How does your garden grow?

Welcome to Vampire Gran's Garden!

On March 30th of this year I started planting a raised bed garden.  It’s difficult to believe that tomorrow is the official first day of summer, June 21st.  Here in the Pacific Northwest we have had days and weeks of unending rain and very sporadic bursts of sunshine.  And somehow my garden seems to be thriving.  We’ve already harvested and consumed all of the lettuce that was planted at the end of March.  It was my first attempt at growing lettuce and it was a success.  Not one head was lost.  Probably because I identify with the Evil Queen from Snow White and not the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland!

Harvesting my very first beet

Wow, look at those beautiful beet greens!  Life is truly wonderful when a simple thing like pulling a fresh beet from the earth can bring a smile that I could feel through my whole body.

I look like a proud parent

Growing our own food is so awesome.  Everyone should do it, no matter where you live.  The cool thing about beets is that you can eat the whole plant, not just the root.  I’m steaming these greens tomorrow for dinner.  The root is going into our fresh veggie juice  this afternoon.  It’s gonna be delicious.

Five raised beds all in row

The bed in the foreground used to hold large heads of lettuce, but we’ve already enjoyed those.  There’s a jalapeno and a butternut squash starting there now.  You can see basil, dill, chives, Italian parsley, orange thyme and summer savory closer to where I am standing.

View from behind the garage

I’m standing in front of the shelling peas.  Those things really grew fast!  Leeks and onions are in that bed as well.  To the right are the beets and broccoli.  To the left you can see tomato plants.

Checking out the peas

It was just last weekend that the pea pods appeared.  They are so sweet and tender.  We like to pick and eat them right there on the spot.   What a treat!

Just beautiful!

Such a beautiful shade of green

OK, one more shot - jeez, who knew peas could be such hams!

Not to be upstaged by the peas, the beet greens make another appearance

Seriously, look how gorgeous those greens are.  When I was a kid, people used to tell me I would make a good farmer’s wife because I used to get up before the sun was up.  Who knew I was the one who would end up being the farmer.

Thanks for coming to check on our garden's progress

Well, now I’m heading to the garage to ditch my gloves and gardening garb.  Then off to the kitchen to rinse my beloved beet and enjoy it our afternoon juice.  Cheers!