My Garden Evolution

I have tried gardening many times and it just never took. I quickly killed any plants I obtained because I always forgot to water them. I'm sure I also did not give them enough sunlight, but mainly I never watered them. 

A few years ago I decided I wanted to try again, but start off very small. I began with 1 tomato plant in a pot, and 1 strawberry plant in a pot. My goal was to keep them alive. 

It worked, they lived, and I even got a few tomatoes and berries as a result of my keeping them alive. 

Because I have always had bunnies in the yard I did by some wire to wrap around the plants to avoid any issues.

 All went well, so the next year I decided I was ready to upgrade my garden a bit more. I built a raised bed to grow more strawberries in. They seemed happy, they shot off runners to I got even more berry plants, and gardening was becoming a fun hobby to do. 

So I built a few more raised beds and upped the planting game by trying new things. A lot of things didn't work, and my raised beds were not overflowing to the brim with food. 

There were times when I wondered if all the money and effort was really worth it since my harvest was not that big or productive. But I did enjoy seeing things grow, and trying new things. 

My confidence was growing and it seemed that the whole gardening thing was finally starting to take. Though with expanding the garden came more battles with the bugs and how to cope with them, but it was fun.

The next phase of the gardening took me to it's current state. I changed what I did and didn't plant over the last 2 years, trying new things and experimenting more.

 I added another raised bed, and then had to find a better way to protect the garden from all the many critters and bugs that seemed to wreak havoc.

 I also added a separate section for herbs under the house windows which has not had an problems with critters, only bugs.

The last 2 years this set up for the garden has been great.

Having a giant netting cage meant I had more freedom  to move around within the garden instead of fight each raised bed I wanted to get into. 

I have been able to produce more and more each year which also has helped to grow my confidence. 

Some years some items grow better than others. This year has been a struggle with the unseasonable heat and bugs. But every year does bring better results. 

There are plans to completely re-do and expand the garden even more come this fall, and I am excited for the change. Hopefully it is a change for the better.