2013 Garden
I stumbled on some old garden pictures and was struck by how much things have changed over the years. The photos are not that great, but in the one above you can still make out the long freshly turned bed.
The area is where we have our long rows of green beans today.
Prior to the time it was tilled in 2013 I had a long border of flowers growing in the area. My flowers didn’t take up the entire space. When The Deer Hunter tilled it up he also took part of the yard.
2014
Again not the greatest photo but you can see the newly planted long bed just beyond The Deer Hunter and his bow. The beans are just a few inches tall.
Late summer 2014
The beans grew amazing well that year. We only had them trellised on sea grass twine and the weight of the bean vines nearly pulled the whole thing down. As the beans ran out of trellis to grow on they started moving out in the yard towards the house.
The garden photos I’ve shared look sort of pitiful compared to our gardens today. But one of the good things about time is—it allows you to work and improve.
Over the years we have worked hard on amending the soil. As the girls got older and spent less time playing in the yard we increased the garden size. In the last few years we added cattle panels for beans to climb.
Even though we’ve made many improvements, there are still things we’d like to do.
The soil in the upper end still needs a lot of work.
We’d love to enlarge the upper end and let the garden flow on up the bank.
For the last few years I’ve tried to surround the vegetables in the garden with flowers. Although I’ve had a little success, it’s never turned out like I wanted it to. So I will try again next year.
I’ve described the life of our garden in this post, but I could just as easily have been describing my own life. I’m not what I once was but hopefully I’m not what I will be as I work to improve myself.
Last night’s video: Cook Supper with Matt and Me: Fresh Deer Back Strap, Roasted Okra, Green Beans, Kraut, & Cornbread.
Tipper
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Tipper, I have always enjoyed your garden videos from your vegetables to your flowers. You remind me of daddy, he would always say concerning his garden, ” there’s always room for improvement.” He loved his garden, and I really believe that was what kept him going for as long as it did. Thanks for sharing all that you and Matt do.
It was interesting to see the changes over the years with your gardening. Makes one thankful nothing is ever ‘set in stone’ and that there is always room for change. Like life as a whole. As you made mention of: we are not who we once were. Life is a continual evolving and learning be it personally or in this case, gardening. How ever you two put your gardens together, they always looks visually appealing. I like the incorporation of floral and vegetable in same plots of ground.
I think every gardener has had these wonderful experiences. As a very young woman, maybe 21 or 22, I decided to make a large garden with everything growing together, kind of like an English garden. Oh my goodness, what a mess and mistake that was. I had beans and squash climbing everything else in the garden and pumpkins climbing over and smashing all of it. My “garden” looked like a forest of kudzu! I managed to get a few vegetables in spite of myself, but the season was awash in this foolishness. I can remember standing next to my children’s swing set, looking at the fruits of my labors and thinking, “Okay, well I won’t be doing that again!” Live and learn.
Gardens are such a life lesson! For awhile I would plant marigold around the edge of the garden to keep out certain bug nasties. This time of year I enjoy clearing out the old plants and planting clover and other cover crops that fix nitrogen in the soil and improves it. The gentle rains and watering helps them grow fast. In late February I just turn it all under and it helps the soil improve with the new sileage.
This time of year I enjoy clearing out the old plants and planting clover and other cover crops that fix nitrogen in the soil and improves it. The gentle rains and watering helps them grow fast. In late February I just turn it all under and it helps the soil improve with the new sileage.
Norman, I just paused & said a prayer for your friend, Mike Evan’s, asking our loving & merciful Lord to drain that fluid off Mike’s lungs & to heal him. A friend from Mississippi
Your garden looks great because of your and Matt’s hard work. Some days you are tee totally worn out, but at the same time your body and mind are renewed by the labor of love!
Amen. Isn’t that true for all of us?
Gardening is a labor of love. It’s a place I go to connect to God, the earth and really what and who I am-made from the very dirt the Word clearly says and it’s where I’m heading back to in the flesh when this body stops breathing. It’s a place I go to hop and dream or sometimes just think about nothing and am present just in the moment of utter joy and just being alive. I may journal what worked well or didn’t this year cause it’s a learning process. Life is a learning process as is gardening. The failure hurts and the success swells your pride. Lol
Tipper, I always enjoy your videos showing your garden, cooking and family. I still have many flowers blooming, and the crepe myrtle trees came out after we started having rain. I have some beautiful dahlias that still come up every spring even though I planted them in 2016. Family is important and you show that in your videos. You see how fast your girls have grown up and now have their own children well the grandchildren grow up just as fast. Time goes so quickly. Enjoyed your video last evening.
You and Matt have really inspired my husband and I in our gardening! We love using cattle panels! We too are continuing to expand and improve each season!
Always enjoy the gardening videos. Everything looks so lush and green and the flowers always look so beautiful. A feast for the eyes.
Isn’t it interesting to look back and see how things change over the years? My wife and I bought land in1979 and moved into our new home in February of 1980. The land had to be cleared for the house and yard. We’ve made changes and improvements through the years and like you and Matt, we’re still working on it and ourselves.
Love your posts. As a new grandma myself, I would like to hear more about the boys and how you are balancing being a grandma with working outside and working in your kitchen.
My granddaughter just turned 1 on Saturday. My daughter will be returning to work next week. I will be keeping the baby. I don’t want to be totally consumed with the baby. I love cooking and gardening too. Any tips?
Teresa-I don’t keep the grandsons everyday so I don’t have much advice about how to get it all done. Hopefully someone else will and chime in. We are really enjoying the boys though. They are so sweet. Matt and I are just crazy about them 🙂
my friend Mike Evans is in the hospital with fluid on his lungs, some of you have prayed for him before, I appreciate it very much, if you wouldn’t mind praying, God bless you
Norman-I am praying for him.
Prayers on the way.
Norman, I am praying for Mike Evans.
Norman – I will pray for your friend Mike✝️
I had the same thing two years ago and was hospitalized for nearly a month. It was shocking because I did not realize I was having a problem. The solution for me was to change to an all-protein diet, lose 80 pounds, get rid of the diabetes, which I also did not know I had, and to eat for nutrition and not pleasure (hard to do), but thank you, Jesus, for saving life in this instance as well as my soul. I will be praying for your friend.
A garden feeds us physically, but it makes us think deeper too.
My husband can turn just about anything into a sermon. I have to be careful what I say or do or he’ll use it on Sunday. lol
Your garden looks great. You can tell ya’ll have put much love into it.
My reply concerns your husband, I have known a preacher for more than 50 years (now 90 years old) that can take the most simple everyday things and turn them into a sermon even a child can understand. To me, his sermons are like the parables that Jesus used to teach by when He was on earth. At 90 years old he is still going strong. A few years ago he received The Order Of The Palmetto award, the highest civilian award given in SC by the governor. This man is my wife’s uncle by marriage.
I get lots of inspiration from your garden. I love how hodge podge it is with in ground, planters, raised beds. It’s really inspired me to try different things together! I always think “how would tipper do this?” You just give off a feeling of freedom where as alot of other people have a “this is THE way to do it” attitude. Thank you for sharing with us over the years!