With every house we redo, there is always some kind of fun discovery.
In the spring of 2011 my son Tyler bought his first house (flip #7) It had been previously owned by a little old couple for 60 years…and behind those overgrown trees in his backyard we found a 60 year old organic garden! Oh my goodness-we come from a long line of gardeners… how cool is this?!
It took the entire summer to make this little house into Tyler’s home (away from home) We finished just in time for him to attend the University of Minnesota for Mechanical Engineering in the fall. Although we are not ready with the pictures of his house we couldn’t wait to share with you his very first garden. In the following spring we rototilled and discovered 2 feet of rich black dirt- I knew this garden was going to be something else!!! When I asked Ty what he wanted to grow he said he didn’t want just tomatoes and cucumbers- he wanted to try to grow things that were different. Off we went to the store and we had such a fun time
I knew with his summer classes that watering and weeding would be tough for him to squeeze in…. Allie & I stopped in to see him and to check on the garden- it was amazing to say the least…
His 8 heirloom tomatoes were so big & heavy they bent all their cages! The tomatillo plant turned into a “tree”, the age old morning glory took over everything else- and the pumpkins took on a life of its own!
Beets, carrots, Swiss chard, 2 different spinach, sugar snap peas, climbing beans, artichokes, zucchini, acorn squash, pie pumpkins, giant pumpkins, celery, broccoli, cucumbers, jalapenos, tomatillos, and that’s just what I can remember…..
Yes, those are peanuts! My Grandma Metz taught me this way when I was little; it was fun repeating the lesson!
Tyler had an amazing harvest! He had a lot of fun with this and when I asked him what he thought of doing it again this year he said “Ma-of course! Gardening is grocery shopping for the future” He has a valid point! As soon as Ty has a little free time I made him promise me that he would share his recipe for his rhubarb cocktails- they must have been delicious…. He actually ran out of rhubarb (9 plants?!!) Until then, plant a seed & give it some love <3
