When we were discussing our move back to Illinois, one of the things we were looking forward to was starting a fruit and vegetable garden. We could have gardened in Texas, although not in our first home since the back yard was taken up by our swimming pool. Our second home had plenty of space, but gardening in Texas is different than gardening in Illinois. We knew how to grow fruits and vegetables in Illinois and over-coming the challenges of the soil, climate and weather in Texas was more than we wanted to tackle. Especially since we knew we wouldn’t likely be staying there long-term.

A few months after moving into our new home, we fenced the back yard for the kids and dogs. We knew the fence would create some gardening challenges from a shade perspective, but we had the landscaper leave the southwest corner of the yard bare for the garden.

After13 months of being back in Illinois, I am happy to say that our gardening goals have become reality.

This is our first time trying raised bed gardening, and it’s been a lot of work to get it set up. The first thing we learned is that the little space we left bare for the garden wasn’t quite big enough for what we wanted to grow. That space ended up expanding a little bit to the east and to the north. That allowed us to add 5 more raised beds.

Zucchini, butternut squash, tomatoes, jalapenos, Serranos, asparagus, onions, carrots, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries are planted. We have our compost bin in place and are adding to it almost daily. Another bed is partially prepared for some fall crops, and we will harvest produce from other beds for additional fall crops this year. I have marigold seeds on the way that will be planted with the tomatoes and peppers. Basil has also been planted in a couple of the tomato beds.

Gardening for us is not only an experiment, but it’s a way to feed our family and a hobby. As such, we have already put some plans in place for next spring which will include trying to grow some things we’ve never grown before and adding some additional beds in the garden for growing flowers that will attract more pollinators to the garden.

I do love gardening and hopefully we will have at least some success this year.

I need a sign like this in our garden.