Greetings and Salutations, blog readers!

Spring is very much here, and here in Texas, it is hot most of the time now. It is staying above 50 at night, and the daytime fluctuates between 70-80 – which is by in large a great time for gardening.

My garden is container and raised bed style, for a few reasons involving the instability of Texas weather, and also to allow me to move things around as needed in the new yard I am unfamiliar with. This will also allow me to treat any problems that arise, like garden pests or disease.

I have been hard at work putting together a nice garden, including a fairly large herb garden, and even working on some fruits and vegetables. Travis was kind enough to make me one raised bed, with more planned for the future, and in that bed, I plan on growing some vegetables like cucumber and zucchini, along with some legumes and peppers.

I have a watermelon start that I wanted to place into that bed, but then realized it would be inviting more pest problems, (cucumber and watermelon are not good to plant together, same with zucchini and watermelon) – but I have two pepper plants that could go in, and I have some pea, edamame, and bean seeds that I am going to be planting, all of these will require some trellising and support. I have some latticing for that bed, but I don’t have poles to stake the peppers, nor do I have poles for making teepees for the beans and peas, so you can guess what I will be getting when I next go to the store.

I need to find a home for the watermelon, and I think I may put it in one of the larger containers I have, or I’ll get another 5-gallon bucket, and another bit of lattice, so it can grow upward.

Hopefully keeping it off the ground will help keep bugs off it.

In terms of pest control, I have something that was suggested by the Aggie at the garden shop- I highly trust any Aggie when it comes to garden and farm stuff, and I also have the more natural way of going about it- Lots of deterring herbs. I have Sage, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Rosemary, Catnip, Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Bee Balm, Cinnamon basil, and I will be adding some Mint to this collection as well. Lots of these herbs work as a good deterrent for bugs, some are also great pollinators.

All in all, my hopes are that they all work together to grow a nice garden. I also planted some potatoes in potato bags, along with some red onions. I got a beautiful jasmine plant to help with pollination and also because it is lovely, which is seated amount the Meyer lemon tree, the satsuma tree, the blackberry vines, and the blueberry bushes.

I also added some strawberry plants to this mix because I love strawberries.

The garden is thriving, and with lots of care and attention, it is becoming a beautiful feature of my new home. I am so happy and grateful to have a nice yard with so much natural sun. While I may be allergic to the sun, I am very much similar to the druid I play at Dungeons and Dragons, and I love to garden, so with a big sun hat and lots of SPF, I am enjoying the wonderful awesomeness that I am getting to grow.

Expect another couple of blogs with lots of fun pictures and details about the growing garden, it is beautiful and wonderful. If you haven’t started a garden this season, you still have time. A couple of containers, some bags, and some seeds can have you off to the races, or you can grab some plant starts at your local nursery. If you live in an apartment like I used to, which had ZERO natural light, you can also grab an aero garden system and use that to grow some herbs, cherry tomatoes, or any other plants- the sell empty pods for your seeds, or you can use one of their pods- their plants are perfect for the system, designed to be smaller.

No matter what kind of space or garden you have, I hope you get to get some growing in this spring and keep it up all summer. With how the world is looking, a garden can help you reclaim some peace of mind, and help you not be so reliant on grocery stores, while also getting some great outside time. Gardening is also shown to improve mental health so enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Abbi