2016 Garden {Month One}

It's been a little over a month since we planted our 2016 Garden, so I thought I would do a little garden update.

Here is what our 2016 garden looked like when I first planted it:

And, here it is about a month later!

 WHOA!
It has grown SO much!!!
My tomatoes are growing a ton!

I am watering 1-2 times a week (we are in a drought still so I am trying to be smart about watering & that seems to be working well)

It has been in the 90s for the past 2 weeks and that is when I noticed things really start to grow like crazy!

This is my garden box that has 5 early girl tomatoes in it:

I think I need to trim them back a bit because they grew SO fast & tall in just a month.
I think they really liked that organic & stinky fertilizer that I used this year!

Some green tomatoes are growing....I bet they start turning red in the next 4-6 weeks.

Here is my 2nd box of tomatoes which contains my cherry tomatoes, sun sugar, sweet 100, grape tomatoes & sun gold tomatoes.

Each of these also has green tomatoes growing....

 My 3rd garden box has herbs, green onions, zucchini, yellow squash & lettuce:

I love having herbs in my garden.

I add cilantro to a lot of meals (I make some sort of Mexican dish at least once a week!)

My favorite is adding cilantro to my 3 ingredient Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

And, I add it to the sauce when I make my Chicken Enchiladas Verde:

I really love making meals that include fresh ingredients & veggies from our garden!

I feel so empowered...there is noting like the feeling of growing your own food :)

 I also picked my first zucchini last week!

The kids want me to make Zucchini Chocolate Chip muffins this week with our harvest!
{I have TONS of zucchini recipes at the bottom of THIS post}

My squash is starting to grow as well:

If you grow zucchini and/or squash, make sure you don't let them get too big on the vine. If you do, it will stall the growth of other ones.

My lettuce is also in this garden box....it is slowly coming along. In years past ,my lettuce has done better the first month, I don't think my lettuce is liking the hot weather we have been having.

I use lettuce for salads..... One of our go-to's is my Taco Salad:

And, finally....my pumpkin! 

This won't start producing until August/September.

The view from how are garden looked from this direction 1 month ago at the beginning of May:

And how it looks one month later at the beginning of June:

I can't wait to see the difference a month from today.

Hopefully I will have more tomatoes...that is what I look forward to the most :)

Here are a few more tips/reminders when planting your garden (it's not too late to get one planted!)
1. Make sure your plants have enough space. Leave more than you think you need. As veggies grow, they get taller & wider and it's important to give them space to grow. If they are too crowded not enough sun will get in and also, some of the veggies might rot if they grow too close & get tangled up with other plants.
2. When you water, make sure you water the base of the plants. Don't water the leaves, just water the base near the root. I water by hand with a hose on a slow trickle so that the plants don't flood and so that the water penetrates deep into the roots.
3. Trim back your herbs before they flower.  They will be bitter if they flower. It's okay to trim them way back....they will grow again!
4. Pick the veggies as they grow so that the plant can continue to produce. We can't keep up with all the veggies that we grown in our garden, so we pick it and share our produce with neighbors, family, friends & co-workers!

Happy Gardening!