Garden Party Gardening Linkup 2016

Welcome to the First Gardening Link-Up for 2016!

It's exciting to get going back out in the fresh air again and Wren from FinchnWren and I want to hear what you've been up to. Whether in the window or out in the yard!

Actually I've been out and gardening for the past month and maybe you have too provided the weather has cooperated.

Here's what we've accomplished so far…

Landscaping

We've done some landscaping in the front of our home. Just simple chores such as replacing the mulch and moving some plants around. This is still new to me. I have a neighbor up the street who takes me on occasional tours of her lovely back yard. I'm learning with her help.

Flowers

I didn't plant any flowers last year. We were so busy getting the veggie garden going that it was the last thing on my mind. At the end of summer my aunt gave me some seeds for but I planted them too late.

But this year I put a few flowery things in the front. I have gardenias and a daisy and several lilies that can over winter in the ground here. There's some other white daisy looking perennial I bought. I took a picture of the tag because I don't remember the name but it's not looking very happy so I'll have to do some research. I probably need to deadhead it.

We also put up a couple of hanging baskets. I put Fuscias in them. Is that okay? I know very little about flowers so if you know something help a girl out.

Veggie Gardening

Now here is where it's happening!

I have visions of onions, tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini. Lots of zucchini!

We moved our raised beds a little in our backyard to make room for a backyard shed. The backyard shed has been a bargaining chip in the family. It's become family joke. I used to wonder why everyone in our city had one and now I know. Our back porch and garage are littered with all our outdoor tools and we desperately need a shed. My husband has been the holdout until my daughter and I made little picket signs and marched around the dining table. We finally got him to relent and have been in to order our Tuff Shed  and start the process!

We didn't add any compost to the beds like we should have but I've been fertilizing.

So far I've planted

• onions
• swiss chard
• peas
• radishes
• cauliflower
• broccoli

The broccoli and cauliflower were gifts from my hubby. He brought them home from an organic farm that uses no insecticides or fungicides! They use such intensive gardening practices that those things are no unnecessary.

I had to move all my herbs. They lasted well through the winter and were actually taking over the square foot beds. I moved them to the top of these rocks we have. I'll take better pictures as the seasons move forward.

Indoors I've started tomatoes, peppers, and CANTALOUPE! After the slug got to my cantaloupe last year I was really miffed. I only had one plant and one cantaloupe and he ate it! So I'm mad and I have 4 plants going now. I also bought some [easyazon_link identifier=”B000BWZ89K” locale=”US” tag=”mommybabytool-20″]sluggo[/easyazon_link].

Hardscaping

Another gardeny thing we're doing is we're plotting to make a gravel walkway. They look so pretty! And we need one on the East side of our house where it will always be dark and wet. We had a french drain put in but it's still just bark and dirt on the path. Not pretty. It feels so dark and dank over there.

So far I've been studying these two articles.

1. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/overview/0,,20048448,00.html
2. http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/outdoors/hardscape/how-to-lay-a-gravel-pathway-pictures

So that's what's happening in the Quinn garden this spring!

Now it's your turn. Join our link up party!

[inlinkz_linkup id=628420 mode=1]

Be sure to drop by and visit Wren's first gardening post of the year over at FinchnWren!