Montavilla Garden Tour

Okay, Tamara's post got my butt in gear.  I decided I had better get this written before it was time for next year's tour.

The majority of the gardens we visited were focused on edibles, but the first stop was mostly perennial plantings.  The house itself was really cute, and the foundation plantings had one of my favorite color combos. Purple and lime green.

Along the side of the house, they had trellises with climbing roses.

They had just finished putting in a new patio, which I'm not sure how I managed to not get a single picture of.

And they had refinished an existing fence to match a section of new.

I love new wood.

This bed was in the back corner.

A raised bed overflowing with tomatoes.

The next stop on the tour was our yard, then it was off to a garden focused on edibles.

Miyo's yard proves that you don't need a ton of space to grow food.

Her house sits on a small lot with only yard in the back.

She had perimeter beds, with raised beds in the middle.

Squash.

Raspberries.

Corn.

Purple green beans.

Harvested potatoes.

Gettin' Figgy with it.

The resident helper, Miso kitty.

We did a potluck lunch at the Vestal School Garden, then toured the Community Garden portion.

This couple's plot is my favorite.

They're growing tons of Dahlias, and other flowers, mixed in with the edibles.

Up next, we have another garden focused on food.

They removed everything from their driveway and backyard, and put in raised beds.

They even had a canning station set up outside.

I wish I had taken photos of how they were growing, and staking, their tomatoes.

Next year.

The one time I tried to grow broccoli, it was so infested with black aphids that it was inedible.

Clearly they didn't have that problem.

Brussels sprouts.

Beautiful heads of cabbage.

Mile-high corn.

The next house had taken out all their front lawn and put in perennials, and the back was where they were growing mostly food.

They also had several cute seating areas and storage sheds in the back.

My favorite part of the front was, on both sides of the property line, they had espaliered fruit trees.

Pears on one side, apples on the other.

You walked by this little seating area to get to the backyard.

Super cute.

They had just started this native plant area next to the storage shed.

The remaining areas were raised beds for food, with a few annuals mixed in.

The last stop was another food focused garden.

And their yard was HUGE.  Compared to most lots in our neighborhood, anyway.

Made my teeth hurt thinking of all the plants I could cram in.  :)

And there ya have it.

Our first run at a neighborhood garden tour.

It was fun to see how other people are growing things, and I think we all took away some tips for next year.