My garden is coming along well for the most part, though I’ve had a few casualties. My dog ripped out one of my bleeding heart plants. I ended up transplanting our hydrangea where it used to be as I’ve read hydrangeas don’t like full sun anyway and it gives me more room for veggies. Last night I went to transplant some cauliflower and broccoli into bigger pots as they were getting root bound, and I found tiny white worms in the cauliflower roots! I don’t know how they could have got there, as I used only potting soil to plant them. The potting soil was quite old though, it was here when we moved in, so who knows. After some internet searching, I decided to just scrap all the cauliflower just to be safe, as I have more seeds. I’m just going to direct seed them in the garden. I decided to toss the broccoli too, even though I didn’t see worms in those ones, because they had been right next to the cauliflower and used the same dirt and are prone to the same problems as cauliflower. I don’t have anymore broccoli seeds but Thrifty’s had some seedlings on sale. I hope they weren’t too root bound, as apparently root bound seedlings sometimes don’t grow nice big heads.
I also transplanted my tomato plants and started hardening them off. I didn’t realize how windy it was one day though and left them out during very heavy winds and two of them are looking pretty unhappy. From what I’ve read about this though, it could still be okay and I’m just going to leave them both and see if they bounce back. Then the last one, which I hadn’t really put outside at all yet, got knocked off a table by my cat and the stem broke. Again, I’ve read this is something tomatos can sometimes bounce back from too if you bury the stem in dirt, as they’ll sprout roots all along the stem. So I’ve done that too. I may not get any tomatoes this year though! My friend Kyre also pointed out to me that when sites say you can put tomato plants outside once they have developed two leaves, it does not mean the two first leaves. I had noticed some sites did specify it had to be two true leaves, but they looked real to me. Well, I know for next year now at least. 
Almost everything else that I’ve planted has sprouted or is starting to. Here are some more pictures of the progress.
The biggest major change is that we got the extra slab of concrete in our backyard taken out. I don't really have any great before pictures, but here's the edge of it with the garden covered to protect it from dust.
Here it's been started.
The big pile of concrete that we ended up with!
And here's that garden now. I love how it turned out!
Originally I was going to use the side where the slab was for veggies, but the friend who took out the slab pointed out that something may have leached into the dirt underneath from the slab. I did some research and posted some questions on a forum, and the answers I got ranged from it was definitely safe, to it’s most likely safe but there’s a chance that heavy metals or toxins may have leached into the soil and we should get a soil test to be safe. Since I wanted to get everything planted before we leave, we decided to play it safe and plant our vegetables in the dirt that wasn’t under concrete and put flowers on the concrete side. I’ve ordered some Indian Mustard seeds, as I’ve read that it’s great for phytoremediation (using plants to suck up heavy metals or toxins from soil). I’m also going to plant sunflowers on that side, as they’re supposed to be good for phytoremediation as well. I did plant raspberries on the concrete side too, but they likely won’t have fruit until the fall, so we’ll get the soil around them tested later in the season after the mustard plants and sunflower have grown. The walkway is just tile we got really cheap off Used Victoria. They’re actually meant for indoors and so crack easily, but I wasn’t looking for a long-term solution, just something cheap that would do for now. A few of them have cracked already, but it doesn’t bother me.
Because I’ve changed the layout somewhat, I have less room for veggies, meaning my veggie garden is going to be a bit squished. Oh well, I’d rather have more different vegetable plants that each produce slightly smaller yields. I’ve put my tomatoes in containers and planted some potatoes out in front of the house to give a bit more room too.
Peas, my favorite garden veggie
Peppermint
Strawberries
My Russet Blue potatoes are doing great and have lots of leaves coming up. I noticed that four or five of the Yukon Golds that my dog had kept digging up are starting to push up leaves, so obviously she didn’t kill them! I am so excited about that. I have some carrots, lots of beets, and most of my greens coming up. I planted some more carrots and mescluns today. The only thing that hasn’t really sprouted are my onions, which is disappointing. I planted the broccoli seedlings outside today, and started some new cauliflower seeds outside. I also planted some peas along the fence where the hydrangea used to be. I’ve started corn, squash, pole beans, melon, and peppers inside, which I’ll plant out in June, depending on how warm it gets. Before we leave I’m going to put black plastic or landscape fabric down in certain areas to keep the soil warm. One of the seed packages I got was a mix of corn, squash, and pole beans, but there were only 7 squash seeds total in the whole package! I had wanted to plant seven squash. So I planted them all in separate containers and am hoping for the best with those.
I am so excited about my garden this year! I can’t wait for fresh vegetables.
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I really like those white planters you have the peppermint in. Such a space saver! Where did you find them?
I hear you on the excitement factor! I can not wait until I can harvest my garden. Good luck with yours, it looks good.
Thanks Natalie! They were on sale for $2 each at Canadian Tire, so I snatched up the rest (just three). I got them home and there were screws already on the side of our house in the exact right distance for them! So they ended up being perfect.
Oh how cool to see some of your plants grow. I like your idea of planting the flowers where the concrete was. You may not have as my veggies this year but hopefully next year the soil will for sure be good.
Quick suggestion on your cauliflower/cabbage/brussel sprouts/broccoli/etc (although I think you said you pitched them)…we read that if you crush eggshells along the bottom of the plant, it helps to keep pests such as worms/slugs/etc off of the plant (because the crushed shells cut them). It acts as a deterrent. You might give it a try – we have and have had no pesky worms or slugs.
Peas are my favorite as well – I love how you can just grab them right off the vine and EAT! Happy gardening!!
J.T., That’s good to know about the eggshells. We used to use eggshells in our family garden growing up to keep away birds, but I didn’t know that they act as deterrent for pests too. I’m going to try it for sure! It’s good nutrients for the soil too.