Like many of our followers, there is simply no place we would rather be than in our garden. Although this has been an incredibly exciting year with the publishing of the book, the book tour, and construction of our home at the farm – it is still the time we get to spend in our garden that we cherish the most.
The garden – our favorite place to be.
There is something so special about growing your own food. Watching tiny fledgling seeds and seedlings planted in the damp, cold May soil grow to become strong, vibrant and full of the food fills our dinner table for the coming year.
When it comes to the garden this year, the weather has simply been outstanding here in Central, Ohio. The temperatures have been warm enough, but not too hot – and although it has been a little dry as of late, it seems we always get a little rain when needed. The humid nights have helped our tomato, pepper, cucumber and zucchini plants take off – and the popcorn, potato and beans look as healthy as ever.
The house is nearing completion – but we still love our time spent in the garden the most!
It is a welcome sight after the last two cool and rainy garden seasons we have had here at the farm. But that is what makes gardening so fun – you just never know what Mother Nature will bring, and it makes those good years all the more rewarding.
With that said, lets take a garden tour in photos through our favorite spot at the farm – our garden, You can find all of the photos of the garden below at the end of the post. We hope you enjoy! – Jim and Mary
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The OWG Garden Tour in Photos
The view looking in. Our garden is divided into and upper and lower half, with 11 raised rows and 4 raised beds for seed crops on each side, with a 5′ gravel path through the middle. Each season, we rotate the crops so that each variety grows in a new space for 4 years before it is planted in the same soil again. It keeps the soil from becoming depleted, and helps keep insects problems and soil borne disease in check.
The cucumber crop is starting to heat up. We grow ours in our raised rows and train the growing shoots to fill the aisle space. Although we love all of the pickles and relish that are made from the crop – I think we both still enjoy simply eating them fresh the most! 
The simple beauty of a cucumber flower
Much like the cucumbers, the zucchini crop has been flourishing. Two of our plants have grown to about 4′ high and 3′ wide – with a picking of 14 in a single day this past week.
We are now on our second planting of lettuce, kale and radishes. We now grow these “seed” crops in the raised beds we created at the entrance. It makes weeding and succession planting much easier. I love the look and the taste of the butter crunch lettuce.
The green bean patch. We grow both Purple and Bush Lake varieties – and both have done well with the nice weather this year. Unfortunately, they have done so well that they attracted the attention of a small bunny that wants to live in them. So far, not much damage – we will have to wait and see…
The popcorn is just about ready to start to tassel. We grow ladyfinger and strawberry popcorn, and these two full rows will be enough to supply us in popcorn for the year.
The tomatoes are starting to turn! We have already harvested a few of the early turners, but in the coming weeks, all of Purple Cherokee, Black Krim, Mr Stripey and many other heirlooms will begin to roll in heavy.
The purple cauliflower, basil, peppers, cabbage and potatoes in the garden. The sights and smells in the garden in mid July are many!
And finally, two of my favorite pictures – the garden tomatoes with the house going up in the background, and the compost pile, which is the power behind our entire garden.
