My garden has officially entered the wild zone! After carefully trying to contain my tomato vines as much as possible, I finally gave up & let them go!

I'm working on sprucing up the garden area with some aged mulch I had. It's been a slow process, but I'm getting there.

I stumbled upon some sad-looking lavender plants at Walmart & Home Depot on sale and couldn't resist bringing them home. Lavender is a perennial, so I'm looking forward to harvesting it year after year. I already got a small harvest this year that I plan to make into oils.

I also discovered some wild mint on our property, so I'm slowly transplanting some in another garden box. 

I'm currently obsessed with perennial herbs. Secretly, I love anything I only have to plant once!

My tomatoes are almost ripe, so it will be harvest time for them. Because I have so much going on, I'm planning on just freezing them & then figuring out what to do with them later.

I also have a few peppers coming along.

The garden takes quite a bit of upkeep, but I love it so much.

Here's a peek at my garden in June 2023!

The beginning of June was super dry & hot here. We went for an absurd amount of time without rain. Even though I was watering twice daily, the ground was still dry.

Finally, we got some rain & my plants took off! The scorching heat subsided, providing some much-needed relief for my thirsty plants.

This year, I planted tomatoes, peppers, corn & herbs.

I chose varieties with a short growing season for the tomatoes & corn. I want two determinate tomatoes growing "seasons" this year, so we'll see.

You may be surprised that I have tomatoes & peppers coming already. That's what happens when I can't wait & start seeds in January/February!

I'm still hoping to get in some pumpkins. I saved pumpkin seeds last year & I want to see if they'll grow this year.

It's so funny to look back on my gardening journey. I've been doing this for 7 years now & it's incredible how far I've come. I started with tiny garden boxes with plants I bought & almost killed. Now, I start my own plants from seeds & have thriving gardens!

It might be a little early to talk about the 2023 gardening season (especially since I still need to clear garden beds from the 2022 season!), but here I am.

I got an email this morning from my friends at Burpee & all of their seeds are currently buy one get one free! I couldn't pass that up, so I loaded my cart with everything!

I'd like to do a huge garden next year. I want to try all the varieties of everything!

I'm currently really into small-space gardening, so I got a lot of plants that can be grown in containers.

My current favorite pastime is watching gardening videos on YouTube. There are so many great ideas! 

Here's what I bought during the Burpee sale:

The plant crew of 2022 is finally coming together!

It was so funny; we were at our local greenhouse last weekend & I admired their beautiful veggie plants.  I told my son, "This is what happens when you don't wait until April 15 to start your seeds!" 

My plant crew seedlings are still super tiny, but they're coming along.  I have been taking them out of the greenhouse every day to get a little sun.  The temperatures here have been fantastic & they're only getting warmer this week.  We're also going to have a stretch where it will not rain for 5 days! I'm looking forward to that!

In other planting news, the little greenhouse that could is coming along nicely.  I dug some supplies out from the basement & moved some plastic shelving out to the greenhouse for storage.  I need to do a greenhouse tour because it's just the cutest.  It's such a small space, but it works really well for me.

Seedling mode is in full swing over here.  I'm slowly 'leveling up' some plants--moving them into bigger containers as they grow.  I love coming out & looking at the little ' glow-ups' of the plants every morning!

The Zinnia seeds Braxton & I planted are starting to sprout!  They're doing so well that I already had to level them up into cups!

I'm seed starting upstairs where it's super warm but I'm quickly running out of space!  I needed to get my plant setup going in the basement ASAP!

I'm so far behind on my seed starting this year.  I always think it's going to be tedious, so I just never start.  Then when I finally start a flat of seeds, I realize it doesn't take very long at all!

I've been buying tons of random seeds on my Sunday Walmart trips.  Now I just need to take a day & devote to seed starting everything I have!  

The weather is supposed to be warmer next week so I might be able to shuffle some plants to the greenhouse.

It's just been a slow & lazy start to gardening this year for me.

My "setup" this year is super simple & not fancy at all. I wasn't even going to post it because it's so plain!  But the thing is...it works!  I had plans for a beautiful setup, but the lazy setup works just as well! 

My garden plans for 2022!

