Big garden vs little garden

This year we opted for 4 raised beds vs the gigantic 100' x 50' garden we did last year. I had a vision for 2 of the rows this season but the vision was overshadowed by large amounts of weeds and an early heat spell back in April.

I planted 70 potato plants in the big garden back in march when I was feeling great before the prego sick kicked in. The next row over I envisioned overflowing with zinnias. Sadly we hadn't turned the water on (due to a broken pipe) and lost the potato plants with a heat wave shortly after they took root... Bummer!

I didn't lose hope with the zinnias though- and planted 4 packets along 20 feet. I was packing them in as the weed situation in the garden was quite intense. And by the time the soil was ready for zinnias I was much bigger round the middle and found it a little more challenging to bend and pull weeds out.

The zinnias started growing, finally. And I didn't give up on the potatoes, knowing that they were probably hangin out underground just a little moody from the conditions. So we watered 2 rows for 2 months. Then the water bill came. 2 days later I dug up the zinnias and moved them to a raised bed up by the house that had some room. The water is now off at big garden. I miss having such abundance and ability to share but it really wasn't feasible this year.

The raised beds are decently managed, and I harvest what I need when I need it, in under 5 minutes. With the big garden we would get lost down there harvesting or weeding for hours out of necessity.

I do miss it terribly though! I would love to do a smaller bigger garden next year but we will see what shifts happen around here as a family of 4:).

The second photo is one of the 2 5 gallon buckets Owen and I hauled up the driveway. (Where was that red wagon when we needed it!)

First photo is the planted zinnias. Hopefully they thrive and grow to 5 feet as they did last year. So far my best ones are the ones from saved seeds...