July 17, 2010: Looking Back

It's been two whole years, folks! I've blogged 459 times, and my followers have grown from 0 to 191 192 193 194 (and I appreciate each and every one of you!)


Looking back, it all began.......July 17, 2008

Garden Diary 2008

I’ve gardened for all of my married life until 2004, when I was diagnosed with colon cancer and had to have abdominal surgery. I’d felt so ill that spring that I tore out my lovely little garden, which was right outside the kitchen door, and planted grass. For the next three years I pouted about not having my vegetable garden, but didn’t feel well enough to tackle it until spring of 2008. I started small, just a three-foot wide strip next to the fence at the east side of our property, and a small space next to the fence on the west side, next to my two blueberry bushes. I planted three "Celebrity" tomatoes, two red bell peppers (six more went into flower gardens in the front yard), a double row of Burpee bush beans, each row about 8’ in length and planted three more rows, each two weeks apart, using leftover seed from 2004. I also planted one hill (4 seeds) of yellow crookneck squash, one hill (4 seeds) of zucchini, and a tiny two-square-feet patch of mixed lettuce for the pet rabbit. In the blueberry bed I planted two cherry tomatoes and two pots of bush cucumbers.

Everything was growing well, although I lost a few of the large bean plants and half of the squash seedlings to cutworms. I protected two of each squash plants with cutworm collars made of toilet tissue rolls, and never saw any more damage. Then, on July 1, we had a couple of very strong wind gusts that split our large maple tree in half, and the entire east garden was crushed under a huge branch.

We had to call a tree removal company to remove the entire maple tree, and they were quite careful when they lifted the branches off the garden. Quite a few of the bean plants were wiped out, and a few stems broke off the zucchini plants, but there wasn’t a lot of damage otherwise. Of course, the fence was crushed, giving our two puppies access to the garden, so they found the bed of lettuce was a lovely, cool place to nap and nibble.

I immediately purchased new fencing (under $100 for materials) and moved it further into the yard to give me space for some raised beds. I had quite a bit of lumber in the garage, saved from several years ago when we removed a deck from the back of our house. It was good redwood, 2x6 lumber, and enough to build four 4’x4’x12” deep beds and one 3‘x4‘x6“-deep bed that I‘ll use for shallow rooted greens. I purchased a yard of top soil for $18 and a yard of “leaf and twig” composted steer manure for $20. That was a good buy, as I had asked for regular compost but they were out, so they gave me the more expensive blend at the same price.

I had planned on leaving the beds empty until next spring, adding lots of chopped up leaves and more compost later this fall. But…I couldn’t resist. So here is a diary of my garden, my very first summer planted garden. I’m hoping I have a harvest before winter.


I purchased 50' of wire fence and 8 metal fence posts to keep the puppies out of the garden, as they are loving to dig in the new beds of compost. Hopefully we'll get the fence up soon.


The garden and the blog have grown a lot in two years!



31 comments:

  1. Happy Blogiversary Granny!! Luv Ya :)

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  2. What a story...you are one tough lady....and I'm glad to have found your blog. : )

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  3. Happy second Blogiversary, Granny! You and your garden have come a long way these past two years, and I'm happy and proud to be a part of it. Thank you for sharing your gardening adventures with us!

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  4. Happy Blogiversary to you!! Happy Blogiversary to you!! Happy Blogiversary Dear Granny...Happy Blogiversary to you!!

    Wow, I didn't know you were a cancer survivor. I love how you keep going and never give up even when a big tree falls on your garden.

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  5. Happy Blogiversary AG, you have come a long way baby!! ;)

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  6. Congratulations! I am so happy I found you a year ago, I have learned so much from you and hope to learn so much more! Now go celebrate!

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  7. Happy Blogiversary, Granny! Your garden and your blog have both come such a long way since that beginning. I just love reading about all the lovely veggies you grow (and eat). I don't post many comments, but I read every one of your posts, because there is always something interesting or educational in there. I don't think you realize it, but you're actually rather inspiring!

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  8. Eeek! I have to admit I never think about "followers" because I don't use blogspot, and I forget these things are important to other bloggers. I do follow your blog, Granny, just in my RSS feed where it's *really* handy. ;) Anyway, now I have officially followed with Google acct so you have a more accurate count.

    Happy Blogaversary! Two beautiful achievements here: an amazing garden and a creative, interesting blog. :)

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  9. Happy anniversary! I'm so glad you felt well enough to start small and then go completely nuts in the ensuing years.

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  10. Happy Blogiversary!!! I'm so glad that you started this blog! I've learned so much from you and have enjoyed your blog so much as well! Thanks for blogging!

