Blog Parties

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

It's a Garden Party & our first harvest



Welcome to my new blog. A lot of you may know me from my other blog Manning Family Tree. I decided to start a separate blog just for my blog parties & decorating stuff. I will now be posting my family photos & family stuff on my old blog. So welcome, welcome.

Kimba over at A Soft Place to Land is having a Garden Party today. And Tam over at The Gypsy's Corner is hosting her weekly Three or More Tuesday Party. So I thought I would join both parties today. So why don't you come along to my backyard & I'll show you at least three different things.

We'll will start off with the "before" photo of one of our tomato plants. This photo was taken at the end of March. My hubby bought this topsy turvy thingy to try our first attempt at growing tomatoes. He first had it hanging from the patio on our side yard. See how small the plant is? I'm sure it was thinking "Hey, why am I hanging upside down?". And be sure you focus just on the plant & not on the grass that needs to be mowed or the other crap that should not be in the photo. I was in a hurry when I took this photo. Call me human.


And here is the "after" photo (taken just this morning). The tomato plant on the left is this same plant. As you can see it is getting quite big. It has lots of Roma tomatoes just waiting to ripen up & be picked to make salsa. Can't wait. My hubby decided he loved the topsy turvy so he bought some more. We have 3 hanging on this mobile garden my hubby built. The middle one has Jalapeno peppers and the one on the right is regular tomatoes. The Roma tomato plant is doing the best. But it had a head start. See how all the plants turn up to catch the sun? I would be doing the same thing.
Here is a photo of the entire mobile garden. I'll hopefully be doing a post about this next Monday for Metamorphosis Monday. Luckily the weather has been quite cool for southern California. I'm so afraid when it gets hot (and it will soon) that everything will die.
And here is our string bean plants. We just got our first harvest off these plants yesterday. I was so excited. This is our first year planting a garden. So you can see why I was so excited.
Ta da!!!! And here is our harvest. Eight beans!!!!! We have 4 people in my family, so that is two a piece. I am going to cook them up for dinner tonight. There are more growing on the stalks, but these 8 were the only ones ready to pick. I feel like a farmer! I am now a country girl!! Woo hoo!!! Have you ever seen someone get so excited over 8 beans? I didn't think so. Now I'll show you a few of the other green things in our yard. This is the "before" photo of the hanging baskets on our lamp post. This was also taken back at the end of March.

And here is the "after" photo taken this morning. I just love when the flower baskets fill in. Here is a bougainvillea plant. This plant was almost completely dead a couple of months ago. Hubby trimmed it back & gave it some tender loving care. And just look at the results. Hubby needs to plant it up against the fence, but for now, we enjoy it by our pool.
And finally our dolphin topiary. This photo was taken last week. Since then, hubby has trimmed it up so it looks much better. I should have taken a new photo this morning, but I forgot. This topiary came with the house & was originally on our back hill & completely dead. Hubby moved it, planted a new plant & gives it his tender loving care. This is hubby's pride & joy.
And there you have our garden and a sampling of some of the green things in our backyard. Hubby had to borrow my camera today, so I didn't have time to take many photos. Those who know me, know that I am a procrastinator & usually don't take photos & do my post until the last possible minute. Keeps life exciting!

Now be sure to visit A Soft Place to Land & The Gypsy's Corner to see all the other participants in these fun blog parties. And don't forget to sign up as a follower, especially if you followed me on Manning Family Tree. I'm sure this blog will be more to your liking, unless you like looking at family photos.


