more yard stuff

roses from our yard

i'm sure this is probably so boring to most everyone.  except me.  and i'm the one writing this blog.  so, yea.  here is another post about my yard situation.  but things are actually growing!  and it's so exciting!  and we have harvested, like, 5 bags of lettuce/arugula/spinach so far!  and lots of cilantro!  yay!  i don't know, there is just something about growing stuff in your own yard, harvesting it with your own hands and then eating it (after thorough washing, of course).  i just love it and it gets me all giddy.  and the arugula was so yummy.  i can't wait until the carrots are ready (hopefully they are growing ok, it's hard to tell, especially since the poor things are being shaded by the ginormous potato plants growing right next to them).  but the thing i can't wait for the most is tomatoes.  we planted maybe about 7 or 8 tomato plants, of a few different varieties, and they actually look really healthy, have been growing really well and getting nice and stalky.  last time we grew tomatoes in a container on our deck when we lived in greenlake and it didn't work out too well.  the poor little guys grew tall looking for good sun and didn't put much energy into producing tasty fruits.  so, here's hoping that these ones will work out.  so far, so good, i think.  oh, and our roses are starting to bloom and they are absolutely gorgeous.  a few were here already, we inherited them with the house, but we planted a bunch during the winter.  unfortunately, something thinks that they are tasty, so there are some holes in some of the leaves :(  oh, and our lilies are starting to bloom!  i heart lilies.  and some of the rhizomes that we planted earlier this year are popping up, too.  i think we planted bleeding hearts, phlox, peonies and something else, i can't remember.  anyway, the yard is starting to look verdent and lush and i hope it continues throughout the summer.  we still have lots of things to do back here, but right now, i'm enjoying all the hard work that hubby put in.

cilantro, parsley, beets, lettuce, tomatoes

tomato 

spinach!

dragonfly chilling on a beet leaf

beets

just starting to bloom (well as of last week)

broccoli!

potatoes, onions and garlic

sad....something decided to make this rose all holey

and its leaves....we later found the culprit---a very hungry and very tiny caterpillar!

arugula

our planter boxes in the back

slowly but surely, improving the back yard

yummy salad we made with our spinach and arugula

so, as a reminder, this is what the area looked like in the winter after hubs pulled out all the shrubbery and ivy but before we planted anything, i think this was january:

 and then this is after we he put down some bark, built the planter boxes, planted some roses and started planting stuff in the planter boxes, i think this was february or march

 and this was after stuff started to grow, after the sun started peeking out behind the clouds, maybe may?

and here we are as of last week:

wooohooo! i think we will also plant some late season stuff.  any ideas?