Vegetable Garden Progress

 We have been a bit busy this week working on our new vegetable garden.  

Monday and Tuesday, my two strong nephews came over to help.  I must admit that it is more fun to dig with someone else to talk to.

So far, we have dug up 6 inches of the existing soil, cut the wood for the sides of the raised bed and the fence planks.  My husband nailed the planks to the wooden sides today, at 3 1/2 inches apart.

Next, we will add the bags of compost and aged steer manure and mix it with the existing soil.  Then we will put of the sides. 

I haven't included any photos of progress today, but I promise that I will when we have finished - hopefully this weekend.

I have had some questions about how we will use rebar for supports for shade cloth in the summer.  I promise to show you how we will do that as well.

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I hope you are all having a great week so far.

I can tell that spring is on its way because my phone is getting busy with people calling with questions and requests for consults.

I visited with the HOA board of a condo complex today to help them with their hummingbird garden.  Tomorrow, I'm off to do a photo design to update a church memorial garden.

I will be adding another feature to my blog next week, which I hope will be helpful to many of you :-)

 

The Beginning....

This is the 'beginning' of my new vegetable garden!

It's also my Christmas/Birthday gift from my husband.

I love my existing vegetable garden, but every year, I wish that I had more space to grow more vegetables.  After all, I have five kids and four of them are still living at home and they all like vegetables.

The garden will be raised, so we visited our local big box store (whose initials are THD).  We purchased compost, aged steer manure, wood for the sides of the garden, slats for the garden fence (to keep the dogs out), rebar to build supports for shade cloth in the summer, fasteners, bone meal, blood meal and irrigation supplies.

My sister and my two strong nephews came over yesterday to help us.  My nephews are 15 & 17 years old and have tons of energy, which is so welcome to this 46 year old ;-)

My granddaughter, Lily, also came out to see what we were doing, but she found it a bit boring....

So, she stayed on the patio, next to my existing vegetable garden. 

The quilt in the photo above, was made for my oldest daughter (Lily's mother) by my mother.  Now Lily gets to use it.

The garden is progressing very well.  It is now day two and we are finished digging up the top 8 inches of existing soil.  My husband will be building the frame for the garden today and we'll start to add the compost and manure and mix in with the existing soil.

Stay tuned for our progress.

I am just so excited!

I can't wait to plant my new seeds next week!!!

Blooms in February

Have you experienced a warmer then normal winter this year?

I certainly have, although I'm not complaining because my garden loves it.  I took a walk around the garden and was so pleased to see quite a few plants blooming....

Purple Lilac Vine (Hardenbergia violaceae)

 

 

 

My Purple Lilac Vine blooms this time every year, which makes it a great vine for the garden.  The foliage is evergreen in my zone 9a garden through out the year, which is also a plus.

It can be hard to find this flowering vine in the nursery later in the year.  So, grab it now if you want one.

Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)

 

Firecracker Penstemon is my favorite plant.  I starts blooming in January and goes until May.  Hummingbirds love it too!

Pink Beauty (Eremophila laanii)

My Pink Beauty shrub has grown tall 8 ft.), which I love because it covers an expanse of bare wall in the garden.  This Australian native is evergreen in my garden.

Valentine (Eremophila maculata 'Valentine')

This is my second favorite plant.  Valentine flowers from December through May in my garden, with the peak bloom arriving on Valentine's Day!  Hardy to zone 8.

Purple Trailing Lantana (Lantana montevidensis)

Normally, my Purple Trailing Lantana is brown and crispy from frost.  But, not this year.  Butterflies just love this plant.

Pink Trumpet Vine (Podranea ricasoliana)

My Pink Trumpet Vine blooms next to my vegetable garden.  I just love this plant too!

How about you?  Do you have anything blooming in your garden this month?

Confessions from a 'Plant Nerd'

I have a major confession to make....

I am a total 'plant nerd'.

When I mentioned that to my husband, he said "I already knew that" with a smile on his face.

I came upon this revelation when we visited Disneyland last week. 

I had my camera ready to take pictures of the kids enjoying themselves.  But, I found myself stopping to take photos of the beautiful plants, particularly the container plantings.

In the end, I had three times more photos of plants then of my kids....

But in my defense, it is easier to take photos of stationary plants then kids on moving rides (the pictures came out all blurry).

I do have some great container photos (and other plants) to share with you and some of the kids having fun....

Ivy pruned into a topiary surrounded by pansies.

I just love this color contrast, don't you?

Creative use of different grasses and flowering plants.

Gracie and Kai having fun in 'ToonTown'

If I had a pretty staircase like this one, I would put container plants along it too!

Icelandic Poppies and Alyssum

Camellias (they don't do that well in the desert, but they are  pretty just the same).

 

 

A three-tiered Azalea

Gracie and Kai got 'caught' up in a fisherman's net along California Adventure's Fisherman's Wharf

I love this planting shelf with herb-planted containers.

You don't have to plant flowers for a pretty container.

Primulas are one of my favorite cool-season annuals.

Italian Cypress pruned into a spiral.

The kids ran into a storm trooper as well as Darth Vader & Darth Maul.

Strawberry Pot planted with succulents.

I love how the ivy trails down the sides of the container.

When we were walking into Disneyland, Gracie told us that the only character she wanted to meet was Mickey Mouse.

To her delight, she saw him three different times :-)