Zoe From Lancaster, Pennsylvania Sends in Her Garden Photos

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other people’s pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

Hello friends of Mavis,
I love seeing your gardening posts and snapped some pics of my own to share!

Basically our whole backyard is devoted to gardens. First is the “small garden”. It’s on the east side of a barn next to our driveway. Along the barn wall I have red raspberries. Having the wall on one side means I only need to control the shoots on one side since they spread so readily!

In the one corner of this garden my husband built a skid house for the kids. They have their little garden area here. You can see their tiny lettuce, carrots, and beets popping up.

To the north of the same barn is our chickens. I have 22 hens and a rooster. Their house is an old storage shed that was on a property my dad and brother were fixing up. It works perfectly since putting in windows and a small door. In their run are a few apple trees. Big mistake. They peck every apple they can reach! Oh well. Cheap chicken food!

Just east of the chickens is the orchard and “big garden”. It looks unimpressive from this angle but it’s about 5 times larger than the small one. We’ve had a cold wet spring this year so it doesn’t look like much out there yet. Strawberries are at one end and there’s corn, green beans, and vine crops planted. I’ll do several more plantings to get successive crops. The orchard has cherries, plums, peaches, and another apple.

Next is the raised beds, my favorite area. I baby these things more than the other gardens! I plant most of my small crops in here…lettuce, onions, herbs, etc. Just to the left you can see the fences we put peas and heirloom lima beans on.

I recently learned how to use our riding mower and I’m now obsessed with mulching. Not sure if it will help with weeds or just make them worse by introducing even more but at least the nitrogen will be good for the plants!

Here’s a closeup of one of my beds. Early spring, as soon as I can work dirt, I plant small amounts of some early crops, just to see if they make it. Kohlrabi, lettuce, carrots, beets, and turnips.

The first lima bean poking through! And a good crop of weeds…

Next to the raised beds are the grape arbors. We have six concord vines and two of some type of red grapes that aren’t very tasty. I want to rip them out.

Chives! I love their pretty purple flowers. And they are usually the first green thing to poke up in the spring. I love them on my eggs.
Last but not least is our patio. We use this when we entertain. And last year we started occasionally allowing the kids to build small fires. This year they are starting to cook on it. They have a little pot of tea steeping at the moment!

Besides more flower beds around the house, that sums up my gardens! You can check out my blog if you want to see how I cook with all this produce as well as bake with whole grains… www.zoedawn.wordpress.com. And when I’m not dealing with food, I’m usually in the sewing room making quilts and pot holders! www.zoedawn.etsy.com

Thanks friends! I look forward to seeing more of your gardens.

~Zoë

ë

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.