In the Garden

And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground– trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food…

This summer we took a break from the endless tsunami of home repairs and finally planted our first garden since moving home to Oregon. After gardening in Montana, this is a cake-walk… You can pretty much grow anything in the fertile, temperate Willamette Valley with minimal effort and maximum neglect. Perfect!

Husband built two raised beds on our south side yard, and we also planted on the embankment down our hillside to the west. We’ve already harvested cilantro, green beans, snow peas, potatoes, zucchini, carrots, and strawberries, and we’re still waiting on Little Man’s watermelon and a bumper crop of beets and radishes. Our tomatoes, green onions, and zucchini are going strong. We planted sunflowers along the back retaining wall but my next-door sister’s friendly hens ate them all, but the poppyseeds I scattered down the hillside are prolific and attract helpful pollinators.

Potatoes are always the easiest to grow and funnest to harvest. I plan to do triple our yeild next season. 

To keep pests at bay we employ an armada of ladybugs and praying mantises. Husband also fashioned a new run for our bunnies, beneath the trampoline, lest they nibble away at our bounty. They still get all of the carrot tops and other garden greens. 

Basically what I grow Husband grills, and the summer spins in harmonious sunshine forever and ever, amen. I love living off the land.