The Garden, Weeks 8 and 9: I Am Pretty Sure it's Ugly (SIGH)

I freely admit that when I started on this garden insanity last January I was under the vague impression that gardening WAS a lot of work but I would probably be able to fashion something attractive that produced edible things without TOO much effort.

I was looking at gardens like this on Pinterest and thinking they were actually achieveable. (Damn you, Pinterest, for making common people think they can DIY anything.)

Source: ana-white.com via A'Dell on Pinterest

 

Source: thisoldhouse.com via A'Dell on Pinterest

 

Source: goinghometoroost.com via A'Dell on Pinterest

 

You guys? I am dying of Pinterest shame, but my garden looks like this: 

(Good news! Nobody is going to Pin this sad garden! This website is as far as my shame will go. PHEW.)

It's SO UGLY. I'm so sad. I have two tables turned upside down, holding the wire in place so the bunnies don't go under it. I also did not bother to cut the remaining wire from the roll, electing instead to go inside and have dinner. Nothin' but high class, Pinnable gardens here, folks.

It was looking kind of okay, up until the part where I hastily wrapped chicken wire around the whole thing. We have a bunch of rabbits and I knew if I left those plants out there for even ONE night I'd come back to nibbled tomatoes. Towards the end of my TWO HOUR transplanting event (I am still not sure how I took so long to plant a dozen tomatoes and three peppers) I was of the "fuck this" mindset so I wrapped it up and decided to make it look better another day. (I'm still working on the HOW part of that plan.)

Also, I was having fits over those tomato cages. I wanted NICE cages. Perhaps DIY cages, because almost everyone on the internet that has grown a tomato says those traditional tomato cages suck. If the tomatoes don't have a proper place to climb then you won't get as many tomatoes and...this felt like a big decision to make. I didn't want to spend $200 on fancy cages, but I suspected that I didn't have it in me to MAKE my own, no matter how simple Pinterest said it would be. (PINTERST LIES! LIIIIIIIES!)

I talked to Elizabeth (my tomato garden sensei) and SHE uses the old school cages and if it's good enough for her it's good enough for me and also it was going to make my life eight million times easier to just buy the stupid things. I ponied up $5 for each the big suckers and crammed nine of them in my SUV. (I need to go back for three more.) We'll see how they do. I can always do it differently next year or keep these and add new ones to the mix. I spent $300 to remove a tree, $45 on cages isn't so bad. 

(In other news: THIS GARDEN IDEA IS GETTING KIND OF SPENDY.) 

Oh, yeah, we had a tree removed!

As previously noted, this tree was blocking all of the sunshine so we hired a guy with a chainsaw and about 15 minutes later the tree was in pieces. It was very impressive.

 

Then a guy came and ground the stump, which was ALSO impressive to watch.

I really loved the guys we hired and highly recommend if you're in the DFW area and need trees trimmed, removed, etc.

(LOOK AT ALL THAT GLORIOUS SUNSHINE!)

Aaaaaand I finally got some dirt

I got my soil at Living Earth. I paid about $45 for a cubic yard of Vegetable Mix, which is what the guy on the phone told me to buy. It has some good garden buzzwords in it like LOAM and MULCH so I said okay, give me some of that stuff. 

Vegetable Garden Mix is a unique blend of compost, loam, sand, aged mulch, expanded shale and Texas Green Sand. It will perform well with most plantings, especially vegetables. It has excellent drainage, moisture retention and friability. 

If you think this is not what I should have bought? Perhaps keep that opinion to youself since I hauled A CUBIC FREAKING YARD of this stuff around the house in about 20 trips with a wheelbarrow.

Oh, yes, that's Claire and my grandfather helping. COMMUNITY EFFORT, Y'ALL. Claire's wheelbarrow was an Easter gift from Grandma and it is basically the cutest thing in the world. She plays with it all the time, indoors and out.

I don't know, it's just not all that impressive. All of that work and I get....this? This is not inspirational. It's just a bunch of dirt.

Perhaps slightly more interesting, this is how I felt after hauling it around.

Thus endeth Weeks 8 and 9 of The Garden.

Comments

[Elizabeth]

It gets impressive when you post the pictures of the TOMATOES. That third pinterest picture with the trellised tomatoes is clearly fake, btw. SO FAKE.
This will all be worth it when the BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL non fake tomatoes show up.

[Susan Freel]

I need one of those wheelbarrows!

[Erica]

Wow this is getting serious.

[Emily]

Two things. First? I am totally going to pin your garden on Pinterest.

And two? These are like, totally my favorite posts right now in my reader. I love the A'Dell take on everything, but I ESPECIALLY love the A'Dell Garden DIY Series.

"It has some good garden buzzwords in it like LOAM and MULCH so I said okay, give me some of that stuff." THIS IS MY FAVORITE. I can just HEAR you sighing at the end.

[Marie]

Our garden also looks pathetic! The begging of the garden year (SUCH HOPE AND PROMISE) then a stupid frost and plus all the plants look so little and weak! Like a newborn laying on a king bed but not the garden isnt cute yet either! Keep in mind, its only april and by july, things will be prettier (keep up with the stupid weeds!)
But I seriously loved this post because its exactly how I feel. Cost efficient garden? I dont actually see that occuring since we've had to re-buy half the plants already(April frost. you confused yourself with march. damnit)

[HereWeGoAJen]

I need to go get some tomato cages too and I am so going to buy those exact ones. And just think next year, how cheap our gardens will be when we already HAVE all this stuff.

[obabe]

Dont fret! gardens dont look so great at first. when they get really green and bushy and GROWING you will be so happy!!
also they have colored tomato cages at lowes. i was too cheap to buy them- the regular steel ones were 2.97 each, but maybe spray paint yours? (cause you want more work to do, im sure)

[Holly]

I may be off here, but your yard is completely fenced, right? So that means the bunnies are trapped in your yard, yes? Or there is some small space they're squeezing through to get inside. Perhaps you should make sure every nook and cranny of your fence is sealed - putting that chicken wire stuff behind the bushes or along the fence in spots if need be, then set some humane traps to release the bunnies outside your yard. Voila! You can have your pretty planter boxes without the surrounding wire!

Unless Texas bunnies can hop 6ft fences. Then I stand corrected. But of course your little chicken wire fence wouldn't be helping then either.

[megan]

Well. You can't really compare fully grown gardens to a new garden. Next year you will be an old pro. I basically just go to the garden store and buy seedlings and then Miracle Gro the crap out of them. So, I love reading all about this! :)

[Meghan]

You just need to be patient... your plants are not mature. They will grow and get green and beautiful!!

[Mel]

I suspect that ugly grown tomatoes taste just a delicious at beautifully grown tomatoes? I kid, I kid. Seriously, I don't think it looks as bad as you think it does. Pinterest makes the humans feel bad about themselves.

You are doing marvelous with this garden business, even if you're not totally sold. If it weren't for the gigantic wasteland of pool and concrete in my backyard, I'd be stealing your every last move.

[Life of a Doctor's Wife]

I kind of want to hug you for this post. I guess I did not realize just how BLATANT the Pinterest lies were, so this makes me feel better.

Now, to make YOU feel better: I got one of those little seed pellet things at Home Depot, where you water the little dried-up dirt circles and plant seeds in them? And all of the things I planted are moldy. Plus, two of the four herb plants I've planted are dead. Basil and cilantro, just DEAD.

And I transplanted some hyacinths and they are living, but just barely, and they look horrible.

SIGH. Keeping things alive is hard work.