If at first you don't succeed......

 Song - This Land is Your Land by Bruce Springfield

Who knew?  I mean I studied horticulture and botany.  But if you don't replenish your soil, it dries up. Insert (a little late) light bulb over my head!

Some of you that have known me for a while know that I raised chickens (for their eggs) for a number of years.  And while I miss their sweet, sometimes hilarious presence in our garden, I don't miss letting them in and out of their coop every single day.

 

My vegetable garden that was next to their run was just not giving me much of anything over the last 4-5 years.  Every spring I would faithfully plan and plant a garden which mostly consisted of tomato plants, zucchini and a variety of herbs.  And for the last few years it yielded nothing.....not one tomato, possibly 1-2 zucchini and my herbs all dried up.  I blamed the heat waves and the reduced water here in California. 

 This year it was going to be different!  I had the chicken yard area that had become a dumping ground for unused "stuff" cleaned up and I purchased three large tubs for my veggies.  I had the ground leveled and ordered many bags of soil and compost.  The tubs (with holes drilled into the bottom) were layered with logs, dry leaves and tons of fresh soil mixed in with some native soil. Mr. B worked on the watering system so we could travel and not worry about watering.

We had to add a new fence due to deer entering the yard and added some gravel to walk on. I planted my 4" tomatoes in gallon size pots while waiting for all of the work to be finished. 

 

When it was ready I placed them and some pepper and herbs in the tubs.  And while they were getting started I began to replenish my old veggie garden with new soil. That area is for pumpkins for my grandsons and flowers for me!

Mr. B kept bringing home some peppers that he wanted to grow for Chili Rellenos which he loves! Looks like there will be plenty of room....right?

Well I am happy to report that the garden grew and grew and grew....

We now have tomatoes growing taller than me and they are so plentiful.  Yesterday I picked my first real crop.......

And this morning I picked even more that above....I am planning on making Tomato Peach Panzanella Salad for dinner tonight!

So I will continue to add goodies to our soil and enjoy my garden! 

Knowledge = Tomato is a fruit

Wisdom = Not to put it in a fruit salad