Kim

22 comments:

  1. Your yard is fantastic, I love the dolphin! WOW!

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  2. Found ya! And I'm laughing. Are you really going to cook those eight beans? Wouldn't our ancestors get a kick out of this? We get so excited over our gardens (and honey, I'm in there with ya) that eight beans is reason for a party! My husband just looks at me funny and ignores me when I say "Guess what's blooming? Oh my gosh, you gotta come see!" And goes back to watching TV. I started my second blog for similar reasons. All avid gardeners (you know, the kind "unlike" me who know the proper names of plants) don't always want to see someone decorating file folders! So that's how these things come about. I am here to welcome second blog of yours to The Land Of Blog!
    Brenda

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  3. You have so many neat things in your yard!! I am in awe of the dolphin topiary. I have never seen anything like it! It looks great by your pool. I love how you have all your hanging baskets, your garden is so colorful!

    I was just like you when I started my veggie garden. To grow something you can also eat...I felt like Mother Earth!!

    Happy Tuesday and enjoy those green beans tonight! :-)

    xoxo
    Jane

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  4. love your blog
    and your plants
    and your flowers
    and your yard...thx 4 sharing
    you're gonna so enjoy those 8 beans, congrats!
    what is the tree behind your lamp post? don't believe i've ever seen one of those
    enjoyed the dolphin, too, hubby's talented :)

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  5. OMG you guys must have green thumbs. My daughter got me a topsy turvey for Mothers Day and I'm not sure my little tomatoe has grown an inch!!! I love all your veggies - the topiary is just gorgeous! I'm glad you came over to Blue Creek Home. Come back soon. Rhonda

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  6. LOVE your garden and all the beautiful plants. Love your new blog too. I will be back. Hugs, Marty. P.S. Don't forget the Cloche Party this Friday. Hope to see you there. Hugs, Marty

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  7. Hi Kim! Congratulations on your new blog. So funny that your family members didn't want all the fun blog parties posted on the family blog. :0)
    Looks like everything is growing well at your place...enjoy!

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  8. Your backyard is beautiful, and my husband and I both were interested in your hanging tomatoes. Let me know how they do. We might like to try that. Thanks for stopping by. Jackie

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  9. You have such a wonderful garden. That mobile garden is awesome!!! I also absolutely love the dolphin topiary!
    Thank you for joining 'Three Or More' and have a wonderful evening,
    Tam

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  10. WOW!! I love the wooden rack that you have your tomatos hanging from!! All your plants..beautiful!! And you say you hate dirt?? I cant say that I believe you!! Ha ha. Thanks for stopping by!!

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  11. How did you get your baskets to grow like that? They look fantastic! All your gardening projects are great! We are trying to grow tomatoes for the very first time. In coffee cans (my son and I, as an extention of our school study on plants). Any tips?

    Thanks for stopping by my blog.

    P.S. be glad you don't live in S.E. Texas. It will be in the high 90s all week, with the heat index above 100. And it's only June. GAH!

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  12. Absolutely beautiful yard and garden. Puts mine to shame!!

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  13. Your yard is awesome! One of the best I have seen on this party tour:) I am totally having pool envy...it is to die for. I have never had any luck with tomato plant, great job. That dolphin is really a piece of art. Thanks for stopping by on my blog. Shauna

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  14. Oh, how much I love that dolphin! Can you send your husband my way just to start me off with one! That is so cool! Your flowers look so pretty, and your new blog looks great! laurie

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  15. Wow~I'm in awe of your beautiful baskets! Yay for your first beans as well! :)

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  16. Your garden is beautiful and has so many delightful features!

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  17. Wow! Love your gorgeous yard! And porch, too!

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  18. What? All of that is in your backyard! Simply amazing and so beautiful!

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  19. Great yard! Love that mobile garden. What a neat idea! The dolphin looks perfect next to the pool!

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  20. Good idea to start this blog and keep the other one for family. Love that dolphin topiary!! Your tomatoes look good! I've never tried the upside planters but so many people have good resuls with them that I just might! Everything looks really lovely!
    Manuela

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  21. Ha, so funny about those 8 beans. I bet they were delicious. MMmmm, a littel butter and salt :) I Love your hanging baskets, I just filled mine, a little late, but hey, better late than never :)

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  22. Yowza! That's all so beautiful! I love those baskets!

    Kimba

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