Spring 2020, Zone 8b: Garden Updates

This post is a photographic illustration of my garden's progress during its first spring in our zone 8b home. Fortunately, I was able to do a lot more harvesting than planting this spring!

Many of my perennials are still being established or haven't been planted yet, but the annuals have been great this spring. Here are a few worth showing off a little:

Turnips! And a few yellow onions for extra flavor

Decided to bake them with oil, salt, and garden-grown thyme

Surprisingly good, but a little bitter. It would make a solid side dish for some kind of protein

Speaking of onions, I grew a lot this year! We're still using these guys (plus the greens) for our general recipe needs.

I think a white onion might have snuck in there somehow. All tasty though, so no problem with that

Bush beans! Only harvested a few handfuls this year, so I'll let a few go to seed and plant more next time.

Okra! These okra were able to grow right in the local soil which gets them an A+ in my book.

Once the okra pods are mature (longer than this, maybe 4-5") I just roughly chop and boil them for ~3 minutes in salted water. Surprisingly awesome taste

I was wondering why my zucchinis were so small. This behemoth was hogging a lot of nutrients

I recommend picking your zucchini a little earlier, but this thing was still great sauteed with olive oil and a few spices.

In addition to annual veggies, some perennials are making their way onto the scene. Eventually, I'd like to abandon most yearly planting and just harvest from long-lasting perennials like these:

Blackberries! Not even half a year after planting, this thing is producing huge berries.

Black Spanish Grapes! Same story with these; planted only last winter and they're already producing a little

This is an "ornamental" pomegranate I've kept for a long time after growing it from a cutting. This is the first year it has put out fruit that look like they might stay on the branch. Crossing my fingers for some small fruit!

The only non-gardening yard work I've done is continued my fiery campaign against the original crepe myrtles in our yard. My hope is to one day grow only pollinators and food-bearing plants in our back yard. I've decided you guys probably don't want to see charred up tree stumps, so I'll spare you those photos.

I welcome you to visit this blog again at the start of autumn for a zone 8b summertime update! I am curious to know if you planted anything this spring, especially if you're in a zone 8 climate. You can comment down below if you want to share. Happy gardening!