Mary, mary, quite contrary....

Our beautiful hydrangea bushes are popping out flowers like champagne bubbles from a shaken bottle of bubbly.  I'm not sure how it happened, but we have all three colors growing down our hill.  Last summer I think we got two blooms total (we didn't plant them until July), and this summer.....POOF.....here they all come.  So very pretty!!

These are just some of the blooms I cut last Friday.  Still going strong on the kitchen table!

As you can see, my planter boxes and pots are doing well too!!

As for the edible stuff??

The lettuce is starting to come up

We have our first tomato

and our first pepper.

Our raspberry bushes (all that green stuff in front) are looking good and it looks like I'll have enough berries for two pies.

And our basil is growing like gangbusters!  I made another batch of pesto tonight!!

I am hoping to find a gardening class or two to take this winter.  I adore gardening (way more than I imagined I would, even the weeding!!), and I know there is so much more I need to learn.  Has anyone taken a gardening class before?  Or does anyone have a favorite gardening website or book?

I'll continue to post progress throughout the summer!

It's almost planting season!

This weekend I bought a bag of dahlia bulbs and ordered my zinnia packets.  Just 8 more weeks until planting season, and I am really starting to think about where each flower will go, where each veggie will flourish, and which old plants need to be replanted or just gotten rid of.  I'm really hoping that the hostas we planted at the end of the season last year will take off this summer, that my tulip bulbs will be bright and sunny additions and that our hydrangea bushes flower! 

Anyone else out there planning their gardens?  Any favorite gardening books or websites I need to be reading right now in preparation?

Mini peppers

We have one plant in our garden growing mini peppers.  They are way too cute!  They taste just like regular peppers but are tiny.  B thinks they aren't worth it as they still have a ton of seeds, but the seeds are edible, so you can basically pop it all in your mouth and take in all the seeds or eat around the outsides like an apple which keeps most of the seeds out of your system.  I'm glad we're growing regular bell peppers as well, but these are just so cute and they make me so happy!

Here they are in comparison to a regular green bell pepper.

Anyone else growing these?  Or anything else that is a little more off the beaten path?  We're starting to think about what we are going to grow next spring as we already know we need to do a few thing differently, so I'd love to hear what is flourishing in your garden!!

The beginnings of salsa, bruschetta, and pesto..................

I thought I'd show you guys our current project- our veggie garden!

These two above pics are the whole garden.  Up front are the sugar snap peas.  They've started to flower but no peas yet.  I cannot wait for them to produce!

All the tomato and tomatillo plants in cages or next to a cage for growing support.  We decided to make our own cages rather than buy them- soooo much cheaper.

We also have bell peppers planted in one row between the tomatillos and the tomatos.

The start of our cucumbers

Our carrots which only seem to be growing on half of the area where they're planted.  Not sure why?!?!  I'm going to thin them at the end of this week once they're a touch bigger.

One of our herb pots.  This one has basil, parsley, and cilantro.  One has only basil, and the other has basil and rosemary.  We adore pesto and have planted a ton of basil to keep up with our needs!!

As we get actual plants, I'll add pictures to the blog.  This is a huge experiment for us as we haven't really gardened before.  Last year I grew one pot of tomatoes (I think we used 6 of them before the squirrels got them) and one pot of snap peas which only produced 6 peas total.  Hopefully this will be a much better year.  It has been so fun to wake up every morning and check the plants.  I feel so proud whenever they get even an inch bigger.  Continual updates to come :)

Springtime yard beauty

When we saw our house for the first time, it was the end of October and all the leaves were turning.  When we moved in, it was Dec 22nd and there was nothing but snow on the ground.  We had no idea what to expect when spring and summer came along, and we (so far) are really happy with the way the gardens are coming along for late April.

We have quite a few pink and white flowering trees in the front yard (the next three pics)

They're gorgeous.  Just a week or two more and they'll be in full bloom.

We also have a few flowering trees in the backyard that are just beginning to bud.  Hopefully they'll be as pretty as those in the front.

Our two tulips that bloomed.  We are going to buy a ton of bulbs this fall and add them to this section of the garden as well as in front of the bushes that are near our walkway.  We also only have two daffodils in another section of the garden.  So weird.  We'll just have to get more springtime flowers (hyacinth, crocuses, etc) over time.

And just so you know how crazy my husband is, he decided that when I was taking pics for the blog, he would climb one of the trees and have me do a photo shoot.  Silly boy!!