Good bye 2011 a year in review

2011 was an interesting year.  A lot was  grown and a lot was harvested.  Take a walk with me through Irish Gardens and see what the year was like here.

Colorful foliage was found and pictures were taken in January

 February brought Daffodils into the house

 as well as coke water bottle greenhouses were introduced.

 March brought in sweet n neat tomato's inside the house and.........

......and signs of life outside as the Daffodils began to grow.

 Hosta's began to show off their strips in April....

....and new gardens were created as the others began to be planted for the season.........

......the Greenhouse got a new look and then was planted.

 The front porch got some fresh new color in May after the Rhodadendrun was transplanted by the front porch.....

....flowers were found on the polk-a-dot plant from back in January

 June brings flowering grape buds......

 .....another new garden bed.....

.....and the gardens showing lots of new growth and begun to burst at the seams.

 July shows up with heat and a whole lot of growth in the new beds so a new look was needed.....

.....a few back aches and sore thumbs later it looks a lot nicer...

 ....a new wild herb was found growing like crazy in the back yard.....

.....and the Strawberry Spinach plant began to ripen

 After hurricane Irene in August, large Cucumbers were found growing in the garden.....

.....Eggplant was harvested in multiple sizes.

September came in with new baby spider plants beginning their new life......

....and the chives found them selves blooming beautifully.

October brings in changing leaves and cooler weather....of course this October brought a foot of snow too.

 Novembers abnormally warm weather brings new growth to the mint in the Greenhouse

Although still no snow in December the Holiday Cactus inside is right on time.


Hope you had a nice tour through the gardens.

My Garden, My Hobbies in 2010

2010 was a big year here.  We saw lots of new things.  Here are some key pictures from each month.  Making them smaller to load faster so you may need to click on them to see.

January - Started like most January's in the north do....snowy.

February - More snow and snow men.  Falling or splitting Trees and snow banks taller than my kids

March - A little more snow....and then none and the dump trucks cam out to play

April - Spring shows with lovely daffodils.  Mr. Nutters visits from my sisters garden in CA, and many of my winged friends visit.

May - The beginnings of my Gardening adventures.

The kids learn how to plant a tree....











Flowers start to bloom.

Newly planted trees are growing, roses are in bloom, and the Rhubarb is taking root.

Onions start popping up, The construction of the Greenhouse begins. The plants that will be grown in the Greenhouse are started.









And last but not least for this month Greenhouse construction is complete.

June - A Busy Month
Seedlings sprouting just right, then planted in their summer home, my first ever Harvest...Mint










Morning Glories and Moon flowers started their growing, a tomato appears, and I preserved some Strawberry Rhubarb Jelly..another first.











July - Lots of growth happening

The Corn is getting tall, Tomatoes getting bigger, and I started an Herb Garden










The first Morning Glory bloom, the Morning Glories and Moon Flower plants were transplanted, and the tomato plant in the Greenhouse got to tall and heavy to hold herself up alone.











My first Lettuce harvest, Mr Nutters comes back from CA again to look in on my garden, and my friendly birds are back.










Mr. Nutters visits a second time this month but tried to be sneaky about it.  Buddy dog is used as a measuring tool....look how small he looks next to my corn.  And once again Mr Nutters tries to impress me with his stunts.










My first tomato harvest, the corn is now taller than my kids, and the onions were ready.










August - Lots to see and lots to do.

The Corn grows to reach my bedroom window, The Morning Glories and Moon Flowers reach the top of the porch, and finally a Moon Flower blooms












My harvesting skills increase as I begin a collection of dried herbs. And the Carrots are ready and my two eager children gladly helped pick them and pose....

The Morning Glories like the porch and have taken over and really started to bloom, and my tomato plants gets a major hair cut.....it started to touch the roof


September - School begins again and the gardens continue to grow

The attach of the vine is far from over, This Morning Glory vine grew over and under and all around the porch and it's self....all the while producing lovely blooms










The first day of school you just have to bring flowers for your teacher.  More blooms show up every day and the Moon Flowers get a little confused...thus the two vines blooming at the same time of day.  And as fall begins to get closer it's time to learn about seeds, and how to save them.

October - Fall is here

Seeds are ready to be stored, the indoor garden begins to form, and new colors fill the outdoors as the trees begin to make a rainbow.





Seeds are continued to be harvested and new things are learned.

November - Big Changes happened this month

The vines were killed by frost, the first of my Peppers were picked, and tomato plants were moved inside to protect from frost.

Pumpkin pie was made and frost hit the garden












December - The final Month of the year

Major wind storm brings the neighbors carport into our yard, The final veggie harvest of the year, and Cedar shavings are placed over all the gardens for extra protection once winter sets in.

The roof gets replaced after a dusting, Then the snow hits....poor children at play guy, and my little trees turn white



Snow drifts insulate the Greenhouse, snow banks from the porch cover one of my gardens. And the kids get to play in snow half as tall as them....










2010 Sure turned out to be a busy year.  Lots was learned, lots was done.  As 2011 gets underway I look FWD to the types of posts and pictures will be in next years review.