We had a terrible freeze this winter so we never got to eat any of the tomatoes that we had grown. The only thing that seemed to survive was the cauliflower. Although we didn't get to eat that either as there is only a short window to cut it and we missed is so it flowered.

Since then we have have started to vegetables, we keep reading about this combination of plants that grow really well together called the three sister (corn, beans, and squash). About 4 weeks ago we planted our first round of corn three seeds in three rows. They were growing really well. My husband has had experience going corn before as a kid in Pennsylvania and he told me that you would be able to measure the growth every day by a inch and sure enough you could. Only thing was it seems that some animal was eating the ones on the outside edge. We thought maybe raccoon or squirrel, because we see these in our yard all the time. However one morning we woke up to find all but two ripped up right out of the ground and little paw prints inside the planter. Only thing that could have prints that big was our 2 year old Labrador name Kassie.
We love her dearly but she has caused havoc on our yard. Where we once had grass we now only have sand.

So we started over planting new corn seed but this time my husband stacked up chicken wire around the planters so there would be no way for her to get to them. They are about 5 inches tall now.

Today I planted the bean, the second part of the three sisters. Once they get about 4 inches tall I will be planting the third and final vegetable squash.

For a little background information: About six months ago my wonderful husband built me four beautiful garden planters. They are built out of pressure treated wood and are about 4'x4' and 2' high. He did this so that we would not be planting any of the vegetables right into very low nutrient sand we have in our backyard. We then filled them with soil, and compost (We later add and small amount of sand to help with the drainage).

After a lot of research on what plants go best together we decided to plant one with herbs; the second with cucumbers and lettuce; the third with eggplant, and cauliflower; and the fourth with tomatoes, beans and bell peppers. I have to say many of these plants thrived, while other did nothing. We learning that tomatoes need there own box as they take over and block out the sun of the other plants. Cucumbers need to be on a trellis so that they don't stretch out over everything. Finally Bonnie bell peppers from the store seem to have some kind of diseases as they do not grow or produce fruit (we tried about 3 or different kinds from different stores).

We had many things go wrong and many wonderful fruits and vegetables that we have gotten to share with family and friends.