Finally! Our garden is mostly all planted and full of promise! We recently added about 400 square feet to our garden. A little more than I previously thought. However, I think it's pretty perfect! This year we have 3 gardens. 2 raised beds, a pea/bean garden, a squash garden, and now, our new garden. All 3 are full! Not over crowded, perfectly spaced rows. I'm somewhat of a fanatic about my garden rows. My husband finally excepted that each row MUST be perfect. No questions asked! :) When it's all said and done, I will have a wide variety of about 45 tomato plants, 40 stalks of sweet corn, okra, zucchini, yellow summer squash, zipper peas, green beans, radishes, lettuce, spinach, butternut squash, cantaloupe and eggplant! Oh, and a few potatoes. Wow, I'm already tired. I'm really excited to watch it all grow. Almost everyday that passes is spent outside. I recently spent a lot of time mulching the garden rows with fresh pine straw. We have 2.5 acres here, mostly covered with pine trees. I raked, and raked, and raked between the pines for hours. Making nice rows of pinestraw to help cut down the weeds, etc. While spreading out the straw I picked small limbs, twigs and any green leaves that were scooped up during the raking process. Only later to find out... those "green leaves" were actually poison sumac! Oh joy!! I've, only recently, developed an allergy to poison ivy, oak and sumac. Although I had absolutely NO idea what it even looked like, you can bet your life on the fact that I have fully educated myself on the green, leafy, nightmare of a plant! *sigh*itch*and*sigh*again. Horrible. Also, living out in country of south Georgia, we have mosquitos something terrible. So, after the unknown contact with the plants leaves, I was continually slapping and scratching every inch of my body. So, needless to say, its sporadically spread all over! Neck, face, arms, back, etc... If you have never experienced poison ivy, oak, or sumac, you can't imagine the uncomfortable feeling of the "itch". It is ultimately what does you in. Emotionally, it has taken a toll on me. Seriously! Ok, enough about that! But please, educate yourself on what it looks like and stay away!
What are you growing this year?
A few pictures from our back yard...the beginning stages...
