Our garden, 2011

Kevin has worked hard on our vegetable garden for this year. He decided we should try raised beds this year. The weeding and acidic, clay soil in last year's garden was tough. I do like the raised beds and it is a pretty garden to look at. We have pole beans, cherry tomatoes, big boy tomatoes, carrots, 3 types of lettuce and herbs growing. Kevin also decided to build the trellis himself. He found a bamboo patch growing wild in the neighborhood and build the foundation and netting during his free time. It is working as planned and looks quite nice. Enjoy the pics.

The pole beans with bamboo trellis and netting.

Our flower garden portion of the garden. It is filled with day lilies, hostas and azaleas.

A view of the back side of the garden...with the compost pile and pumpkin patch growing wild.

Front view of the garden.

Food from the garden

This was the garden just last week after weeding and planting of the remaining seeds.

This is the garden tonight. In a span of a week....maybe 10 days at most...the lettuce is ready to be cut and all of the veggies have sprouted. Here is my lettuce before being cut.

The zucchini and squash sprouting.


Cutting the lettuce. William really got into it.

Freshly washed lettuce ready for salad and sandwiches tomorrow. It was light and delicious just by itself.

Summer garden update

I finally was able to finish up the planting for the summer garden this morning....and I weeded it too. It took some time because I had to sit on a stool and move down row by row, but it is planted and ready to grow. Here are some pictures of the garden. I must say I am proud of myself for getting it done with Kevin away. The best part is that the vegetables are growing. I look forward to what we can eat the upcoming months.

A front view of the garden - planted and weeded.

My big boy tomatoes, sprouting.

My sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes.

The beds where I planted summer squash, butternut squash and zucchini.

My sprouting carrots.

My lettuce. So excited for them to get a bit bigger and ready to pinch off!

A bed that had peppers, but I don't think they made it. I have now planted more lettuce and cherry tomatoes.

A finished view of the garden.

Update on summer garden

I have been a busy girl. In fact, probably too busy because preterm contractions were brought on and my mother has come up to stay with me. It doesn't help that neither of my boys are helpful or good listeners at the moment. In fact, they know that Mommy is not as quick as she use to be. They are taking full advantage of my current state and find daily ways to destroy the house and cause loads of problems for me. Having my mother here has been very helpful....an extra pair of eyes, ears and legs are a blessing when trying to monitor these two.

On Saturday we ventured to Lowe's and I purchased lots of plants for the front flower bed and for back by the garden. We also got some Marigolds for the garden because they attract the good bugs for a garden.....something we have learned from Max and Ruby. I finally got around to planting the garden flowers and the April vegetables. Here are some recent pictures.

The marigolds with two rows of carrots plants.

The finished garden....for now. In May I get to plant squash and zucchini.

Two rows of tomatoes with fresh snap peas beginning to sprout in the middle.

The sugar snap peas.

A row of romaine lettuce.

The lettuce and carrot rows. On the left is the Romain lettuce and on the right is Grand Rapids leaf lettuce.

A view of the garden.

Summer garden, NC style

Today my friend, Mandy, and I worked very hard on getting our summer garden together. Our landscaper was very kind to till my garden for me. So this afternoon while the kids played in the water, we worked like dogs. It was nice to be outside, but I think we have skipped spring and moved straight into summer. Today's high was 90 degrees. Getting the garden planned out, hoed and planted was not that difficult or time consuming. The fence on the other hand, was draining. I had gone back and forth on whether or not I needed a fence. I can not build one given my current state and paying for one to be built is ridiculous. So I was going to go without and just hope the deer, squirrels and rabbits would leave my garden alone. Well after constantly yelling at the boys to stay out of my garden for the past two days, I decided a fence was necessary. I found this linking fence system at Lowe's and thought I would give it a try. If Kevin is not thrilled with it, he can build a permanent fence later in the summer. It looks pretty but was time consuming in assembling. I am glad to have the garden started and so thankful for Mandy's help. I could not have done this by myself! Today we planted two types of lettuce, sugar snap peas, green peppers and red peppers. I plan to plant in mid-April carrots, tomatoes, butternut squash, summer squash and zucchini. Looking forward to fresh veggies from my backyard! YUM!!!!!!!

