I decided to make a couple of raised beds this year.   I loved the garden last year but was disappointed with the fruits yielded from my labor ;)

So, I built 2 4x8 beds and hopefully the fruits will be sweet and lots of 'em!

Joann do you have a problem with birds eating all your tidbits from your garden?  Mockingbirds have taken over in our neighborhood and you can't let a tomato get ripe on the vine.  I tried netting it but that was just to much trouble to deal with.  

Last year was my first year, I think I had rabbits nibbling on stuff low like the tomatoes.  I was disappointed with the yields I had that's why I did the raised beds.  I was at Lowes today and picked up a couple more tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplant. 

My best tomato last year was yellow pears and sweet 100.  I added brandywine and indigo something - it's a cherry type.  I also have 3 peppers, basil, chives and parsley in the beds.  Outside the beds I have lavender, rosemary, oregano, thyme and some lemon thing I never planted last year;)  My eyes tend to be bigger then my plot.  I also have the fig tree as you can see.  I purchased it as a Celeste and it was id'd here as LSU Purple.  Whatever the name is I love it!!

As for the birds - they need to eat too, so I hope there will be enough for all of us.

Nice job Jo Ann! I did raised beds as well this year and I have been amazed at the difference. I've been harvesting chard, parsley and cilantro for over a month and the bell peppers are coming in nicely. Shallots should be ready soon and then we'll see if I can figure out how to braid them.

I put my tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplant in 5 gallon buckets and I'm finally getting tomatoes. In years past the tomato yield has been abysmal and it was cheaper to buy them. In the regular beds I have jalapeno's growing like weeks and pumping out peppers, it's going to be a good year in the garden.

I'm also trying some in ground peppers this year for the first time. I've planted Bhut Jolokia in the chocolate and yellow forms, Chinese multi colored peppers, Black Pearl peppers and one other asian that I forgot the name of. The black pearl peppers are beautiful plants and I'm loving them just to look at so if the peppers aren't what we hope we can enjoy the plant.

Has anyone here grown potatoes in barrels? Is it as easy as people make it sound?

The garden looks great (I remember the before pictures). BTW its not really off topic, The LSU Purple is prominent in a majority of the pictures : )
Best of Luck with the garden this year.

Nice work JoAnn...I like that scalloped area with the fig tree in the center...also, it looks like that puppy is growing up just fine.....Good Luck. 

JoAnn, your garden looks great. Love your puppy , so cute. This is the first year we won't be planting a garden :-( . Too much other work to do and getting this house on the market this summer. Of course I have all my fig trees and new cuttings that are really taking off.

Keep those pics coming , luv to see your garden in full grow mode !

Jo-Ann those beds look great and so does the fig.

Tami- I have never tried potatoes in a bucket but my mom grows them in a grow bag and gets pretty good yields.

I grew potatoes in a 1/2 whiskey barrel last year and yielded less than I planted. I was getting perched water and rotting them. This year I'm going to try again but will run some nylon rope through the drain holes to about mid level of the pot to wick away the excess moisture.

JoAnn- the garden is looking good. Be sure to trellis your cukes to save space, keep them clean, and easy to spot and harvest.

Looks nice, Jo-Ann!

Cute pup too, is that a labradoodle? Cockapoo..cockadoodledoo.. :)

Nice- I always like the pooch photos.

And I swear by the raised beds- may need a little more watering, just seems so much easier/efficient for me. 

I gave my sister (Flower Mound TX) a VDB last year and haven't heard a peep- probably not good. LOL

If they drive up this summer, I will ask your advice on the best TX fig.

nice rised beds. i want to try something like that. but will have to get fence first. cute looking puppy there :)

JoAnn, I love gardening as much as I love propagating, growing, and eating figs. It's amazing how much you can grow in your yard. Living in the deep south I can garden year round starting with sweet peas (Jan), snap beans, tomatoes, cucumber (Feb/Mar), okra, corn and southern peas (summer), followed by cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower in the fall, plus seed my onions for transplanting in January. We get to eat the cream of the crop and put a lot up in the freezer and pressure can. Here are some random photos of my current and past gardens.

