It’s crazy how fast the summer gets away from us.  We have been plugging away at projects, inside and out, hosting get-togethers and family weekends, celebrating the Fourth of July in “Fourth of July City” (Independence Day is sort of a big deal, here in our little town!  )  I still get to help with the Youth Group on Wednesday nights, because as Pastor Dan says, “Jesus doesn’t take summer break!”  and I’m busy helping our little 4-H club create their projects for the upcoming county fair.  Those four girls are sewing their hearts out and my sewing machine is humming and happy.  And then there are the world’s greatest grandbabies, and dishes and laundry and plans for the upcoming homeschool year…did I file my paperwork, yet?  hmmm…..  So, needless to say, blogging has been squeezed in all the spaces around the rest of life and I have tons of pictures taken and blog posts “cooking” in my head.  I just need to get them all organized and typed up for you.  Have you had a wonderful, crazy, hectic summer, too?  You’ll have to tell me about it!

In very early spring, a few dots of color had started to pop up in our backyard "garden" area. The previous owner had used this as a vegetable garden and my plan is to do the same.

We discovered that this area is home to an old non-functioning well that once ran the underground sprinklers. See the PVC pipe in the background? This well-cap area seemed to be covered with flowers and I was completely happy with that. There was also a wonderful patch of rhubarb getting started in the background. I was definitely excited about that! I thought I would just build my vegetable garden around the small well-cap area, but I wasn't really prepared for how much that area would change and how it looked only 30 days later.

I want to update you on my garden progress, today.  The last time we talked about everything we are doing in Our Backyard Makeover, I had completed building the fabulous Double Bed Raised-Bed Garden from Greenland Gardener.  And if you haven’t entered the giveaway they are sponsoring here at Busy-at-Home, so you can win your own Double Bed Raised-Bed Garden, be sure to pop over to my giveaway post and enter.  So, on with the update.  I can’t really show you where I’m at, until I show you where I’ve been.  As spring progressed, my “garden area” became somewhat more overwhelming.  The plethora of plant life coming up was scattered, with no rhyme or reason, and it was so terribly overgrown, I considered giving up before I had even started.  But armed with garden gloves, a spade, our tiller and a kind-hearted husband, I dove in to conquer and tame the jungle that was threatening to take over the backyard.

Less than 30 days later, the well-cap area (with the PVC) looked like this (no pipe in sight). It is still difficult to identify exactly what plants are there -- which are flowers, which are supposed to be there and which are just intruding. See the rhubarb trying to peek out in the back, right-hand corner? I love the clematis vines, but am anxious to try and tame all the unruly beasts in front of that trellis.

The same well-cap area from another angle. See why I am overwhelmed?

So, we dug in to clear the area and get it ready for a vegetable garden.  This took three passes of digging, weeding and tilling over a period of about two weeks, but we finally did make a little headway.  The difficult part has been that even after an area has been cleaned, perennial plants that had been previously planted and were not ready to sprout and blossom, yet, suddenly burst into our cleaned areas.  It’s amazing how much was planted in there!  We also had dill and volunteer tomato plants coming up all over the place.  Even though I’m not sure what variety the tomato plants are, I saved the larger ones, since my lovely heirloom tomato plants got a little toasted around the edges, sitting on my deck waiting for the garden to be ready.  I saved some dill, too.  Man it smells so good!

This is one of the volunteer tomato plants we found scattered amongst our overgrown jungle carnage. -- lol

Dill was scattered throughout the area with reckless abandon. A somewhat happy surprise.

This "weedy" looking flower is everywhere. It seems to take over entire areas. I'm not sure what it is, but I don't care for it and it's all coming out!

When I dug in my three blueberry bushes, early this spring, this ground was bare dirt. As you can see, I have work to do, now, to clear the area, so the blueberries can thrive, or at least be seen.

This little pine tree will be coming out, too. I'm not a fan of pine trees to begin with and this one is particularly "in the way". It is also showing signs of the same disease that killed the pines across the fence in our neighbor's yard. The three blueberry bushes, I planted, are growing along a ten-foot span, just down the fence from it. The first one is just barely visible in the lower left-hand corner of this picture. (I think that concrete pad, behind the tree, will be an ideal spot for a compost tumbler. What do you think?

In between “cleaning” sessions, I built my raised bed garden box.  After the garden box was complete, my hardworking hubby made a final pass through our backyard garden and flowerbed areas with the tiller.  We had previously dug up, and moved, some of the flowers that had been growing there and I have learned a lot about myself and my “gardening philosophy” in the process of putting this all together.  It’s been great fun watching as new things have popped up in the beds, here at our new home, to see what was here and all the color we have.  But, I also learned that though I wouldn’t have expected it, I am a slightly more organized and “ducks in a row” kind of gardener.  I don’t have to have meticulous, straight rows all in one pattern, but a carefree perennial and wildflower garden, completely mixed into, and often hiding my vegetable garden is not my style either.  A very sturdy and invasive ground cover had been planted EVERYWHERE and was threatening to choke and crowd out every other new plant.  So there has been a large amount of adjustment, moving and just plain “tilling under” going on, along with the ooohs and aaahs over all the plants I DO want to keep.

Among the "things I want to keep", are the beautiful clematis vines. There are actually 4 trellises in the backyard that are covered with them, each a different color. Lovely! One is almost completely obscured by a mulberry tree that has come up wild and been left too long, though, so that is another item that we'll be putting our hands to removing soon.

The rhubarb is another wonderful "keeper". We've had two good harvests already and more will be coming. What a treat!

 So after the initial “clearing”, I was ready to start my vegetable garden in earnest.  I had constructed my Greenland Gardener Double Bed Raised Bed Garden Box, purchased the necessary soil to fill it, as well as landscape fabric and garden staples.  I was good to go, except that as I previously mentioned, my garden plants that had been waiting on the deck for a place to grow, had gotten a little crunchy.  I just hoped for the best and planted them anyway. 

