Summer Garden

We've been taking advantage of California's spring-like weather these past two weeks to get an early start on our spring/summer garden. Mark built me three more garden boxes plus one very large trough-like box along our fence. The sunshine and 70° days have made working on our garden just like a slice out of summertime.

Here's everything we'll be growing this summer:

Fruit: Strawberries, watermelon, raspberries, blackberries

Veggies: Leeks, red onions, shallots, asparagus, red potatoes, summer squash (yellow and green zucchini), pumpkins, tomatoes, green beans, snap peas, bell peppers, broccoli, chard, and spinach.

Herbs: Basil, rosemary, parsley, oregano, thyme, and sage. These will go in a different area, not pictured below.

I've only planted a few things so far - asparagus, strawberries, and the onion/leek bed. I'll be sowing most other seeds into the boxes in February and March. I'll also be starting a few veggies as seedlings (tomatoes, bell peppers, and watermelon) so the boys can watch our plants grow. We visited the library today to find some books on gardens and how seeds grow, so I will be using this as a hands-on homeschooling lesson.

Just for fun, here's a 'before' photo of this area, from when we first moved to this property. The fence here was torn down and Mark built a new fence eight feet behind it. Then he built an arbor for the grape vines.