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  11. Granny, what an inspiration you are! I'm glad I found your blog recently, and look forward to reading many more posts.
    I find more people that are survivors. I had thyroid surgery that turned out to be malignant 1 1/2 years ago, and then went through the treatment to kill the rest. Kinda sucked it out of me, but I'm going strong this summer. You rock, Granny! Thanks for the inspiration. Keep going.
    ~~Lori

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  12. I think you should do some then and now photos! I am happy to have found you as well! Love your knowledge and experience!

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  13. Love celebrating with you! What an inspiration you are - in so many ways. Thank you for sharing your life and garden with all of us.

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  14. Happy Blogoversary Granny! I can't believe it's been only a month since I found your blog, I feel like I've known you for a lot longer, mostly from reading your past posts. Finding your blog now and having almost two years of your past posts to go through was like getting seasons 1 and 2 of Lost on DVD; I got to read all your interesting posts in one fell swoop (okay, it may have taken me about a week or so) without any commercial breaks or waiting until the next post! As I mentioned to you before, you were my number one inspiration for starting my own garden blog, and I was so excited when you became my very first follower.

    Thank you so much for your continued gardening, blogging, and sharing a bit of your life with me and the rest of your readers.

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  15. Happy Blogoversary Granny you already know what I think of you accomplishments and tallent. And a very happy Blogging New Year. John

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  16. Robin, thank you. Luv ya, too!

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    Sunny, thank you. I'm glad I found you,too.

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    Momma_S, thank you!

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    GrafixMuse, thank you. My fellow bloggers keep me going!

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    Thanks, Kelly.

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    Thanks Erin....I celebrated with a big bowl of pineapple sherbet!

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    Alison, thank you. That's very sweet of you to say.

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    Meridith, thank you....for following my blog and for being Meredith :-)

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    Stefaneener, nuts? You call forty-(mumble) tomato plants nuts? I call it absolutely insane :-D

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    Megan, thank you...and you're welcome!

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    Lori, your comments inspire me! I also had radiation to shrink my thyroid in 1969, and cervical cancer in 1974. You can't keep this old gal down, LOL!

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    Thank you, Shawn Ann. I'm happy I found you, too.

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    Kitsap, you have become a dear friend through our blogging. I'm glad we "met".

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    Thyme2garden, it's wonderful new found friends like you that keep me blogging. LOL, I'll bet you are the only person to EVER read my entire blog from day one! Thank you.

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  17. John, thank you! It's because of friends like you, our old GardenWeb bunch, that I started the blog. And it's because of friends like you, and all my new found fellow bloggers, that I continue.

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  18. HAPPY BLOGiVERSARY!

    Granny you continue to be such an inspiration to me!

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  19. Thank you, Toni! When my hollyhocks bloom, I'll think of you every time I look at them!

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  20. Happy Blogoversary! You continue to inspire! God bless, I hope you continue to do so for a long time yet...

    Most of us "youngsters" can't keep up with you! Not gonna give up, though, maybe someday when I grow up, I"ll harvest as much as you do...LOL!

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  21. SB, thank you! This "oldster" and her garden have slowed down a bit in the heat wave, but expecting to be back down in the double digits again all week.

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  22. Congratulations on a blog well done, I have enjoyed every post of yours that I have read and look forward to reading many more. Perhaps your green thumb will eventually rub off on me.:)

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  23. Ha-ha, Mr. H.! If I had only half of your green thumb.....but thank you for the compliment :-)

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  24. You know I loves ya, babe. Congratulations on your 2nd.

    A lot of people could use you as a model for how to keep going after facing a serious adversity in life. Some people want to spend their lives looking back and blaming the world on their misfortunes instead of making a choice to work with what you've got and go on. It's so much nicer dealing with people who take your approach.

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  25. Awww, Cheryl, thank you. I love you too, my twin-separated-at-birth.

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  26. Fantastic! I love to hear your story! Happy Blogiversary!
    -Kimmi

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  27. Happy Blogiversary! Your really are an inspiration Granny. Nothing can keep you down.

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  28. Happy Blogiversary AG! I love your blog and the frequency of your posts. I am often up with my youngest son in the middle of the night and eagerly check if you have updated as a way to stay awake while nursing him. I hope my garden is half as productive as yours!

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  29. Kimmi, thank you.

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    Dan, thank you.....you're a bit of an inspiration yourself, young man ;-)

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    Thank you, Nartaya. Awww, that is so sweet. Give that baby boy a little hug from Granny :-)

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  30. Happy Blogoversary, you're an inspiration to me, I learn a lot from you, and thanks for sharing.

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