Backyards in this neighborhood are quite small. On top of that, the old shed storage took up a large area in our backyard. And worse, the rundown shed was also a favorite place for rats! So, it had to go. We took down the old fence, too. With the shed storage removal and a new fence, the small backyard looks so much more open, clean, and brightened up!
Then we started a little garden. We had very low expectation for our first time growing a veggie garden, but it turned into great success. I had always thought I would rather being inside on the couch reading a book. But I was so wrong. I absolutely fell in love with being outside playing with dirt! The newly found obsession quickly turned our backyard into a little jungle.
In the last two years, we have normally started a veggie garden around March and let it grow and produce until late Fall (yes, it's Texas and the warm weather can stay around until November!).
Veggies that we had a lot of luck with are tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, any peppers (banana peppers, chili peppers, jalapeño peppers).
Our two peach trees that I got from Home Depot clearance sales at $22 each have also been growing very fast (4 feet growth in a year!) and producing every year.
I also love aloe vera. I started with three small plants, they quickly grew and produced new shoots. I separated these new shoots and planted them on their own, and they became new plants. Our garden now has 6 big aloe vera plants in total. I also use aloe vera gel as a facial night cream. Absolutely love it!
We tried honeydew and cantaloupe too but only got to harvest 2 or 3 cantaloupes before the plants got attacked by insects. I have to do more research on how to protect these plants if we try them again next year.
In the fall we planted a few Black Diamond crape myrtles. These have dark red leaves with bright red blooms. They are gorgeous. I would highly recommend these beautiful trees if you want to add colors and vibrance to your garden. They are beautiful and need super minimal maintenance.
Eggy is the guardian of the garden, she loves to scout in and out and around the plants, and chase the bunnies around for sure (we get a lot of bunnies visiting our little jungle!).
Enjoy the pictures!
Mi
