Mavis Mail – Tina From Western Pennsylvania Sends in Her Garden Photos

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other people’s pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

Greetings from Western Pennsylvania. I can’t recall seeing many small size gardens on Mavis’s blog so I thought that I would send some photos of my gardening set up. We live on ten acres and I used to garden over 2,000 square feet of garden space and can or freeze my fresh produce all summer long. I was younger than and I had more energy. LOL.

Now that my kids are older and headed off to college I find myself only cooking meals for two people. I no longer need the giant garden I had before and my back prefers my new garden set up.

I have several gardening spaces now including a small garden in the yard where I have space to plant some seedlings each year. This year I have peppers and zucchini growing in the metal raised beds and a perennial herb garden in the front. I planted the marigolds to try to deter the bunnies. The bunnies were even chewing on the oregano until I planted the marigolds.

I also have rhubarb growing alongside some perennial flowers to pretty up the space. That’s my giant lilac bush you’re seeing in the background.

In the center, I have my strawberry bed. As you can see by the photos I had to fence the strawberries in, my Daisy dog and the bunnies were helping themselves and I had to put a stop to that.

I typically grow Tribute strawberries which are an ever-bearing variety. They do really well in our climate and I will get a bumper crop of berries in June, a few all summer long and then another bumper crop in September through October usually until our first frost.

Up on my deck I have several raised boxes and planters where I am growing basil, parsley, dill, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplants. It only takes me minutes to weed and I can stand up when I do it.

I love that I can see my tomato plants from the kitchen table. I can keep an eye on them for bugs or mildew. This is my first year growing tomatoes in containers and I never would have believed how well they could do in a pot.

These are Amish Paste tomatoes and as you can see they are happy as can be. I’m also growing Sun Golds and Brandywines in other pots scattered around my deck.

I placed a raised bed right in the middle of my garden bed, you can see the hydrangea tree and rhododendrons co-existing with my box full of eggplants and cucumbers.  I used a fence to grow the cucumbers vertical to save space and prevent mildew on them.

We have been harvesting tons of zucchinis, cucumbers and lettuce so far this year.  I do miss the big garden sometimes, but it really is nice to just step out on my deck and grab a sprig of parsley or a bunch of green onions to cook with. I also really enjoy that I have been able to incorporate my vegetables right in my flower beds around my deck.  I think veggies and flowers look really pretty together.  It’s easy to keep tidy because the beds are a manageable size for me.

I thought everyone might like to see my small sized garden space.  This is my first-year gardening in a small space and I’m sure I’ll probably expand it a little more next year because that’s what us gardeners do isn’t it?  

~Tina

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop, pantry 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 Pantry Pics – Pictures of your pantry/fridge/cabinets, as well as a short blurb {at the very least} about you and your food habits.
• 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.

You’ll need to send in a Minimum of 5 HIGH QUALITY pictures and the stories to go along with those pictures. Do not send in a couple of grainy photos and a sentence about them. I can’t post that. It doesn’t make for an interesting or informative story.

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. You can send your submissions to me at onehundreddollarsamonth @ gmail.com {spaces removed} and be sure and put Mavis Mail in the subject line. Thank you. I’m looking forward to your submissions.

Go  HERE for the official rules.