My Garden: Year 2

Last May, I wrote a post on my first attempt at growing a garden. It turned out really well! But, I learned a few things that I'm hoping to grow from this year.

Things that I learned. I learned a lot mostly about placement. I planted 4 rows of green beans right back to back and it was hard to pick in the size that I have. So I'm planting single rows right along the edge of the garden bed. 

I also tried using a single pole for the tomato plant. It was super hard to manage. I will use a tomato cage this year. 

AND

Cucumbers take up a ton of room. So this year I will try them climbing up a trellis.

I didn't plant too many things now, just some pretty pansies...

and some herbs.

Thyme, Lemongrass and Parsley. I honestly only planted the lemongrass because I heard it repels mosquitoes and it smells good. Maybe I'll plant a couple pots of these and place them around the seating area later. I also have some Creeping Lemon Thyme growing in my garden from last year. That stuff is SO good on chicken.

Then I planted some sugar snap peas-6 of them. 

And some Buttercrunch Bib lettuce. I tried Iceberg lettuce last year, but it didn't do well at all and so I'm giving this a shot.

I'm also going to try some plants in containers this year. I have some large round planters that I'm going to try a cherry tomato plant and one or two cucumber plants on trellis'. I'm also doing a sweet pepper plant in a container.

As you can kind of see in the pictures above, my garden is very small. But it's surprising all I can get in there! I can get two rows of green beans, and then replant two more when those are gone. Depending on room, I may plant a jalapeno plant in the garden as well. I usually only grow what we can eat now. I don't do much in the way of canning. I don't have an extra space to store canned items or a large freezer to freeze excess. 

I'll update as I continue. In the meantime, let me know if you are planting anything this year!