Planting Day!

Well, the day finally came...time to plant all of our lovely little seedlings! The weather could not have been more perfect. It was overcast and cool, and the ground was nice and soft after the rain from the day before. My dad had lined the garden bed with compost a few days before we began planting to give the ground a chance to rest. Everything was ready to go!



Before I arrived, Mom and Dad had already planted the strawberries and herbs in large, galvanized tubs. Perfect receptacles for plants that don’t need much room!

Then, it was tomato time. Oh, my favorite! Tomatoes are great plants for pots, instead of planting them directly in the ground. The plants generally grow up and not out too much, so a cage or trellis is necessary.

Have you ever seen the upside down tomato planters? My niece Ella thought that was the funniest thing she’d ever seen, so of course we had to get one for her! This is planted with a great beefsteak tomato called “Celebrity.” This variety is a very dependable producer and the tomatoes are delish!

Now to start on the garden bed!

First things first…

We set all of the plants in their pots on top of the garden bed to be sure we gave each plant enough room to grow. Grouping similar plants together helps maximize your space.

These lovely plants are bell peppers. Now, why my dad bought so many pepper plants, I’ll never know! Sometimes you can’t leave him alone with a basket in a store. These are not large plants so they don’t need a large amount of space between plants.





At this point, I began to feel like a REAL gardener. First of all, I was totally filthy. I had mud on my jeans, my gardening gloves were black with dirt, and my gardening clogs (yes, I said clogs) were covered in mud. It. Was. Awesome. I had been digging in the beautiful soil, planting these young seedlings in hopes that they would one day produce something delicious. I had even dug up some worms and didn’t gag. Total accomplishment! And to top it all off, it had started to rain. It was like my own little made-for-TV movie moment.

With this phase of the garden done, we got word that my niece and nephew were coming to “help.” Ella is four and Josiah is eighteen months. Are you getting the picture? So off to Lowes once more to find some kid-friendly plants for them to help with.

Phase two was underway…