Summer Garden

We've always attempted to grow a few plants and even attempted a small garden a couple of years ago but have never been successful in keeping any of our plants alive. It's been 90% due to laziness and the fact that I've been either pregnant or nursing the last few years and completely unmotivated and exhausted to keep up with a garden AND the fact that we had extreme drought every time we tried. The combination resulted in a complete FAIL. However, this summer I was motivated, determined to grow my own vegetables.

We invested a lot of time and money into making it work this year but it was so worth it. I had so much fun watching it grow. What a rewarding summer it was! Here it is after a few weeks of growth. It came a long way from a big box of dirt.

Haynes really got involved in helping me keep up with all the gardening. It was his job to water the flowers. And he took great pleasure in doing so. I just had to get used to the idea that he would be soaking wet by the end of the task and there may be a few less flowers in the pot. He picked them just for me...roots and all.

Brookelynn didn't quite get into it this year.

We planted 10 tomato plants. I know, I know! I got a little carried away. I didn't realize how many tomatoes that would yield. The first sign of success! Baby tomatoes!

Baby Squash. 

Never again will I attempt strawberries. This little guy was my one and only strawberry that didn't get eaten by bugs, or birds, or chipmunks. 

My bell peppers did great, too! I planted red and green but the red ones never turned red. Still haven't figured out that secret. 

I was coming out my ears with tomatoes at the peak of the season so I decided to freeze them. That process was quite tedious. I may blog separately about that later. In total, I got about 6 times this many tomatoes from start of season to end. Plenty to share as well. It was a great reminder of how God loves and cares for us and always provides for us. We are thankful to Him for our garden's success.

And now, my freezer is stocked with tomatoes, squash and green peppers for the season ahead.

After such a great season, we are encouraged and ready to start planning our fall garden which needs to be planted in the next few weeks. Time to dig up the garden and start all over...