What’s In the Garden?

My mom was an avid gardner and for years, she tried to get me interested in gardening with no success. So, she was quite surprised when I wanted to try my own garden when Wilson and I bought our first house. She was even more surprised when I actually enjoyed it! But I’ve really come to love and take pride in my gardens. I still consider myself an amateur but I feel like I have these random tidbits of knowledge from other gardeners, some research and pure trial and error. I piece all of that information together in order to keep my plants alive! Not quite a green thumb, maybe more like teal.

Last year, I started a garden journal to record what I planted, what worked, what didn’t and to write down ideas for the next years garden. I love this little journal, partially because it’s a beautiful leather notebook and smells amazing, but also because it’s been great for my fleeting memory to go back to year after year.

My plan for this year was to continue with the basics tomatoes, cucumber, strawberries, and a little lettuce. I always seem to have luck with these ones. They all need lots of water so it's hard to mess it up!

Then, I wanted to try a couple of new things:

1) I wanted to try growing zucchini and butternut squash. I feel like both of these vegetables have so many different ways of being prepared which is a good thing when you have an abundance of them!!

2) I wanted to attempt growing something over the trellis again. Last year, I tried growing beans over the trellis, not realizing I planted bush beans instead of a climbing bean plant. And then, I tried growing clematis, which subsequently died. SO in hopes of having an overflowing, beautiful trellis, I’ve planted peas and a Moonflower plant that have beautiful white flowers. *cross your fingers for me*

3) The last thing I wanted for my garden this year was to grow a couple beds full of flowers. As satisfying as it is to grow fruit and vegetables, I really want to have beautiful flowers that I could clip and use for arrangements. If you've seen pictures of Joanna Gaines garden, you know where I got my inspiration. I ordered seeds from Lily Stone Gardens, which I'm really excited for. However, my little gardeners had other ideas for that garden bed and have been digging and planting their own "seeds". So, we'll see what or if anything comes up!

Last but not least, I have one full bed of lavender! Ahhhh, it’s almost like you can smell it from the picture! I love lavender flowers, the beautiful smell and I figure I can made some things with it! So excited!

I’ve gotten most of my plants this year from Shelmerdine's but I also started some from seed, which was a super fun activity for Emilia and I. The flower seeds I got from Lily Stone Gardens. Check her out here, her flowers are stunning! I'm so anxious and excited to see it all grow! I’ll be hands deep in the garden for the next couple months, which is probably why this post by @gardenaryco really spoke to me! Hehe

What are you growing this year? Is it your first time gardening or are you a pro? And if you have any gardening tips and tricks, send them my way, I hoping to move up to green thumb status!