Garden Cleanup

Since it's already the middle of September, I decided to rip out what was left of the summer garden and prep the soil for our Fall & Winter planting.  I probably would've kept it going a little longer, but unfortunately the watermelon and pumpkin vines were not doing too well, so it was time for them to go. HOLY COW, what a workout that was.  The vines, especially the pumpkin vines, made the green barrel so heavy I could barley move it when I was done.  I was glad I decided not to do a run on the treadmill before I ripped out the plants.  With all the bending down and squating and pulling weeds, gardening can definitely give you a workout!  Anyhow, everything was pulled out, and now I have fresh, empty beds that I cannot wait to start planting in.  I just have a little bit more work to do, like breaking up the dirt more and adding nutrients to the soil.  I can't wait to get started planting carrots and lettuce and more!

 Our only big watermelon that made it.  The vine

all around it died, so we decided to cut it open...

 it was sweet and YUMMY!  Hailey didn't eat any, but

Jaren and Addy and I thought it was great!  I can't wait to

try again next year.  I think that would be so awesome to get

a ton of watermelons over the summer.  I will have to do some

research on growing them so we can have better luck next time.

 While I was ripping the vines out, I found this little guy. 

 The bigger of the two pumpkins we grew.

 The smaller pumpkin is somewhat soft on one side, so

I guess we only got one good pumpkin.  But, at least

we tried.  Like the watermelons, I am going to research a

bit and see what we did wrong.  I would love to have a 

little pumpkin patch next year for the girls!

 These are just some of the little pumpkins I plucked off

while pulling the vines out.  There were tons of little ones,

they just never really took off.  They grew a bit, and then

turned mushy and started to rot.  Bummer. 

Aahhhh.....fresh beds of dirt, all ready for new plants.  I am

glad to see the vines from the pumpkins gone, it was starting

to make our backyard look very messy!

The watermelon vines had been growing up the metal trellis

on the right.  It was actually pretty, and I almost 

hated to take them down.  Maybe I will plant something

that climbs in the same spot.