Me standing in my rows of okra


Tomatoes


Strawberries


Snapbeans



Brussel sprouts


Cauliflower


Onions


Figs

Wow, fantastic Gene !!!

okra.. i need some. it's been awhile since i last made some gumbo.. my wife and i love gumbo, just that our kids don't like 'em. and my 5th day of eating gumbo, i got tired too.

Very nice JoAnn, and always nice to have a pup in the garden to keep you company.

Gene - very nice also.

Barry the okra in the picture is called Fife County Okra. I bought it on line. It doesn't always come up so robust but usually like most okra. That year it just grew like crazy. I planted it like I usually do, following my snap beans. I did nothing special.

Thank everyone for the kind remarks.
"gene"

JoAnn, it looks good. You can use one for starting some new figs.

This must be the year of raised beds. My friend made a few and I just made 3 raised beds a couple of weeks ago and I might make another small one.

Thanks everyone!  This spring has been a bit unusual for me.  Glenn went to the ER with pneumonia on 2/28, we got the pup the next day.  Of course he wouldn't stay in the hospital for a few days so I brought him home.  The day after we got the pup I started her in puppy training classes.  Pete, as you have experienced new pups yourself the housebreaking/training is not a one day thing.  To make it a bit more difficult we have the potty patch for indoor and we are bringing her outdoors.  My stress level between the 2 has been a bit high to say the least :0 

I bought the wood for the raised beds at the end of March and it took me a month to finally build them.  Mother nature didn't cooperated with it being the coldest spring I could remember here!!  Sorry, I am not going out there in 40 degrees to garden - I left NY for a reason!  So April was a lost month for me - heck it was 39 just 2 weeks ago!

I planted a few tomato and pepper seeds right after Glenns FIRST trip to the ER.  Sad to say they didn't make it - maybe it was lack of water, sunshine, food - all of the above?  There is always next year for tomatoes and peppers from seed.  I think I will add some carrots, radishes, swiss chard - and whatever else I could cram in there.  I really have to get all of the plants in the ground - I've had some since last year - herbs and flowers I haven't planted yet. Again, my eyes are bigger then my plot.

I never wanted a fence, but now with the pooch I think it will be necessary - just chain link 4-5' high.  I could still do my fig hedge at the edge of the property in the back and it will be vertical growing room! I also picked up a blackberry plant marked down to 2 bucks at Lowes and it is growing!  Don't know where it will go yet!  If I had the fence up it would be near it - maybe a grapevine too;)

Gene - WOW!!!  That is impressive!!  If I could stomach Ocra I might grow it - what a beautiful plant!

I have read you can grow potatoes in black trash bags!!  Google trash bag potatoes and you see instructions - I might try it myself - I bought the seed potatoes;)  See what I mean about my eyes being bigger then my plot?!

By the way, the flowers between the roses are Stella D'oro daylillies!  I planted them last year from bulbs, or tubers or what ever they are.  Not a great display last year - love em this year!!!

Thanks Jo-Ann, I really like the diversity of your garden. One day I'll get to the point of adding flowers too. By the way I've never seen or heard from a reliable source of anyone making potatoes in a stack of any kind, weather is tires, wood frame, bags, or hay stacks. I belong to a gardening forum and many have tried.
"gene"

JoAnn a beautiful yard and you really don't have to get in a hurry growing in your backyard.  There's a water hose to take care of the dry times and always some shady spots for the things you should of planted earlier.  Life is always happening around us so we just have to continually work around it.  Backyards are always a work in progress.

Gene that is some awesome okra.  My wife and I eat it anyway we can get it.  We are starting to really develop a taste for boiled okra.  Last week we had boiled okra and boiled corn on the cob and man it was so good together we couldn't believe it.

goss