Hi there! It has been quite a while so I thought I was due to come back and give a little update.  The house is really coming along and I’m so grateful that it is, for the most part, functional and I’m finally able to cook again!  Here you can see how exciting it was to finally have running water in the kitchen.  It is really easy to forget how awesome these daily conveniences like, oh say a kitchen sink, are until you are without one for so long!

This post really isn’t about the inside of the house, but what has been going on in the backyard.  Let’s look at some before and after pictures, shall we?

Sugar Snap Peas

Let me tell you what, these have been such a fun surprise! My expectations for the sugar snap peas were quite low since I was starting them from seed and got them in the ground about two months after the recommended time.

[sugar snap peas planted about 10 weeks ago]

Here you can see they really came through for me! The vines were covered with delicious, sweet and crispy peas! I ate most of them straight off of the bush while working in the yard : )

Herb Garden

My first addition to the raised beds were some herb plants.  It is so fun to look back and see how much it has already grown. Take a look at the beds 12 weeks ago…

[raised beds 12 weeks ago]

Here it is this week (I really need to take a picture like the one above as it is today…hard to believe it is the same!).

Overall, the herb plants have really thrived! Some have definitely been doing better than others (winners: Dill, Thyme, Parsley, Rosemary and Basil / losers: Cilantro and Chives).  I got a little bit panicky with the basil, because the leaves kept turning brown.  Apparently, if they get water on their leaves, the sun can then burn them.  Since I have been trying to water them more carefully, they really have been gang busters! Obviously, the mint has no problem taking over a pot.

I’m OK with the Cilantro and Chives not doing super well, because I probably use them the least in my cooking anyway.

Beets, Carrots & Tomatoes

It is safe to say my spring crop of beets and carrots was a big flop.  I have heard from friends that their first (also spring growing season) try at carrots was completely unsuccessful but then they tried again in Fall and had tons!  Here’s to hoping my story is the same and I have lots of fresh carrots this fall. Houston is really so perfect for veggie gardening because we can grow in both spring and fall.

I’m hoping my tomatoes are as easy on me as my sugar snap peas were, because they were also in the ground about a month after they were supposed to be.  We had a fairly cool April, so maybe this was for the best. The plants are growing so quickly and I even have a few big green tomatoes.  Now I just need to figure out how to stay ahead of those pesky birds and squirrels.

I planted some zinnia seeds amongst my herbs to add a little color.  Here is one of my first ones blooming…

A few weeks ago, we had some busy bee visitors come in town to help us knock out some yard work.  Within one day, here is what was accomplished:

• Built 4 Raised Beds
• Cleared Grass Beneath Beds
• ‘Installed’ Raised Beds
• Purchased 5 – 15 Gallon Trees
• Planted Trees

Raised Beds

I’ll most likely write a more detailed post on building the raised beds, but for now, here are just a few quick shots of the process.

[seriously...the energizer bunny]

In the weekends following , Ryan and I made several trips to The Ground Up to get a few cubic yards of really good raised bedding soil.  This is what each of the beds will hopefully be sprouting soon:

Bed #1

• Herbs (plants)
• Zinnia (seeds)

Bed #2

• sugar snap peas (seeds)
• carrots (seeds)
• beets (seeds)

Bed #3

• red sails lettuce (seeds)
• jericho lettuce (seeds)
• majesty lettuce (seeds)
• buttercrunch lettuce (seeds)
• arugula (seeds)

Bed #4

• tomato plants (not yet planted)
• cucumber seeds (not yet planted)

[quarantined the mint to a pot so it wouldn't completely take over!]

Planting the Trees

We decided to get three Schumard Red Oaks and Three Chaste or Vitex Trees. We placed the Vitex trees (a lovely blooming tree with purple flowers – image below) along the back of the fence which will hopefully stop your eye before being drawn to the giant lot-hogging house behind us. There is one Red Oak in the back left corner and two in the back right corner.

[hopefully our Vitex tree will look like this before we know it!]

[David, our awesome neighbor, come over to lend a hand]

One month later, our red oaks have really filled out with fresh green leaves, my herbs are starting to flourish and there are even signs of life with the Vitex trees!

[my thyme is already creeping]

I had no idea that such a love of gardening had been instilled in me – I guess all of those years with my little garden patch in the backyard growing up really stuck with me (thanks Mom!).  Honestly, there isn’t much I would rather be doing than working out in my garden – this could change when the Houston summer rolls around : )  Appreciate all the backbreaking work my family did to get our yard started!!

P.S. I saw my first lettuce sprout yesterday, which was only 4 days after being planted.  Talk about immediate gratification!