garden update: 90% off

First, our local dollar store had some garden stuff 90% off! I got 9 (small) bags of this soil for 15 cents a bag.
Some seed starter trays for 40 cents each, the little trays on top for 30 cents each. Those on top include seeds and dirt.

Some herb garden kits for 60 cents each! One of them is planted and just sprouted by my window in the kitchen.

Some of my favorite flowers growing on my front porch.

Our two raised beds are doing just okay. The tomatoes are doing pretty well, and cucumbers, but the beans produced nothing. We are getting ready to pull everything out of the garden on the right to plant for the fall. We are planning to plant lettuces, spinach, carrots, and maybe cabbage.

Our corn grew really tall, but we got no edible corn. The chickens got a few ears and all the buckwheat that I harvested and raccoons got the rest. The buckwheat was so pretty we will definitely plant that again. We ate our first bell pepper last week and I canned 11 (almost 12) pints of crushed tomatoes last week. I don't know how much more I will get to can, but I hope to get at least that much more. I would love to do spaghetti sauce too, but the tomatoes are coming in sporadically, so we'll just see.

Our chickens started laying eggs about a a week and a half ago!!! I absolutely love having our own eggs again. They are still small, but hopefully we'll be getting them by the dozens soon enough. If each chicken lays one egg a day, we'll be getting a dozen a day!

If there was one thing we learned this year with our garden it was : PREPARE THE SOIL!! Even the raised beds could have used more compost or manure. Next year we'll know better. That is something I love about gardening, the learning and changing--how the mistakes are made okay with the knowledge gained from them.

Hope you guys have a happy Friday!