Harmony Hills Home and Garden: The Promise of a Small Vegetable Patch

I'm so happy we found a space for a tiny vegetable patch in our yard! It's pretty tiny, all things considered. I mean, we have a 1/2 acre, and this is the only spot I could find that might get enough sun to grow a tomato. It's tucked in, for sure: it's up against the new fence, hemmed in by the new brick walkway.

2016 Vegetable Patch

It only gets full sun from about 10:30am to about 3:00pm, and the rest of the time it has to fight for light from the fence, the overhead trees, and the house. But even though it's small, it's a start!

I put in four different tomato plants along the long edge of the fence.

Carolina Gold Tomato

Lemon Boy Tomato

Sweet Cherry 100 Tomato

Mega Bite Tomato

I put in cucumbers along the short edge of the fence, and gave them a simple trellis to climb. Not sure of the variety - the tag just said "cucumbers."

There are three different kinds of pepper plants: A green bell pepper ('Bell Boy') , a red bell pepper ('Sweet Red'), and sweet banana pepper.

Between the tall tomatoes, I planted small starts of mesclun lettuce that I had started from seed this spring. It gets just enough shade here that it's happy in its spot.

I also added a few bunches of cilantro and sweet basil to round out the mix.

In front of everything, standing like soldiers, I put a row of heirloom french marigolds that I started from seed. They are just beginning to bloom now, in late June.

That's the layout of the garden, but what I'm most excited about is all of the evidence of the promised bounty of the garden. The sight of these tiny tomatoes and the blossoms on the cucumbers, ... well, they just make my heart happy!

Mega Bite

Sweet 100 Cherry

Cucumber blossoms

Tiny cucumber fruit

This moment in time - when I'm waiting, waiting,... hoping for no disaster, watering and fertilizing right on schedule, watching the pollinators come and go - this is one of the best moments in the summer season. I love to check on the garden, then step over to the nearby hammock and lay down for a moment, swinging in the shade, picking up a bit of a breeze, and listen for the garden growing. Sometimes it feels like I can hear it, hard at work, doing its thing. It holds so much promise. Gardening is such a lesson in patience.

How's your vegetable patch coming along? I'd love to hear about it! Drop a note in the comments section to share!

Thanks so much for stopping by!