I woke at up 5 this morning to water all the plants and vegetables in the garden. The temps are suppose to be in the upper 80’s today. HOLY COW!!! That is pretty toasty for us in the Seattle/Tacoma area. 
Luckily though, the garden is thriving with all the warm weather we’ve been having. 
Our tomato plants especially. I finally got around to counting our tomato plants this morning and was shocked to find out I’ve somehow snuck a whopping 23 plants in our backyard. Wowza!
This bed had tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, radish and about 5 rows of carrots in it. 
Tomatoes and cabbage on the patio.
Cilantro at the base of our lemon tree. 
I have a feeling I won’t be able to see out the kitchen window soon. The tomato plants are enormous already. 
Lucy takes her supervising job seriously.
I picked up four rosemary plants this week. Now all I need to do is find a place to plant them.
And the lettuce. 
I need to pull the lettuce that is going to see and transplant the younger lettuce. 
The arborvitaes I planted last fall are growing! I’m hoping they’ll reach the top of the fence by the time we sell the house. 
And last but not least, the rock pathway. We have 9 blueberry plants on the left and day lilies on the right. Summer. It’s finally here!
~Mavis
This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2015 Garden Seed Catalog, or see the seeds I’ll be growing in my garden this year HERE.
Up for a tour? Read about our behind the scenes tour of Botanical Interests Seed Company.
Deborah says
I Love Love Love what you’ve got going on there Mavis!
The raised beds look absolutely wonderful. And all the creative “companion planting” of edibles and non-edibles… Clever!
And the pops of pink are just plain fun.
Thanks for brightening up my day with these fabulous scenes. 🙂
Ebonie says
Hi Mavis!!
I have been following the blog for a little over a year and am a beginning gardener. I search your posts for similar plants and use your tricks whenever possible. I’m wondering if you have tips and tricks for garden layout? Is it as simple as group plants together that need similar light and place tall plants in the back/short plants in the front?
Carla says
Wow some of this is about ready to harvest from the looks of it.
Cindy says
Your gardens look amazing and it’s growing well!
Trying Botanical Interest seeds this year. So far everything is growing well except the beans, I had to replant because of birds or slugs.
Diane says
How are you getting your tomatoes so big, so early? What is your secret? How often do you water? I put my starts in about 3 weeks ago and they just seem to be just sitting there. Hopefully, they’re just putting out tons of roots and will take off soon. Discouraged in Seattle.
Mavis Butterfield says
Other than the Tagro compost I added to the soil, I have no idea. Maybe it’s because of the heat???
Jen Y says
So you’re planting lettuce with temps in the 80’s? What kind? Lettuce doesn’t do well here after the end of May – or once night time temps stay above 60 or so which they have for awhile.
Mavis Butterfield says
We have an extremely shaded area on the side of the house where I’ll be growing the lettuce {Butter crunch, Romaine and something else}, . The weather has been warmer than normal lately so I’m not too sure how it’s going to hold out. We’ll see I guess.
Diane says
Here in the Northwest, I grow a lettuce variety called “Jericho” during the summer. It was originally developed in Israel so I figured it would do well during the summer here. I’ve had great success with it and it didn’t bolt on me. It is a romaine type.
Just thought I’d mention it in case folks were not familiar with it. Of course, all bets are off this year, I’m thinking we are looking at a Kansas type of summer up here this year. I’m thinking of putting up a shade screen for greens this summer. I’ve been scouting out the remnant tables at the fabric store and as soon as I find a good deal up it will go! Happy gardening to you all!
JoyceDerhousoffTucker says
Hi Mavis: you mentioned you constructed your new garden beds from 5 x 10 Douglas fir. Do you mean 5″ x 5″ x 10’? How long will it take before these beds rot out? Also, how high are your beds? I count 4 high, so is that 20 inches?
My hubby will be making beds for me at our new place in Eastern WA, and is planning on using 4x4x10 cedar. The cost of this wood is scarey expensive.
What has your experience been with garden beds that are not cedar? How long will they last before the wood begins to rot? Wondering if paying extra for cedar is worth it.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! 5″ by 5″ by 10′ Douglass Fir. Cedar was about 2/3rd more. Everything rots eventually but I’m sure I will be able to get 5 years out of the beds we built.