A Good Start

Today was the first day of real garden work. We bought plants and are now ready to put them in the ground. I've already got spinach and lettuce coming up in the green house. Tomorrow I will be adding an herb garden in the green house. I mostly planted flowers today. I planted pansies in a box, and I have everything ready for the 3 rose bushes, 2 raspberry bushes, 2 heather plants and 1 rhubarb we bought. We have a bit more work to do on the beds for the vegetables. We haven't decided if we are going to fix the yard as it is for vegetables or if we are going to build boxes. Here's the plan so far (everything will be organic of course).

Herbs
- Oregano
- Mint
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Chives
- Sage
- Thyme

Fruit
- Raspberries
-Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries (not that we want them but there are some at the back of the yard so I'll eat the berries)
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapes
- Plums
- Rhubarb

Vegetables
- Peas
- Green beans
- Carrots
- Squash
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Zucchini
- Sweet peppers
- Pumpkin
- Potatoes (I've read that you can grows these in old garbage cans so we are going to give it a go)
- Onions
- Garlic (I'm on the fence about this one, we will see)
- Tomatoes

Other
- Chillies
- Nasturtium
- Sunflowers
- Chamomile
- Lavender
- Sweet peas

It might seem like a lot but next year will be a smaller batch. It's sort of a test to see what grows best in this soil. It has quite a bit of sand and clay so we aren't sure what plants will take to it. I would be thrilled if we could be almost self-sufficient here. We have a ton of space for a garden and we are going to plant flowers for cutting in the front (the roses, heather, and a lot of bulbs). We already have a great compost bin going (thank you Baby for all that hard work) and I'm looking forward to installing rain barrels and a nice long clothes line. We are also putting up a home for the birds and for the mason bees. So hopefully we will have a wonderfully productive yard by next year!
On a final note, we mowed the lawn today for the first time since we moved in. I must say, it looks SO good. It's not such a jungle out there. Oh, I am so excited for this yard!