The Gibson Garden

It's in! We got our garden planted Friday. Josh took the day off work and spent part of the day helping me finish what Daddy and I started Thursday afternoon. We tilled about half the area Thursday. I offered to help Daddy with the tiller, but we quickly realized that I wasn't quite cut out for that duty. As Josh put it, "There are two speeds. Digging way down into the ground, or skipping over the top of the ground." It was actually quite funny; me with that thing. I couldn't get it up out of the ground so that it could move on to another area. Once I did get it out, it took off and I was pretty much running behind it as it trotted across the yard. No good. Daddy had to continue with the tiller. I basically just walked behind him and pulled all the roots and chunks of grass out of the (beautiful) soil.


Anyway, we finished tilling the ground and Daddy and I made the rows, fertilized them, and I planted okra, squash, tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, green onions, carrots, and there is an empty row ready for the peppers. When I posted last year about the garden I wanted to have this year, I kind of thought I might have been a little overly ambitious about what all I wanted to plant. But, most of what I mentioned is in there, plus a couple others. I didn't do corn or green beans; those are a little more time and space consuming. Maybe next year, if I am able to handle this one well. I also didn't do cabbage. I didn't see an cabbage seeds - I need to see if I can get some, although that may be a cool weather vegetable. Broccoli and cauliflower are too, but I put them in anyway. We'll see what happens. We really love steamed cabbage (even Bennett), and I would love to grow some.


I did almost kill Josh last week with some steamed cabbage. He got a cabbage leaf stuck in his throat and literally got choked and had to call/gasp/yelp for me upstairs. I had just laid Bennett down in his crib and I heard a commotion downstairs and then heard him trying to say my name. I'm surprised I didn't fall and break my neck, the way I came flying down those stairs in flip flops. I could tell he was choking; it scared me really, really bad. By the time I got downstairs he had thrown up and wasn't choking anymore, but it was still in his throat. When he would take a drink of water, it would just sit on top of the cabbage, and he would have to cough it back up. Not fun. So, he just didn't drink or eat anything for about an hour to hopefully let the cabbage soften. It got better, but man it was scary. I was shaking like a leaf for a while there.


Back to the garden, I haven't planted any herbs yet, but I will soon. I plan to put in some oregano, basil, thyme, chives, parsley and sage. We already have rosemary and mint. It's raining today, so I'll probably plant my herbs tomorrow or Tuesday.


I love this stuff! I can't wait until it's all full and green and Bennett and I can walk out there and pick some vegetables for dinner. How wonderful is that going to be? Hopefully he won't stumble around and stomp too many...


I'm posting a photo of the garden now, and I'll keep you updated on its growth. The bordered area on the left is where Josh has planted his hops. He is growing his own hops for brewing beer. I don't think I've ever mentioned that Josh brews beer now. He's made several batches so far, and a couple have been just okay, but a few have been really good. So he is growing hops because they are so dang expensive! The other area on the right with the gate in it is where the herbs are going to go. That's where our peppers were a couple years ago, but the peppers are going in the big garden this year, and the herbs will be in the small area.