Vegetable Garden 2010

I have such fond memories of my father's vegetable garden when I was a child. I remember how he planted a fruit tree every year on my birthday. I remember him taking photos of me next to the ever-growing corn stalks throughout the season, to see how they grew from my kneecaps to towering above my head. I recall standing in the garden and eating cherry and pear tomatoes off the vine, hot from the sun. And the boiled beets were so delicious when I had just helped Dad dig them out of the dirt an hour earlier. I even remember my chagrin when Dad caught me digging up his rhubarb plant, which I had thought was a pretty red weed.

Our landscaping in this home is beautiful--in large part due to the professional landscape architect hired by the prior home owners--but I've regretted time and again that our heavily shaded lot can't support growing vegetable or fruit. In the spring we had cut down about eight tall trees, so it occurred to me recently that we just might have enough hours of sun in one corner of the yard to grow some vegetables.

I am a hopeless romantic in my dream that our children will get to witness how vegetables grow!

This is the area at the top of our driveway (with the garage to the right). There are previously existing pink shrub roses and this season I planted some white sweet alyssum because I love the scent. Now I have added a Lantana Camara ('Red Spread') in the upper left, below the bird house, because Lantana attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.

A close-up of the Lantana, which can grow two to three feet high

This view of the sunny corner is from inside the fence at the top of the driveway. To the left are camellias and in the far right corner are some shrubs whose name I don't know and one red rose bush.

I spent several days preparing the soil with shovel, pick axe, amenders, and fertilizer, although never did prepare it as beautifully as it deserved. Our soil is nearly hard as a rock, plus is filled with a network of thick roots (think of all those trees we had cut down!) and veins of some kind of white granite. Also, the developer used this corner of the yard to cheaply dump (hide) his excess bricks and black stones.

The planted garden!

From a different angle

This is the planted garden after I watered it and laid down some hardwood mulch I had on hand.

Clockwise you see a sweet pepper (flavorburst hybrid), a coral bell (flower that had already been planted there), basil, a raspberry (Rubus idaeus 'Canby Red') that I hope will grow along the fence, a Sweet 100 cherry tomato, and another basil.