Our Cottage Garden | Starting a Vegetable Garden

We moved into our new rental home the last weekend of June, which meant we were already late planting our vegetable garden. Still, I was determined to plant something. We brought our two garden boxes from our last apartment rental and transplanted them to the side of the house. I have always wished for my very own kitchen garden. One day I would have a door in my kitchen that opened right into the most beautiful kitchen garden. For now, this is as close to that dream as I can make it.

Finding a place for the boxes was not too difficult, but there were some challenges. Matthew mowed down the tall grass and we figured out how to get the boxes to work on the slanting space that we have. The yard slopes down the hill a bit. Thankfully the sun rises facing the garden and covers the garden in sunshine all day until late afternoon when the sun starts to set on the other side of the house and hills.

The placement of the well and a flag pole is unfortunate. However, we did manage to fit the boxes behind them by trimming the grass further into the hill.

I am already an experienced gardener, but there is always more to learn. I picked these two books up for gardening tips.

Around the garden and house I planted sunflowers, my favorite flower.

I bought this hand tiller because I’m a girl on a budget. It did help me plant the roses.

The grass was so dead when we first started, especially because it had been a tall grassy meadow before we trimmed part down for a yard. The rest of the land we left as a meadow with a couple small walking trails. Thankfully the grass has since become healthier, greener, and softer to walk on with bare feet.

The four rose bushes are in. One is called a Julie Andrews rose! I am currently laying down landscape fabric around the roses and putting flower bed soil on top to keep out the weeds and grass as they keep popping back up.

We have deer, rabbits, and so much more. These garden cloches I bought keep my lettuce safe.

To get matching boxes from Home Depot was too expensive, so I found these two garden beds (same size of 4’x4′) for only $45 each. They were a little difficult to put together and it was a two person job, but they work great and look nice.

The raised bed to the back left has tomatoes and lettuce. The garden bed to the back right has cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce as well. The front left bed is for fruits only. I did not plant a lot of strawberries because it was too late in the season, but they have a bed all to themselves because they do come back every year. By next year I plan to have this entire bed full of strawberry plants. The raised bed to the front right hand side also has tomatoes, brussel sprouts, peppers, and green beans.

You can find the cucumber trellis I used here.

My first harvest.

The cucumbers are the saddest of all. Planted too late and then waterlogged with too much rain after planting. They are just now beginning to bounce back.

The sunflowers are getting so big!

Look at all of the green bean plants filling in.

This is the perfect afternoon reading spot by the garden.

The garden at sunset is one of my favorite views.

Over time I hope to add a fence, more vegetables, more flowers, and even a couple more garden beds and pots. This garden has some humble beginnings, but it continues to grow and I believe I will be having a wonderful late summer and early autumn harvest. You don’t have to be a pro gardener or have a large plot to start a garden. In previous apartments I had plants like tomatoes and herbs in pots.  even did green beans in pots on year. This garden is a significant step up, but I still have so far to go. I hope that it has inspired you to grow something or to think about your now home garden plans for next spring.