Spring is just around the corner...

That means I'm thinking about my second year of gardening. (I think the topic fits in the scope of this blog, right? I mean, it adds to the beauty of our backyard landscape and impacts my style of cooking. Is that a stretch? I guess I don't care. I'm going to continue writing about the garden...)

When we moved into this house last winter, I was so excited about the garden that was already set up out back. They had a long plot of dirt, a few barrels and a drip watering system. My inner hippie was jumping for joy!

I consulted lots of friends who garden here in Denver to get some pointers, I checked the internet and basically just winged it. I think I did pretty well for just throwing my hat in the ring. I sure did learn a lot along the way and have plans for bigger and better this year.



You can see the garden plot in the section on the right. The barrels held the herbs. (Seriously, I can't wait for this yard to come alive again. It is so beautiful!)


Last year we had zucchini, butter lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, green onions, two green peppers, one jalapeno, one strawberry, parsley, mint and basil. That may sound sort of lame, but I was seriously thrilled. It was my first try, people! I was surprised I had anything!!



One of the first harvests. I made a zucchini gratin with a salad. Amazing how much better food tastes fresh from your backyard!


I think I may look into getting some large troughs to put in the garden, so things are up off the ground and I can control the soil better. Here's what I'm going to do this year:

One regular tomato plant

One grape tomato plant

One heirloom tomato plant

One zucchini plant

One yellow squash plant

One cucumber plant

One row of green onions

One sweet pepper plant

One green pepper plant

Butter lettuce (staggered planting)

Spinach (staggered planting)

Cilantro, basil, thyme, parsley, mint (all in barrels up closer to the house)

The blog, onehundreddollarsamonth.com, has been inspirational to me this month. Look at all she's doing with her backyard space! Because of her, I may just try out some kale and beans too!

Visit onehundreddollarsamonth.com and be prepared to kill about three hours.

I've also put a bug in my dad's ear that I think he should help me build a trellis for the tomato plants. Last year I had some fall over from weight.

Are you starting to think about your garden? What plans do you have this year? If you live in Colorado, what plants have done well for you?

~Karli