Garden Girl

I guess it was inevitable that when I started seriously cooking I would eventually take an interest in gardening. One naturally inspires the other. There's satisfaction that comes from making a meal from scratch- from a pile of raw ingredients. And once you surround yourself with loads of fresh grown foods you start to get the itch to actually make a meal all on your own- from the ground up! This spring I actually got around to it. Or rather, I finally convinced my dad to come visit and teach me what he knows. We spent Saturday building my mini garden and shopping for all the beautiful plants I would fill it with. I was more excited to pick out vegetables, flowers, and herbs than I was to spend my birthday money on a pile of new clothes! (I get giddy grocery shopping as well. Don't get me started on the farmers market!)

So now, thanks to my Dad, I have a garden patch filled with tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, and jalapenos. I also started several pots of herbs. And already since Saturday, several more. I'm an herb addict. (Fresh herbs are sooo expensive in stores, so I figure I'll save a significant amount of money this way.) Will anything grow? Best case, come summer I will have an endless supply of salsa! Worst case, I realize I'm better suited to preparing produce rather than raising it. Already though, I'm loving the much improved look of our previously bleak (and weed-wrecked) backyard.

P.S. I really am going to try to be better about posting (and photographing) about our lives. At least I finally took a picture of something other than food (oh wait- it's future food). Well, at least it's a step!