Garden

I've always loved gardens. Growing up my mom was always planting things and growing fruits and veggies, and I dreamed of the day when I could have a garden of my own. I wanted be the girl in The Secret Garden and have a hidden place full of plants and flowers to escape to.

When we got our house, the backyard was a horrible mess, and there were weeds everywhere that were three feet tall. It took three days and lots of help to get it all cleaned out, and I was left with a blank canvas. Everything is still a work in progress, but here'a a tiny peek at what I've been up to.

One thing I've always enjoyed growing is food, so one of the first things I bought is a tomato plant, watermelon, and zucchini. The tomato and zucchini plants have been feeding us for a while now, while the watermelon plant has continued to get bigger... and bigger... and bigger. Today I went out to water it and found THIS! Our first watermelon!!



As we move across the yard to the dog run, you'll notice a hideous chain link fence. I cringe every time I see it, so I decided to put it to better use. I grew Morning Glorys and Moon Flowers in small cups in my kitchen, and when they were big enough, I planted them along the bottom of the fence. A couple weeks later, they are three feet tall and growing more each day! I can't wait for them to flower!!!



Another thing I always wanted to grow are Sunflowers. My grandma had read a story once about Sunflowers that came down from outer space and hugged people to death, so we weren't allowed to grow sunflowers when I was a kid. Naturally. So I thought I'd give it a shot. I grew these suckers from seeds and can't believe how big they are! I'm in the process of harvesting the seeds now, so unfortunately they're coming down soon. I don't know why I didn't remember that they like to face the sun or else I wouldn't have planted them where I did, but now when my creepy neighbor peeks over the wall, he'll see these peeking right at him.



In anticipation of the sunflowers coming down, I make a quick trip to the nursery to pick out some plants to replace it, and a plant to cover up more of the hideous chain link fence. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands dirty tomorrow.



I'll post more pictures as things progress, because right now, it's not very impressive. There's still an ugly wall there and I'm doing everything I can to get those plants to grow fast to hide it, but it'll take time. Until then, I'll keep enjoying my breakfast on the back patio and I'll keep you posted as plant life progesses!