Now that we live in a house with a large yard and more sunshine, I was really super excited to garden this summer. I bought some packs of seeds and my dad sprouted them for me (and then ended up transplanting them into my yard for me too). All is going well, except that it’s been so darn cold and rainy that I don’t have a whole lot to brag about yet. We’ve finally had a few days of warm sunshine so I should be harvesting here in no time.

There are a few things in our garden that I can’t take credit for. When we moved in to our new house, there was this tree in the middle of the backyard. I didn’t pay much attention to it until a couple of months ago when it started growing something. I thought at first that it was pears, but now I can see that they are apples. I have no idea what kind it is or if they even taste good, but I should be able to cook and can them at the very least. After a trip to the nursery to compare apples, I think these little guys are Jonagold apples:

And here’s another thing I was surprised about… our neighbor who we share a fence with has a pretty impressive garden going on. Just from peaking through the fence, I can see that she has a good-sized apricot tree as well as this:

GRAPES! When it first started creeping over the fence, I very nearly cut it because I thought it looked kinda ugly. Now that it’s grown in and isn’t just one little branch growing from out of nowhere, I think it looks ok. And after I saw the itty bitty grapes growing, I was really happy that I didn’t cut it back. Since taking the photo, which was a few weeks ago when I first started this post, the grapes on our side have probably doubled and I can see that the grapes are growing. Yay! We should be harvesting grapes next month sometime.

Now, this plant that was planted here before we moved in I thought for the longest time was a flower-less hydrangea. When I was watering it one day, I thought to myself “wait a minute… is that lemon balm?“. Sure enough, the leaves have a lemony fragrance and I’m now certain that it’s an enormous lemon balm (but it kinda looks like a small, flower-less hydrangea, doesn’t it?!).

So here’s a question: aside from making tea, what can I do with such a huge lemon balm plant? I thought I could use some cuttings in a flower arrangement, but I rarely ever have cut flowers in the house. It makes me so sad when they die so I don’t like to keep them around. Can I cook with it? I know it’s related to mint, so maybe I can use it in place of mint in recipes? Help!!

Let’s move on to the things that I have planted… I have to say first that I’m not sure how any of this will grow. We have several very large trees in our backyard and there are very few spots that get full sun. Most everywhere in the yard only gets sun for only a brief time during the day, but I’m hopeful some of it will take off. Since starting this post, we have a little squash growing in our front yard (where we get more sun and where I planted about a dozen squash plants). The ones planted in the backyard have grown a bit too and we have lots and lots of blossoms.

These are my two cucumber plants that I have in pots in my front yard where they get lots of sun. One is Armenian and one is Japanese, but don’t ask me to tell you which is which because I have no clue. Since starting this post, I’ve since moved the cukes to the ground in the backyard because they were outgrowing the pots. They seem to be doing well and I have a few little flowers that will (hopefully!!) grow into cucumbers.

Here’s another little guy that I keep in a pot in the front yard. It’s a Japanese eggplant and it’s already got a little one growing! Note: I’ve since moved him to the ground in the backyard because he was getting so big. I have a few more starting to grow.

I also planted two blackberries along our fence. One is a loganberry and the other is an olallieberry. They are small and fruitless. Another berry that is actually doing well is my blueberry bush:

These are the sweetest, most delicious blueberries I’ve ever eaten in my life. Having said that, I haven’t eaten more than a small handful since the kids help themselves to it whenever we are out back. It’s so cute to see Amanda crawl straight toward it, pull herself up on the planter, and pick her own blueberries. Blueberries are her most favorite food, I think. Whole Foods had them on sale one week ($1.99 for a pint of organic ones) and I bought 5 pints. We went through them in about 4 or 5 days.

And lastly, here is my teeny tiny watermelon plant. It hasn’t grown much and I suspect that it doesn’t get hot enough here for it, so I don’t think we’ll be eating any watermelon this summer. Oh well.