The gardens

I can't even consider 2009 being the first year of having a garden; it was a total flop due to negligence and ignorance.  Alas, we had one lone green pepper plant survive but it did provide us with about 8 yummy peppers.

2010 is a different story.  Here's what we have so far (all are heirlooms, free of GMOs, pesticides and chemical fertilizers):

Calabrese broccoli (3 rows), Oregon sugar pod peas (3 plants growing inside the trellises) and Burpees stringless green beans (2 very healthy plants grown where the lone pepper plant was in 2009)
The border to this garden is made from a tree Joe chopped down in late 2009 from the very back of our property.

Here we have Marketmore 76 cukes (6 plants, WOW!), Black-seeded Simpson lettuce (6 plants), America Spinach (3 or 4 plants), Swiss chard (6 plants, I think) and some Marigolds that haven't sprouted yet...hmmm.
For now, this garden isn't going to have a border but we want to get some river rock when finances permit.

Golden zucchini squash (6 plants) and green onions from 2009 (oh yeah, those survived too).

The first bed we planted - Everbearing Albion strawberries (2 plants...wish we had more and these are actually not heirloom but the grower said they were organically grown and GMO-free hybrids), Joe planting some more seeds (we had to yank a zucchini plant that had a broken stem and powdery mold which gave us room for more lettuce and carrots), to Joe's right we have Thyme (5 plants), Scarlet Nantes carrot (only 1 plant until the new sprouts come up) and Early Scarlet Globe radishes (at least a dozen) and long red cayenne pepper (1 plant).
I regret the decision to use the cinder blocks as a border - even though it's laid very nicely, it just doesn't evoke a 'natural' feeling.

I'm excited for this round of sprouts!  We have Minnesota Midget cantaloupe, Mammoth dill, Gold Summer crook-neck squash, Beaver Dam pepper, Black Hungarian pepper, Tequila Sunrise pepper, Southport bunching onions, Purple Dark Opal basil, Cilantro, Amish Paste tomatoes and King of the North pepper.

Another sprout table has Lima beans, black-eyed peas, cantaloupe, watermelon and a few others that I can't think of right now.

Here is our composting and worm-y area.  We bury food scraps and put grass clippings here.