Okay, so it isn’t a true “garden tour” in the general sense that I’m showing you today. It’s more of a collection of raised beds spread out around my land because my number one nemesis is a friggin’ gopher…or an entire clan of gophers. They have pulled mature tomato plants with ripening tomatoes on them into the ground like it was nothin’. How do I know this? My tomato plants go from being 3 feet tall to a few inches tall. And don’t get me started on the massacre of Black Beauty Zucchini!
I haven’t had much luck with traditional gopher traps or poison pellets, and I’m against poisoning the yard to kill the food they eat to run them off. I have smoke grenades I got at Tractor Supply specifically for the purpose of ridding the yard of these furry little rodent demons, but the first one didn’t light right, and I haven’t tried again yet. If I figure out a simple and effective way to get rid of them, I’ll let ya’ll know.
I live in Zone 8b, so our winters are generally not that wintery when compared to other places. Unless you look at February 2021, when the snowpocalypse happened. Almost all of Texas shut down for nearly a week. It was nuts. And because I am half nuts myself, I thoroughly enjoyed having to melt snow to wash dishes and keep warm water in the chickens’ waterer for 5 days until our pipes thawed out. But I digress from my original purpose of this post today.
Below I have pictures and descriptions of different areas in my yard that I am currently planting. Everything is still a hot mess because I have started a lot of projects and then never finished them. Stuff is overgrown, and there are leaves everywhere. But none of that matters. What matters is that I am still trying to garden and grow food, despite what it looks like. I’ll even throw in some pictures of my seed-starting shelves and my chicken coop!
You only fail when you quit.
Emma Lee Joy
My purpose in today’s post is to show you that it is okay to not have it altogether. The fact that you are trying is good enough. And eventually, you will be successful. The degree of success you have can vary, but even if it’s a single cucumber, you still grew a cucumber. Seeing a harvest brings hope and faith. It drives you to push yourself and lights a fire that fuels you through the hard times.
Veggie tray. I already put a few in the ground. And look at those Moringa trees on the left! 
My herb tray. They take weeks to germinate. 
Repurposed mini greenhouse with grow lights ziptied to the supports. 
FIg tree I have been babying in a pot for a year…I need to find a spot for her.
8’x20′ coop. I have 12 hens and a rooster in here atm, but more can fit…hehe 
Pokey plants behind chicken coop to deter animals skirting the edge. 
Raised beds on the side of the house. 
My first raised bed here…I got in trouble building it while pregnant and had my first emotional breakdown because “no one let’s me do anything!”
1 of 2 Strawberry plants to survive my neglect. Planted 10 more root balls. 
A Giant Curl Mustard sprout. 
Can you see the potato sprout? 
Look at that soil! SO good.
Cattle panel arched trellis for the win. 
My unfinished greenhouse. 
Cattle panel Grape trellis. Time will tell if my grapes will come back… 
Raised bed in greenhouse.
My lovely little fluffy butts. Small chicken in front of the large black hen in the back is my little Sicilian Buttercup rooster. We have a mutual respect for our hatred of each other. He is very docile though. 
It’s starting to look like tetris back here.
I hope you enjoyed this little mini-tour. If you have questions about how I do anything, leave a comment! Like and subscribe to stay up to date when I post and don’t forget to check out my social media pages linked below, where you get extra tidbits of what I’m up to. I also have a YouTube channel with a few videos some of ya’ll might find interesting. Give it a look!
And as always, if you have read Blood for Honor, please leave a review on the site where you purchased it!
Many blessings,
Emma Lee Joy
Red Hawk Ridge 