Evolving Sweetie: How Does Your Garden Grow?

It's my 3rd year with the P-Patch and I decided to step up my game this year. First of all, I took on a leadership role in the garden creating a blog-site for the Magnuson P-Patch. It's starting to weave a community for our gardeners and has been well received. One of the reasons I'm so sporatic on this site.

And secondly, I decided to invest in raised beds for my site this year. Our ground is such heavy clay that I wanted to create more friendly growing environment. Not to mention save my back a bit. 200 sq feet is ALOT for one person to garden. I've had lots of help with this endeavor for which I'm eternally grateful:

Constance, for helping me in the rain to clear 75% of the patch. Singing and laughing in the cold April rain!
Parker, for his hard work and elbow grease in creating the raised bed. Lots of wheelbarrows of wood and screws. You Rock!
Mom & Dad, for countless wheelbarrow trips to move 2 yards of veggie soil mix from Cedar Grove. Yah for bulk delivery cost, UGH for hauling. Wonderful afternoon's work to move the earth! Thank you!
Rawa, for more weeding/clearing help. You have the cleanest patch on site.

Lots of sweat and a few tears in this year's garden. The border is filling in nicely with herbs, foxgloves, lupine, dahlias and lavendars. Lovely. And despite the cold, raining spring my plants are thriving. Artichokes reaching for the sky. Tomato plants shooting up over the water walls, Lettuce full headed. Spinach and strawberries thriving. Abundance of snap peas shoots just starting to bloom and scarlet runner beans are running. The first hints of zucchini and patti pan blossoms are taking hold. Thriving is an understatement.

Harvests have included:

Bags of spinach.
Handfuls of strawberries.
Lots of lettuce
Arm loads of swiss chard and kale.
Bouquets of sage and chives.

It's been a labor of love and a joy. The work is never done. More to weed, more to plant, more to nuture. But what a gorgeous dance of give and take. And the benefits for my mind, body and spirit are too plentiful to count.

Postcards from my garden:

this evening