Don’t kid yourself. It takes a lot of work to plant, maintain, and harvest a vegetable garden. But come and take a look with me and you’ll see why it’s all worth it once you start harvesting the fruits of your labor.
It’s been a while since my last post, but as you can see, everything is really growing quickly due to the beautiful spring weather and my new irrigation system. Water makes all the difference in the world.
Let me show you what we had for dinner last night. Everything in our salad came from the garden, starting with this lettuce.
Fresh radishes added some nice flavor.
This year we grew some spinach from seed, and it is delicious.
Our spring onions aren’t quite ready, but we grabbed some of Jim and Jean’s to add to our salad.
The tall plants are asparagus, and we chopped a few fresh stalks into the salad. We tossed it all together and added one of our favorite dressings, a creamy Vidalia onion dressing. A bowl full of scrumptious, homegrown flavor! You just can’t buy this freshness in a grocery store.
Yesterday I dug my hand under some of these potato plants to rob a few new small red potatoes.
They are especially good when you add them to a pot of these fresh, early peas. Click here for Jane’s recipe and enjoy!
Coming within a few days, we’ll enjoy some cabbage
and broccoli.
The fruit is beginning to set on the tomatoes. We’ve put out about 80 plants. That should give us plenty to can this summer. In the meantime, the marigolds control the nematodes around the plants. In addition to their beauty, they have a purpose.
Fresh peppers, anyone?
This year I’m trying something different. Some friends, Roger and Patsy, gave us some heirloom Rattlesnake pole bean seeds. I planted them under the corn stalks. If everything goes according to plan, they should wrap themselves around the corn stalks. I’ll let you know how this works out.
My brother Jim brought by this “bad boy”. He picked it up at our favorite auction last Monday.
Besides producing an abundance of vegetables, we’re attempting to beautify our garden this year. We’re letting grass grow in the walkways, and we’ve added the arbor, bench, and chairs. It’s a nice place to take a break.
If you drive by the Cottage at the Crossroads late in the afternoon, chances are that Jane and I are sitting in the garden enjoying a cold beverage and the fruits of our labor. God, I love this place!
Live from Windham’s Crossroads,
Shirley says
April 23, 2012 at 12:21 pmJane y Leo, me gusta mucho la casa de la encrucijada y ese hermoso jardín, donde también cultivan sus vegetales, veo que está muy próspero, me alegra y espero que tengan una comida excelente.
Bj says
April 23, 2012 at 7:55 amYour garden is beautiful! I am at the starting the seeds indoors up here in the Upper Mid West and I have a touch of garden envy when I look at your photos. You and Jane are doing a great job and in my minds eye, I can see you both out sitting in the garden late in the afternoon 🙂
Enjoy,
Bj
Jean Windham says
April 22, 2012 at 7:44 pmThe garden is coming along and all the vegetables look beautiful. I am sure you enjoyed the fruits of your labor. We are looking forward to seeing all of you this coming weekend at the event in Lamar. Happy gardening. Jean
Heather :) :) :) says
April 22, 2012 at 2:11 pmHi Jane and Leo,
WOW, your garden is looking just beautiful 🙂 🙂 I like the extras that your putting in to make the space beautiful. Plus the flower bushes along the edges of the garden are a really beautiful touch 🙂 🙂 Love and hugs from the ocean shores of CAlifornia, Heather 🙂 🙂 🙂
Shirley@Housepitality Designs says
April 22, 2012 at 9:38 amWow Jane and Leo….how magnificent is your garden?…I am so jealous…
To be able to enjoy the fruits of your labors has to be extremely gratifying!…Not only is your
garden a source of practicality, it is also beautiful t the eyes!…I love looking at all your progress..
michelle says
April 21, 2012 at 8:54 pmyour garden looks great. We are trying the same thing with the corn. Hopefully ours will wrap around the corn too. We are also trying trash can potatoes. So far so good.
Barbara F. says
April 21, 2012 at 8:39 pmLeo, I would consider you a “master” gardener. That vegetable patch is beautiful. I can just imagine how fresh tasting everything is. xo
Connie says
April 21, 2012 at 4:08 pmYour garden looks wonderful. I can tell both of you have been working very hard. It is late in the afternoon, and I should not be looking @ food. I am starved. Wish I had some creamed peas and potatoes. Can’t wait to try your recipe.
Hope to see you soon on our next trip to the beach.
Jim says hello.
Shannon @Cozy Home Scenes says
April 21, 2012 at 3:52 pmThings are looking good at the Garden at the Crossroads! You and Jane have every reason to be proud of the fruits of your hard labor. I’m not sure Mr. Scarecrow will frighten any unwelcome critters ’cause he is too cute. You are so blessed to have such a wonderful place to live and grow your own good food. Keep up the good work and continue to give us progress reports!———-Shannon
Melanie says
April 21, 2012 at 2:35 pmAwesome. You are really living the good life!! Happy for you!
Joani says
April 21, 2012 at 11:17 amWOW. That is a lot of garden and a lot of work. The native indians used to plant corn, beans and squash together and I think they did it for that reason….the beans would climb the corn & the squash would cover the ground. Thanks for sharing.
Judy says
April 21, 2012 at 10:49 amWow, your garden is coming along since my last visit to it. I love lettuce fresh from the garden. Also your yellow paint worked well on your baskets and frame in your last post. Thanks for sharing and stopping by.
Jana says
April 21, 2012 at 10:24 amYour garden looks absolutely wonderful. Gardening is a lot of work!! Though it’s great to enjoy all the fresh goodness. We’ve been enjoying lots of salads with our fresh lettuce, growing it ourselves just makes it taste that much better, I think.
Vidalia onion dressing is my all time favorite.
Your broccoli plants look great, something is eating away on mine (little green worm) so not sure if we will get to harvest any this year.
Vickie says
April 21, 2012 at 9:19 amYour garden is looking good.I like your idea of prettying up the garden. If you are going to spend so much time there, it might as well be nice to look at. Y ou need to join up with our group The Southern Gardener on Facebook. We enjoy talking about gardens and what is happening in ours-I think you would like it very much.
debbie says
April 21, 2012 at 8:48 amYou guys are unbelievable. How wonderful! You are going to be eating good this summer. Can’t wait to see it in about a month! Have a great weekend Jane.