I'm Dreaming of a Green Garden

I've mentioned my garden a couple of times. This is my third year attempting gardening as an adult.

Year One:

• Jalapeno pepper plant in a pot on the front doorstep flourished and we ended up using the dehydrator we got as a wedding gift to dry many of them, which we used powdered in recipes.
• Tomatoes in the backyard were underwatered and understaked. We got a few, but most rotted on the vine due to neglect, as we never went in the backyard.
• Herbs in pots in the house did alright for awhile, but died due to over and underwatering.
• I was unsuccessful in starting anything from seed since I had no idea what I was doing.

Year Two:

• Jalapeno pepper plant moved in its pot to the backyard. Since I forgot to replace the soil, there weren't enough nutrients and the peppers were stunted. Still fairly successful.
• Bell pepper plan produced a few fruits, but not many.
• Leeks went ok, except for not enough soil and too close together in pots.
• Basil did great in its larger pot.
• I did better at watering, but the massive amounts of rain in the spring drowned a couple of things.
• We planted scallions and cut them all summer.
• Charles built a patio from used bricks and we spent much of the late summer on the patio, and all the plants got more attention than before.

Year Three:

• I'm getting a little ambitious. I've already started some seeds for houseplants as practice. Chamomile, basil, forget-me-nots (probably will go outside) and marjoram are all doing well. Parsley is poking its head out. These were all leftover seeds with varying viability. Some of them did not start, but I blame their age instead of my neglect. I'm using grow lights, watering them regularly but not overwatering, and generally being a good plant mommy.
• The garden is planned, but we might have a hitch in the replacement of the fence depending on the budget. We'll see what happens.
• Assuming all goes well, we'll have the following:
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Kale
• Leeks
• Potatoes
• Green Beans
• Dried Beans
• Rainbow Chard
• Onions
• Carrots?
• Strawberries
• Jalapenos
• Cabbage
• Cucumbers
• Lettuce

Now, we're not starting all of that from seed. Some are plants or cuttings. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at preserving, by pickling some of the cucumbers and making sauerkraut. And of course, dried beans. We'll also have a wide variety of herbs and edible flowers, if all goes well. I'll also dry/freeze some of the produce for the winter.

Our apples come from a local orchard where we go apple picking every fall. Apples store well in the fridge, although they get a bit wrinkly. We eat fresh apples for awhile, and when they get wrinkly, we switch to using them for cooking, applesauce, and apple butter. We also use honey from the same orchard's apiary.

I can't wait until we have enough space to have our own orchard and a few chickens. That's about all I want out of life, although Charles would also like a goat.