Angie Windheim

I love growing things! I get so excited for April and May because I get to start in on my veggie garden. I just get giddy when I go to the garden centers and start finding new varieties of peppers and tomatoes. Then I start randomly grabbing seed packets. I always start out with a plan, but can’t resist adding a few extras once I get there.  I’m totally out of control!

Last year, I put in a nice curved raised bed with a rock border that I copied from a magazine.  I learned through that plan, that putting flowers in the garden is great for looks and attracting bees. It really was lovely. Unfortunately, it’s become very apparent that our garden spot it getting more and more shade.  So, we decided to move to a sunnier location on the southside of our shop.

Brian built 4 new, wood-framed raised beds and I was able to still use 3 othersI already had nearby. And, then because I couldn’t resist some pumpkins, potatoes and a cool little sweet potato vine, I had to expand a few beds 🙂  I’m a nut, I know.  

My raised beds are lined with newspaper and filled with 1 yard of blended topsoil from Valley Landscape. I’m growing 7 varieties of tomato (cherries, romas, big ones, heirlooms), 9 varieties of peppers (some hot, some sweet, no bell), zucchini, lemon cucumber, sweet peas, snap beans (bush), onions (yellow & red), potatoes (gold and red), lettuce, nasturtiums, chinese cabbage, basil, cilantro, chives, pumpkins (small and large) and sweet potatoes.  I also have established strawberries, grapes, blueberries, apples and pears. And I added plums and cherries to the orchard this year. I grow mostly from starts. Items in italics are from seed. 

I still need to add some flowers in addition to the nasturtiums and a “bug bath” to attract dragon flies and bees. All you need is a shallow bowl with some rocks for the bugs to land on and a little water. You do need to be sure to hose it out every 3 days or so to avoid mosquitoes.

I’ll be tracking how things are growing and take some pics. Stay tuned.