Garden Photos 2012 - Getting Started

I got a later start than usual on gardening this year - too much rain!  But my gardens are off to a good start.

I decided to change up the large planter in the front yard.  No more icky, scraped up plastic thing (which is now home to our roma tomatoes, as you'll see later), instead I got a nice cedar one:

For years now, I've done coleus surrounded by alyssum, but this year I decided to start completely fresh and do a spike plant (I already managed to lose the card and I don't remember the exact variety!) surrounded by trailing vincas (Mediterranean apricot broadeye, which I used in another part of the yard last year).

I hadn't planted zinnias at this house yet, but I used to plant them at our apartment all the time.  I decided to return to an old favorite, the swizzle cherry and ivory, in the front flower bed.

I also planted some petunias and some of the extra vincas, along with the usual perennials - coreopsis and blue flax. I'll share more photos of that garden once it's filled in a bit more.

I rearranged the rozannes so they'd form a straight line in this bed, and eventually fill the whole thing out:

And I moved our herb garden to a tab le on the patio:

So far, we just have chives, parsley, basil, rosemary, and dill.  I've been picking up a few herbs from the farmer's market each week, so I'm sure there will be more here soon!

We're also trying our hand at growing tomatoes:

We're also going to add some peppers, and maybe spinach and/or kale in the near future.

Elvis's beloved catmint is back in full force:

Or at least I'm assuming the catmint is his favorite, since it attracts the bees he so loves to stalk!

And here's the pond, all spruced up:

I finally laid down some weed fabric under the rocks, so now I won't be stuck pulling weeds in that area practically every day.  At least one of our fish survived the winter, as did a lot of the snails we bought last year!  I even found one of those pea-sized babies, so hopefully we will have a nice, self-sustaining, algae-eating community of Japanese trapdoor snails for years to come.

And of course, all that gardening and lawn care is hard work, and our old hammock was in terrible was in terrible shape, and could only hold one person... So we treated ourselves to a nice, new, two-person hammock to relax in and enjoy our back yard:

Next project: a fence!  (But, uh, we're paying someone else to do that!)  Expect videos of Elvis running around like a maniac in the near future. ;-)

This Little Piggy

So... I guess I just went 5 weeks without posting.

It's been a crazy month, between work and trying to get my gardens in shape.  But by far, the most exciting thing that happened during my hiatus was the return of the Easton Farmers' Market for it's 260th (!!!) season.  I'm absolutely loving all the fresh produce!

This past weekend, the Pig Placement Network was at the market, and I got to meet this little guy:

So stinking cute!!!  The lady said he's only eight weeks old.  I have no idea if potbelly pigs are even legal in my town, but if they are, I totally want one some day. ;-)

Up next, I'll be posting some garden photos!  I've rearranged and/or improved some areas, and this weekend I'm planning to get a container garden going on the patio for herbs and veggies.

Oh, and while I was off neglecting my blog (oops!) Rebecca of Baby Sloth gave me a Liebster Award!

 

 'Liebster' means 'favorite' or 'dearest' in German. This award, which originated in Germany, recognizes up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. In accepting the award, the recipient agrees to: Thank the person that gave the award and link back to their blog, copy and paste the award to your blog, and reveal the 5 blogs you have chosen to award and let them know by commenting on their blog!

(I could actually only come up with 3 blogs that are definitely below the 200-follower limit, plus one that doesn't list the number of followers, but is awesome just the same!)

1. Kathy (Keeping Up With No One) - My wonderful sister-in-law, who started a personal finance blog earlier this year.
2. Niki (Debt Free by Thirty) - Another fantastic personal finance blogger, and fellow fan of Doctor Who and The Adventures of Pete and Pete!
3. Faye (A Tree-Climber Goes to Texas) - One of my college roommates who abandoned me to live in Texas, but I love her anyway! ;-)  She only posts intermittently, but it's always fun to read about her adventures.
4. Alicia (Eco Friendly Homemaking) - I'm actually not sure how many followers she has, so she may be over the 200-follower limit, but you should definitely check out her blog (and her online shop!) either way. :-)