A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this year. Keep them coming! ~Mavis
Hi Mavis!
I’m Kim, and I’m from the Tampa Bay area of FL, hardiness zone 9. (9a if you’re fancy) We live on a teeny tiny lot that just shy of 1/8 of an acre. We moved here just over a year ago after years of renting.
I’m doing my first “real” veggie garden this year. One where I actually prepared the beds, used compost, planned everything out, etc. A few years ago I tried one where I just haphazardly threw seeds into whatever dirt was already there, hosed it down with water every once in a while, and mumbled under my breath months later because my magic beans didn’t turn into some gigantic veggie producing miracle garden.
We currently have two garden beds going, both 7’x3.5′ that were purchased from Sam’s Club. 
The one on the left has tomatoes, jalapeno and bell peppers, blue lake bush beans, peas, spinach, and one tigger melon plant. The far left looks empty because I just planted eggplant, another pepper plant, and carrots a couple of days ago.
The bed on the right has cantaloupe, onions, lettuce (that isn’t doing very well), cucumbers, one cabbage, marigolds, butternut squash, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, and watermelon. 
As I was taking pictures to send you I noticed that one of the watermelon vines has a flower, yay! The watermelon plants are all that my husband cares about. We eat watermelon like crazy in our house.
The barrel planter in between the two beds is my 8 year old daughter’s flower garden. She planted the seeds a couple of weeks ago.
In the front yard, we have some irises growing. I’ve seen them called fairy irises and African irises, so I’m not sure what’s correct, but they’re nice to look at.
We have some good wildlife here that is beneficial to the garden, such as the many lizards that are around any given time of day. 
I often see them hanging out on the tomato cages. Eat those bugs, guys! 
We also have sandhill cranes that walk around in the field behind our house. Their call is hard to describe, but it sounds like something out of Jurassic Park. I’m told they have a taste for bugs and mice.
And of course, like anywhere else, we have the not-so-beneficial wildlife. We have a pesky neighborhood rabbit that has eaten a ton of plants in the front yard down to little stubs. This morning I caught him/her munching on the holly bush near our garage. I was always told rabbits didn’t eat holly, but I guess they do!
We’ve seen bluebirds and cardinals around so we set up a bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder a couple of weeks ago. So far I haven’t seen any birds at either one. 
I’ve never had birds take so long to find free food before, so I don’t know what the deal is, but hopefully they’ll show up soon.
Other than gardening, my daughter and I are working on our latest project of making over a vintage dollhouse. We bought it at a yard sale for $5 and it makes me happy every time I see it.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope you’re having beautiful weather in your neck of the woods today.
-Kim
If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop, pantry or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:
- Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so, show me some picture of how you are going about it.
- Your Pantry Pics – Submit at least 5 HIGH QUALITY pictures of your pantry/fridge/cabinets, as well as a short blurb {at the very least} about you and your food habits.
- Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
- Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
- Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
- Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.
If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.
Go HERE for the official rules.
Heather says
Beautiful pictures, I especially like the birds. My domesticated pets see birds as a snack, so we don’t lure them to our yard. I love your daughter’s garden, I hope it produces wildly for her.
Kim says
Thank you! I noticed that one of her seeds didn’t germinate, so I secretly replaced it with a mammoth sunflower seed. I can’t wait to see her face when it’s nine feet tall!
Mary Ann says
The bluebirds won’t come to your feeder, they want bugs, not seed. After 12 years of having a nest box in my yard, a bluebird pair finally found it this year. Exciting, but they keep sitting on my car, pooping on it. lol
The feeders you have out look like they’re in a very low tree, so you might want to find a higher place to put them. I don’t know what kind of songbirds you have in FL, but my feeders are always popular here in So Cal with house finches, American finches, and sparrows (white crowned sparrows feed on the ground below the feeders).
Good luck and thanks for sharing your garden pictures!
Kim says
Thanks for the tip, looks like I’ll be picking up some worms this weekend.
Cody says
Set up a bluebird house and put some mealworm on a tray feeder for the bluebirds. I haven’t seen mine come to a regular feeder. Ours have babies that are getting ready to leave the nest!
Emily E. says
Yes I’ve had decent luck with mealworms also. I also think the bluebirds house should be away from housing and high traffic (people) areas. They are pretty specific about their housing. You do have to take predators into consideration. We are very against sparrows as they will take over the feeders and are very nasty and territorial and chase all the nice pretty birds away AND invade nests! To decrease the chances of sparrows avoid birdseed with millet. We generally stick with sunflower, peanut and thistle seed. We love watching the birds!
Kim says
Will do!
Melinda says
I used to live in Bloomington, Indiana, and I have seen John Mellencamp’s house when out on the lake and I saw him in the Kroger grocery store before! He was wearing blue coveralls, and two teens (TEENS!!!) went up and asked for his autograph. He’s a lot shorter in person than I thought. But he happily signed their paper and kept on looking at bread.
Deborah from FL says
Hi Kim! I was very excited to see your post today, since i live in the Tampa Bay area too! Same size lot, & similar fence too! Ha!
I am very impressed by (and jealous of!) the number of different vegies you have growing in that space.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Kim says
Thanks so much. This is my first year, so a lot of it is trial and error. For example, I know next time to leave more space between tomato plants.
Debbi Atkinson says
Nice garden! Love to see what other people are up to.
Kim says
Thank you! I like seeing other people’s gardens, too. It definitely motivates me to try new things.
Lauralli says
Bluebirds only want wide open spaces, so you need to get them a bluebird box on your fence far away from everything else. Hummingbirds will not feed next to other birds. Hang that feeder over one of your back windows (ours hangs from fishing line attached to our soffit) and you will get a nice up close view of them feeding! We love watching them!
Kim says
Thanks, I’ll keep all of that in mind when I’m rearranging things.
Judy says
Hi, Kim! I’m in St. Pete, over the bridge from Tampa. I love your garden, great job. Growing in Florida can be a challenge, since we are on a different schedule from most of the country. I see you mentioned that your lettuce is struggling. As an FYI, I only attempt lettuce in the winter because our high temps are rough on that crop. I’m jealous of your lot, BTW! Anything close to an acre isn’t teeny tiny on my side of the bridge! I also wanted to mention that the St. Pete Green Thumb Festival is this weekend if you need any more plants. Good luck!
Kim says
Thank you, I’ll have to look into that festival, it sounds cool.
My husband and I went on a little weekend getaway to St. Pete last summer. It was our last vacation before having our son. I absolutely loved the Saturday morning market! I had some delicious cold brewed coffee and I remember someone was selling apples the size of my head. We’ll have to get back there one weekend, it’s about an hour drive for us.
Judy says
Yes, the St. Pete market is wonderful! I always head for one of the family-owned farms that sells in the far left corner of the market. Sweetwater Organic in Tampa has another market that may be closer to you, just FYI.