Gardening in a Small Yard

Last week I promised to share an updated Girls Swimsuit pattern, and somehow, the time has gotten away from me.  The pattern is set and ready to go, I just need to take a few more pictures.  So tonight I sat down to do just that, only to find, I'm out of lining fabric.  So, the swimsuit post will have to wait.  In the meantime, I thought I would share some photos from our garden and talk about gardening in a small yard.

We love our house and neighborhood.  The only downfall is that we have a very small yard.  There's a steep drop-off in the back which is fun because our upstairs windows are almost at tree level, but doesn't give us much room for a large garden.  In years past we've signed up for a CSA share at a local farm.  But this year, we decided to see if we could make it work in our yard.  And, we've finally had some success.

In the Spring, my husband built a few raised beds and we had a local farm deliver some loam and compost.  Some plants we bought and some we grew from seed.  We set aside some space to let the kids plant for themselves. They've really enjoyed watching, taking care of, and eating from their very own garden.

It's amazing how much you can fit in a small space.  We've got 5 broccoli plants that somehow have survived the bunnies and woodchucks.

 A few different kinds of peppers.

 Probably about 5 cherry tomato plants because my kids could eat tomatoes for every meal. 

 3 eggplant plants that are so beautiful.

 A few sugar snap pea plants that though they didn't get as big as we were hoping, still have been producing a decent amount.  We also put in a bunch of lettuce, carrots, beets, and a ton of basil.  I see quite a bit of pesto in my future!

I think the key to gardening in a small yard is to work the garden into the landscape.  We have 2 small apple trees along the edge of our yard that help to provide a natural border.

We also have a large patch of red raspberry bushes that work as a natural fence.  Once these start to ripen, we almost can't keep up with the picking.

 Some wild black raspberries creeping in from the surrounding woods.

 A few years ago, we added the garage on to our house and were left with a large exposed concrete foundation.  We decided to plant grapes and kiwi-berry vines to hide the concrete.  And in just a few years, we've got an amazing amount of fruit waiting to ripen.

As I'm write this post, the funny thing I'm realizing is that though we grow a lot in our yard, very little actually makes it in the house.  The tomatoes, raspberries, and grapes get eaten in between bike rides and swinging, right off the plant. Nothing like a warm, sun-ripened tomato right off the vine.

Thanks for staying with me as I ramble on about my garden.  I promise to be back soon with the promised swimsuit pattern.