The garden area, tilled and raked as level as possible. We ended up decapitating an underground sprinkler head with the tiller. Oy!

Landscape fabric comes in a roll. This particular brand has a white mesh on the bottom. Landscape fabric helps to hold back weeds and unwanted vegetation, while still allowing water and moisture to get where they need to be. Garden staples are just a much larger version of the staples you are familiar with. Push them, by hand, through the landscape fabric to hold it in place. I purchased both these items at my local Wal-Mart. When everything is complete, the bare landscape fabric will be covered in wonderfully fragrant and decorative cedar mulch.

To get the raised bed garden area ready, I used a garden rake to smooth and level it as best I could.  Then I cut landscape fabric to fit the area and fastened it down with garden staples.  This step helps prevent weeds and unwanted plants from growing through the bottom of your raised bed garden.  In my case, it’s a critical step, since we aren’t sure what else may be under there, waiting to sprout in the summer or fall.  I am adding a second raised bed garden, so I will be continuing to extend the fabric on down the fence-line in a later post.

The next step was rolling out, cutting and fastening the landscape fabric over the garden area. For now, I just worked on the section where my first bed was going.

Once the fabric was secured, I placed the Greenland Gardner Garden Bed in a spot where I would have plenty of room to walk around it and to weed and harvest.

Once the landscape fabric was in place, I arranged my garden bed over it and began to fill it with the soil we had purchased.  In the past, I have carefully mixed a growing soil using peat moss, compost, topsoil, and vermiculite, getting a perfect, loose and nutritious mix for my plants.  But, as late as we were into this planting season, I was more interested in just getting my garden in the ground, this year.  I purchased Miracle Grow Garden Soil at our local Wal-Mart and it seems to be working very well.  If I have a compost tumbler, by next planting season, I may get more creative with my garden soil.  For the time being, I am pleased as punch to have it already prepared for me.

After lifting, opening and pouring the first half a dozen bags of garden soil, my arms started to feel like wet noodles and I called upon our 15-year-old son to give me a hand with the rest.

Use a garden rake to smooth out clumps and clods and level the soil in your beds.

Everything planted, volunteer, crunchy and all. I call this my Charlie Brown garden phase. -lol- I do, however, have great hope and high expectations for its future performance.

When the boxes were filled and the soil leveled, I planted the volunteer tomatoes we dug up and the “toasted” heirloom tomatoes from the deck.  I also toasted a watermelon plant, two cucumber plants and four jalapeno peppers which were promptly planted into the beds.  I will be moving the watermelon, when my second garden bed arrives and is set up.  After about ten days in the ground, my plants are bouncing back and feeling happy.  Believe it or not, they are growing and I think they will thrive, though the harvest will definitely be later than usual.  It was too embarrassing to take closeups of their condition on the day I planted them, so the above  distant view is it.    The later pictures show you how well they are coming back.  So, believe me, if I can do this, you can, too.  Grab a pot or build a raised bed and grow something.  Nothing else tastes as good!

My volunteer tomato plants looking strong and hearty after a few days to get aclimated to their new home.

My heirloom tomatoes. One is a yellow Brandywine and I can't remember the other at the moment, but I know it's something magnificent! See, there's no more crunchy left, just a few yellow leaves near the bottom to remind them of their hardships and harrowing deck experience.

The cucumbers are adjusting more slowly, but adjusting, still. They have shot off some new leaves and though their start is slow, I anticipate a big growth spurt in due time. Their brother was planted in a pot on my deck about two weeks earlier and he is flourishing and showing off flashy yellow blooms.

The strong and happily blooming cucumber brother, residing on our deck. He gives me hope for his weaker siblings down in the garden. He is sharing his pot with some cherry pepper plants, too, though they may move down to the garden bed, now.

This watermelon still has a few yellow areas, but was literally hanging on by a thread when I put it in the ground. It's coming back nicely and since my second garden bed arrived this morning, I will transplant this guy over into the second bed, as soon as I get it set up.

Oh, I also added trellises for the tomatoes and cucumbers.  I like them so much better than tomato cages.  They look better and they are just easier to work with, since I can get to both sides.  They also save space in the garden, rather than leaving vining plants sprawled across your space, you can grow them vertically and produce even more in your small garden area.  When both garden boxes are in, I will also cover the landscape fabric with shredded cedar mulch.  It helps keep down the weeds, makes a nice sturdy path for me to walk on in the garden and it just looks good.  As an added benefit, some garden pests do not like the smell of cedar.  Win, win for me!

This little sausage tomato plant had only three leaves when I stuck it in the pot on the deck. It's much stronger and actually sporting a good-sized tomato, this weekend.

I also have an Earthbox, up on the deck, filled with strawberries. They have done really well.

Before getting the bed organized and the garden planted, I did pot some plants on our deck, as well.  I have a cucumber that I am trying to train along the privacy screen and a sausage tomato, plus some strawberries.  These plants were in much earlier and they are going great guns!  I am anticipating fresh cucumbers very soon!

There is still much to do.  When the second garden box arrives, ( It was actually delivered during the writing of this post!) I will transplant the watermelon, plant a zucchini and what should be a second crop of green beans, though it will only be my first.  I long to have an asparagus bed and a corner for herbs, as well.  Asparagus will need to wait until fall, but the herbs may still happen this summer.  I have a small pot of basil on the deck.

I’ll keep you posted on the next stages of our garden adventure, as I go along, and I’ll be sharing the great deal I found on outdoor furniture, recently.  In the meantime, how is your garden doing?  Are you reaping the bounty of your labors, yet?  What’s your favorite garden recipe?