Picture of the garden rows....six total.

Side view of the garden and fence.

Close up view of the garden.


The garden.

Summer garden #2

For those that have followed our blog, you know we did a garden when we lived in NW Florida. It was a bountiful garden, producing tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and red and green bell peppers. We were able to eat some things and found out that the birds really enjoyed our tomatoes and peppers, and so did Lisa. She was very fond of the garden and was the reason why we built a fence. Aaaahhh, Lisa, how I miss her. So at our new home in North Carolina, Kevin has been wanting to do a garden. I find many pieces of scrap paper with drawings of raised garden beds and herb boxes. He often talks about plans for the garden....of course this is while he is building all of his woodworking projects. He is too funny. We finally got a plan together for the backyard. Our landscaper was kind enough to get the garden area prepared for me and will till it tomorrow. I will then plant the seeds and hope it grows. Here are pictures of our garden plot in the early stages. And this time a fence will be needed for deer, rabbits and squirrels.

And did I mention I did this all by myself....seven months pregnant. Kevin is a lucky, lucky, lucky man.

We have fruit!

Our summer garden has exploded over the past 2 weeks. William talks about wanting to eat his "wegetable food". I keep trying to explain to him that the plants need to produce fruit and veggies for us. He keeps asking when....it is so cute. If you can grow a garden with your kids, I highly suggest it. It is so much fun and great for learning. If you don't have land for a garden like ours, try small containers for tomatoes.

Here are some recent pics of the growth. These are from Tuesday and Wednesday, May 8 and 9. The last pics were from the last week of April. Look at this growth.....it is amazing.

These are our tomato plants.

These are the corn stalks. They are probably measuring around 6 inches in height.

These are the bush and pole beans. A bit smaller than the corn stalks, but they are pushing up.

Here are some small cherry tomatoes. It takes all I have to not let William pick them....at least we have the fence. Without it I would have to worry about Lisa too.

William LOVES running up and down the rows in the garden. And, just for your information, this is normal dress here in the Capozzoli household...at least for William....shirt and underwear. Be happy he has the underwear on, sometimes it is just the shirt! Aaaahhhh, boys. Loves being naked....like other members on BOTH sides of the family.

Our tomatoes with their cages....and a flash of Lighting McQueen. For those of you who don't know Lighting. He is the Pixar character on William's underwear from the movie Cars.

The cucumber and squash in our pumpkin patch.

An entire view of the patch.

Our pumpkins and cantaloupe.

Summer garden update....we have growth!!!!!

While I was away the garden grew by leaps and bounds! The tomato plants have started to get flowers. The flowers will then bear the fruit! The seeds that we planted have sprouted and are pushing up through the soil. Kevin had gone out for work and was not able to see the garden for about 24 hours. In that time period, he says the garden growth took off. It is wondrous to see your hard work turn into something that will produce many meals and memories for our family. Here are some pictures. These are from the weeks of April 19-April 30th. We will post more as the garden grows.

A tomato plant with flowers.

Our corn that is pushing up through the soil.

Some of the beans that are coming through.

Another plant with a flower.

Our cantaloupe plants.

Garden update and William as a warrior

We have completed the garden and are now waiting for it to grow. Kevin and William planted the seeds and plants before we left for my parents house. While we have been away, Kevin has put some compose/manure around the plants to keep them moist and waters the garden twice daily. He tells me the corn stalks are already sprouting. Here are some completed photos.

Planting corn with Daddy.

More corn seeds.

This is hard work....whooo....I'm tired!

As typical MO fashion for William, he got into my makeup and painted his face. Here are some photos of him as a warrior wearing my lipstick as face paint. Boys......

William's "I'm angry face". Look at my sweet Paulie in the background.

William's "I'm sad face".

A cute photo of the loves.