for a few pots out front, a wildflower bed out back, a sunflower patch to the side of the house (this has yet to be seen if it happens) and a veggie garden somewhere. Oh yes...somewhere. I needed to figure out where though. Our back yard is pure rock. To the right of the house is our driveway and a cow pasture. Not planting in the front yard because its too close to the road and would just plain look tacky...so to the left of the house it is! There was only one problem...the hill. Its not a huge hill or anything, but would definitely make for some challenges, and since the only part of flat ground we have seems forever away from the house...WHERE WOULD THE GARDEN GO?! I figured maybe I'd just have to forgo my veggie garden plans for the year and do more trips to the farmers' market. Maybe that just sounds easier anyway, because lets face it! I have two toddlers to care for!

My friend of over ten years, Sarah, lives next door. Its a wonderful set up really. We share one VERY large yard between our houses. Anyway...Sarah decided to give gardening a try this year as well. I was still undecided when John knocked on our door that day. John is the farmer, with whom we rent from. He had come to plow our gardens, but he had a plan. Why not do one big garden together instead of separate ones. We both agreed, having never spoken of it together. :-) And off he went to plow our garden in Sarah's side of the yard.

He kept plowing and plowing! WOW. That is one very large garden! Did we really need something that big? Will we ever be able to fill it with my two babes and Sarah's one? Neither of us has ever REALLY gardened alone before...we've read books, magazines, websites...but to actually plant something that large?

Well...now we're in the middle of planting and have decided that we can definitely fill that great big huge garden! :-) I think I can speak for both of us when I say this: we are really having fun at it too! :-)

Want to follow our gardening extravaganza? Visit our new blog: Amateurs Gardening with Toddlers in Tow. :-)