The Vegetable Garden

It is late May and I am happy to report that the vegetable garden has been planted! This year I took out the three quadrants I usually have for cucumber, zucchini and pumpkin and I have added instead purple potato, red onion and white onion rows. Also new to the vegetable garden this year are a variety tomatoes; a lot of them heirloom. This year for tomatoes I planted "Sunsugar", which is a very sweet cherry tomato that is orange in color. I also planted heirlooms called: Black Krim, Striped German, and Italian. Other tomato varieties in the garden this year are: Belgium Giant tomato and Champion II tomato. Next to the tomato rows are 6 "Black Beauty" eggplants. These are traditional in shape and in color. I also planted four snap peas, 2 green bean plants, 4 red cabbage, 3 tomatillo, 3 jalapeño, 1 giant rhubarb, 1 row of red onions, 1 row of white onions and 1 row of purple potatoes. I am looking forward to seeing the vegetable varieties that I planted grow and produce. In the last week we have gotten several inches of rain and the onions, as well as, the purple potatoes are starting to come up! Here are some pictures of the garden and what is growing in it this year.

Here is a picture of the whole vegetable garden.

Here is my triumphant onion row after the rain!

The two happy tomato rows are doing well and happy to be in the sunshine after a big day of rain storms.

Here is my new fun surprise to this year's garden...purple potatoes! How cute are they!?!?

And lastly, the best part of the garden, is my little helper, José. Here he is pictured in the sunflower row next to some sprouting sunflowers.

Another fun addition to the garden I added this year is Frog Pond!!! Frog Pond is something I came up with after doing a little internet research. Every year neighbors and parents always say that I should weed the perimeter of my garden more because it will look more tidy. I never do. Each year I leave a bit of weeds by the edge of my garden and each year people ask me, why!? This year I finally have an answer for them. Not only do the weeds and tall grasses around the perimeter of my garden keep the bunnies from climbing under the fence, but these green plants also provide a safe haven for little critters like frogs. How great is that?! Last year is when I noticed frogs in the garden. I looked up online that frogs are good for vegetable gardens because they eat the slugs that eat the vegetable plants. So, with that said, this year I installed Frog Pond. Frog pond is made out of two rectangular terra cotta pots made in Honduras. I dug holes in the ground and placed the two pots in the holes. Next, I filled the pots with water and added the best part...a frog pond sign. Ha! Here is what it looks like. I hope many frogs visit my garden this summer. They are so cute...and helpful!

Also growing in the garden this year are some potted herbs. The herbs I planted for the garden are tarragon, mint, lemongrass, lavender, and rosemary.

Mint pictured here.

Tarragon in the big garden (aka the vegetable garden).

Lastly, I have an old well that sits out back that has been filled with dirt to become the herb garden. I like it because it is a little different and gives planting herbs some character. This year I planted 2 oregano, 2 sage, 2 thyme, 2 parsley and 1 chive herb plants in the "well" herb garden. I would post a picture, but the uploading has become snail slow...more later.

My green thumb is developing here in western Wisconsin!!! I can't wait to see how everything grows in the next several months. I will keep you posted here on my blog. Feel free to send me messages and photos about your gardens. What fun plants are you planting? Are you vegetable gardening this year too? Keep me posted as well. All the best, have a great day, and thank you for reading my post.