Our Garden: What a Difference a Year Makes

A lot has been happening in our garden since this time last year. First, let's take a look back at how it looked in May of 2009.

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Here we have the side of our garage. I had to plant some things in order to divert the eyes away from the peeling, chipping paint. Did it work? No...well a new garage is not in the budget right now...so look at the pretty flowers.

Next up is the beginnings of our garden right after planting in May of last year. Notice the scraggly little grapevine in the back and the dirt pile to the left. It's not beautiful...I know this.

This was taken only a month later in June of 2009. The grapevine is perking up and the garden must have taken steroids while I was in California on vacation. It ended up being a very bountiful garden with peas, green beans, tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, squash, zucchini, peppers, and massive amounts of weeds. Scary amounts...I almost shudder when I look at this photo and remember.

Flash forward to May of 2010. I knew that I would not survive another summer with that type of garden. I wanted something functional and beautiful...and I hope we've pulled that off. First we made beds using a lot of the old brick we had laying around from removing a chimney. We laid them out into 6 beds, each measuring 4 x 8 feet.

Then around the beds we laid almost 3000 lbs of pea gravel for walking paths. And holy cow, do you see the grapevine!! We are going to have some serious grapes this year!!

The addition of a nice little bistro table at the back makes for a relaxing spot to enjoy the morning newspaper.

Did you plant a garden this year? I'd love to see some different layouts.