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Gardening is one of my absolute favorite things to do but this year will be bittersweet.  James helped with the garden so much.  I know I will be constantly thinking about him this year while I'm doing all the garden things.

For past 2 years, we did large gardens.  The 2020 garden did so well.  It was our best garden ever.  We tried again last year but it was a disaster.  We were just beginning our cancer journey in June right after we put the garden in.  Things were neglected & then, after a series of floods, the garden was pretty much over with.

I have a different plan for the 2022 garden.  Because I have the greenhouse now, I want to move the garden closer to that.  I'm also going back to raised garden beds.  I don't think I'll have the time & energy to do a big garden this year.

I was super excited last summer when we had a few volunteer pumpkins come up.  I love decorating with pumpkins in the fall & homegrown pumpkins are the best!

I was then super disappointed when the pumpkin vines died early on & never produced a single pumpkin!  

I know it's early, but I'm determined to grow pumpkins next year!   

I'm always looking ahead & planning for next year's garden.  Adding to the excitement is that Burpee released their 2022 catalog already! 

As you may have noticed, I didn't do monthly garden updates this year.

The truth is that we struggled a lot with keeping up with the garden this year.

Then when we finally got everything back on track, we had a series of floods which really impacted the garden.

Our yard will sometimes flood after heavy rains in the summer but it never really reaches the garden.

This year we had 2 really big floods in the yard which ended up reaching the garden.  The first flood spared a couple rows of tomatoes but the second flood left everything underwater.  

It also has been a very rainy season overall so the garden could never fully dry out from the rain.  I'm still having a difficult time mowing the lawn because it is just so wet & muddy.

Here are a couple pictures from the floods we had:

Hey there, Green Thumbs and DIY Dreamers! 🌱✨

It's Tiff here, bringing you another chapter from my garden diary. Over the past five years, my tomatoes and I have been on a journey, discovering the art of staying upright and fabulous. Gardening is my canvas, and today, I'm painting you a picture of three clever ways to keep those tomato plants strutting their stuff!

🍅 Tomato Cages: My First Love

Remember my early gardening days? Tomato cages were my go-to. They're like training wheels for us gardening newbies - simple, no-fuss, and just pop them around your plant. Voila! Although, back then, my plants were more 'petite' before I introduced them to the magic of blood meal. For those who love a sprinkle of DIY, there are some snazzy, homemade cages out there. But hey, store-bought was my jam for keeping it easy-peasy!

🌿 Tomato Trellis: The Upgrade

Fast forward to when my tomato plants started throwing a growth party, and my cages just couldn't keep up. Enter the trellis system - my garden's version of a high-rise! We built these towering supports With stakes, wire, and a little help from my handyman hubby. It's like giving your tomatoes their own climbing frame, weaving them through as they reach for the sky!

🌳 Tomato Stakes: The Space Saver

Now, let's talk stakes - a method I'm currently flirting with. My parents swear by it, and I see why. Each tomato gets its personal stake, like a VIP garden club. As they grow, we tie them up gently with string. It's a space-saving marvel, keeping each plant in its lane neat and tidy.

So there you have it, my dear besties! Whether you're team cage, team trellis, or team stake, there's a method for every garden and every gardener. Remember, it's all about learning, growing, and having fun. Keep those tomatoes high and mighty!

Stay green and creative, my friends! 🌍✨🌼 

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My parents have been gardening for as long as I can remember.  Growing up, I never paid much attention to their gardening.  It just wasn't on my radar growing up.

I started my own gardening journey 4 years ago.  Since then, I have been all about gardening!  I started noticing other gardens & everything that is put into them.  Everyone's garden is different & I love seeing the different ways people garden.

My parents' garden is a great example of this.  They do gardening quite differently than I do.  One of the ways we're different in gardening is our tomato supports, which is the subject of today's post.

For their tomato supports, my parents use a single stake method.

If you remember our seed starting adventures from last year, we just used some random seeds we already had.

Since I was buying new seeds this year, I was a little more selective in my varieties.  I toned it down quite a bit too--I only chose 3 tomato varieties this year!

I also started peppers from seed this year so I picked out 2 varieties of peppers.

I spent quite a while browsing the Burpee website in search of the perfect seeds before I made my purchase.

Here's what I ended up with: