A Little Tour Around the Garden and Patio

 It's been a celebratory weekend  as we have enjoyed hosting a few outdoor parties with friends and family.

As you can see we have the beginnings of a new back porch! Chris has been working hard but it's not quite finished. I'll be sure to share more on our new space soon but for now thought I would give you a little tour around the garden and patio.

 Chris made a beautiful table for the patio, perfect for snacks, a cold glass of something and card games. It's made from a slab of Kentucky Coffee Tree which he milled himself.

 The Yarrow is in full bloom and the kale growing along the chicken run is so healthy and happy!

 The last of the Kohlrabi growing in pots. It's too pretty to harvest!

 It has been a beautiful year for hydrangeas.

 The 'Sun Gold' cherry tomatoes growing along the sidewalk are beginning to ripen.

 A mixture of Santolina, Black Eyed Susan, Sensitive Fern, Shasta Daisy and Cherry Tomatoes growing in harmony.

 The Trumpet Vine on top of the chicken coop is in full bloom.

 The pear tree has been pinched back and soon will need to be propped!

 I bought a little string of lanterns this weekend to brighten up the patio in the evenings.

 A little cluster of potted plants of all different heights by my back door. I'll be posting about plinths and pedestals in the garden next week.

 A view from our (in progress) back porch.

A succulent garden atop my rain barrel.

new beginnings in our new garden!

yay! welcome to another year of tend! i am over the moon at the opportunity to share this space once again with this amazing group of women & with you! 

since my last post, we have moved (again!), built a garden & more! as i always say, i believe you can grow food wherever you are. with each garden, we learn a bit more & have the opportunity to make big changes. it's an exciting adventure each season!

today, i want to take you on a little tour of the humble beginnings of our garden this spring season! 

we chose to use what we had on hand & grow most of our food in raised beds. we have serious issues with bermuda grass in this part of the country so it makes managing weeds very difficult unless there is a weed barrier. 

luke is experimenting with double-dug, bio-intensive beds in our backyard. i am skeptical, but i love that he is always challenging my ideas & trying new things! more on that soon...

we also created two raised beds - one for medicinal herbs & another for culinary herbs - right outside our door for ease of harvesting & preparing meals. we are also establishing a blackberry patch in our front yard, a first for us in our home garden.

there are many fruits and vegetables growing in our garden right now. carrots are beginning to germinate & newly sown radishes are making an appearance. kale is slowly maturing, swiss chard is almost ready for harvesting, the lettuce is growing more each day & our beets are enjoying the nice drizzle that each spring day brings. every time i step outside, i swear our garlic has grown at least a foot. the strawberry patch, transplanted from our previous garden, is settling in nicely to it's new home. 

we are still waiting patiently. we are waiting for a nice, dry, warm day to transplant more seedlings. we are waiting for the last frost date & warmer soil to plant our summer crops. we are also waiting for the new members of our family to join their older sisters...

meet our newest flock of layers! 

we are so excited to see what this new season has to offer. we are digging in the soil, planting seeds & waiting as our bare landscape transforms into a bright green space with just enough to feed our family. 

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readers, we want to know- what would you like to see at tend this year? are there any topics you are particularly interested in us covering? thanks so much for your thoughts & ideas!

-natalie