Mavis Mail – Heather From Massachusetts Sends in Her Backyard Garden Photos

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!This series of garden pictures comes from my buddy Heather from Massachusetts. 🙂

Hi Mavis,

FINALLY, finally my garden is back in full swing as it should be! This year I have some new additions to my typical garden of carrots, onions, peas, kale, pickling cucs, salad cucs, green beans, beets, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, pumpkins, strawberries, raspberries, plum tomatoes, basil, onions and garlic.

There are also thyme, chic mint. Sage, cilantro, lemon balm, oregano,lavender, and rosemary. This is my fifth year developing this garden and crop rotation is going pretty well – there is one box that gets mites every year. I caught it early and disposed of my beautiful Brussels sprouts 🙂

This year I added a row of raspberries and a row of strawberries (behind the garden), a chicken garden (complete with all the goodies a chicken could want including kale, swiss chard and a tomato plant),a sunflower garden (mammoths and 5′ red sun’s on either side of the front steps where they will get full sun),

My garden has a mix of sun and shade so I’m forever trying to find the plants that will tolerate part shade (leafy vegs) or likes the cooler temps (Swiss chard, lettuce, peas) and also accomplish companion planting and crop rotation.

On the flip side, some vegs demand full sun and hot soil (toms, eggplant, peppers) so I have the same companion/rotation issues in the front of the garden too. It’s a learning curve and every year I get a little better, learning the hard way of course.

My raspberries I planted two years ago blossomed like gangbusters and have been mass-producing raspberries. I’ve been eating until my stomach gets a little queasy then have a few more 😉 The raspberries have also been attracting a rare breed of animal (the HH) that has been rarely seen foraging in the garden. Ha!

Another success has been the green beans – holy macaroni will we be eating green beans this winter! I have a box and a half (6×4) of green beans – which in hindsight may be too much unless I can get creative real quick.

I put the garden arch up again this year but alternated birdhouse gourds and sweet (pie) pumpkins on both sides. I think one of them, maybe the gourds, will take over and shade the other out – we’ll see. I guess more sun hits that right side – huge difference in growth!

Tomatoes – I confided in my teenagers this year that I HATE tomatoes. They.were.flabbergasted. I believe the quote was “How can you hate tomatoes. You grow six million every year?” I grow plum tomatoes to can tomato sauce which saves my I-don’t-want-to-make-dinner-bacon all winter long, and I love a good salsa, and nothing beats a fried green tomato sandwich… but fresh tomato in all it’s gooey slime? No thanks.

The great thing about tomatoes is they save me from cabin fever ever February when I start them under the grow lights. This year I was a little over zealous and started 4 flats (I only need 8 plants). Well come spring I sold all of them on a local plant FB page and made $72 which was AWESOME. Totally gonna do that again.

My random box. Ya know how you end up with random extra plants every spring, just one or two here or there? Or a volunteer you can’t stomach to pull out? Well I put them there. I give you the random box. I’m pretty sure there is a volunteer potato, tomato, eggplant and either a cucumber or pumpkin in there.
And a rhubarb plant. Yes, just one. I’ve never had rhubarb pie before or cooked with rhubarb so I’m not sure what to expect. This little guy was 5″ high and had three leaves when I got it – looks good right?

The one rebel no-veggies-in-the-front-yard box is still kickin’ and it sprung a TON of strawberry plants. No idea how but Mother Nature thought it was a good place and they are thriving. I had planned on putting some pumpkins in there so I went ahead and crammed them in too. Everyone’s getting along and playing nicely although the playpen is getting crowded so everyone’s climbing the walls.

On the non veggie front I have some big advances.

First I can not say enough about the Botanical Gardens Perennial Blooms, there is something blooming every week. Every week a different color. You may remember I started these in the winter sowing buckets – well they have hit their full stride. Big, full beautiful flowers that bring in a TON of butterflies and bees. They make a beautiful backdrop to the garden.

Remember the grand scheme of ripping out that horrible, thorny, unruly, uneven bush and replacing it with a lavender hedge? These too were started in the winter sowing buckets and this year are really bushing out nicely. I was worried lavender couldn’t cut it here in MA but they made it through a winter with 120″ of snow so they’re tough lil buggers.

And lastly, but only because this post is getting super long, I found some lemon grass to plant around the deck to repel mosquitos. It seems to have taken and doesn’t mind the crappy deck dirt (half clay and half fill I’m pretty sure) but honestly it was at the end of spring that I found these, I was fried and just plopped them in. All’s well so far!

~Heather

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go  HERE for the official rules.