Today we’re in northeastern Pennsylvania visiting with Scott.

Growing up I had very little exposure to gardening, aside from my annual 2- to 3-week vacation to my father’s house  in southern Mississippi, where he had a small produce farm. For the past few years I’ve dabbled with putting a store-bought tomato and/or pepper plant in my yard with very little effort, which led to very little return.

In December of 2021 a switch flipped, and I really upped my gardening game! Although my veggies weren’t as abundant as I would have liked, I grew flowers like it was my second job this year. My main goal for next year is to improvise my yields on vegetables, focusing on tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers.

Every garden starts from somewhere. Here a lot of nothing is just beginning to turn into a garden.

The bed is now prepped, mulched, edged, and ready for planting!

The summer garden has flowers—here, some snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus, annual).

The harvest of winter squash was vibrant, with thriving cucumbers growing in a trellis and some corn and sunflowers (Helianthus annuus, annual) behind.

A nodding sunflower bloom presides over the garden. It’ll provide food for many pollinators now, and birds will feast on the seeds once they mature.

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida, Zones 3–9) are blooming like crazy. A katydid seems to be enjoying the show as well.

Grow lights are all ready to provide good homes for houseplants and to start vegetables for the next year’s garden.

A view of promise for the future, pea shoots are just beginning to push out of the soil, ready to grow up their waiting trellis and produce lots of tasty peas.

This springtime view of the garden includes a potted Japanese maple (Acer palmatum, Zones 5–9) and tulips (Tulipa hybrids, Zones 3–8)

If you want to see more from Scott’s garden, check out his Instagram: @nepa_garden_patch

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

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