How Does Your Garden Grow

But first, here's my spunky girl.

I couldn't resist--can ya blame me?

The garden is booming. Sunflowers are shooting up 6 inches or more a day, I've got a couple dozen green tomatoes on my ten tomato plants, the morning glories are starting to bloom and we're beginning to harvest yellow squash and zucchini. Summer must be here!

Before I show you pictures of my little Eden (which is still not finished flower bed and mulch-wise but that will have to wait), let me take you back before the muddy month of March, all the way back to last summer.

This was our yard then.

One (not level) raised garden bed and a pumpkin vine. And a sad little tomato plant in a pot. We had thrown ourselves into the house and there was little energy leftover for landscaping.

When late February came around I was amped up with seed catalogue and Pinterest visions, and I bravely dug my outline.

Moved the bed...

And then the outline grew again...

And I kept digging. For a month I dug. In icy rain and sunburning heat. Often both in the same day because--hey--this is Oklahoma and we like to be a little crazy.  I tossed out every tiny bit of bermuda grass I dug up. Squashed grubs and carefully transported earthworms (or chucked them into the garden bed).

Then we put our two other beds in, outlined some areas for flowers...

And I planted flower seeds, and lettuce,and carrots, and squash. And lots and lots of sunflower seeds. And put in a few seedlings. And waited...

And covered the plants when it froze. And uncovered them when it rained. Then covered them again when it was freezing rain. And watched some seedlings fry from the never-ending wind.

And then before I knew it the sunflowers were towering a foot over my head!

My flowers are finally recovering from the battering they took in a hail storm.

And this little munchkin is learning "good bugs" and "bad bugs." Although she did squash a ladybug larvae today and we said "sorry" to its poor little body.

And now to indulge myself with some more pics...

This was taken four days ago, when I could still reach the camera up and take a shot of the sunflower head forming. Now it is way too high!

We've had a couple of dinners from our squash, too.  Nothing like cutting it up still warm from the sun!

And these little guys I planted from seed and they somehow managed to survive. This was the first bloom of my coreopsis!

I'm experimenting with morning glories in a hanging basket...they keep wanting to go up and I keep training them back down...we'll see how confused they are by the end of summer!

The peas that had been growing up the trellis have been pulled down, but Tatum still likes playing in her teepee.

So that's where the yard is now. It's not going to win any landscape awards but I am immensely proud of it! I still am amazed that these things came from seeds I stuck in the ground. So simple, yet when I look at the base of one of the sunflowers that is two inches thick, it still astounds me.

That's all for tonight--this tired girl is getting in bed!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and remember to step outside, listen to the birds, and thank God for being smart enough to start life in a garden.