What could be better than cooking your own food?
Growing it of course! As I’ve been reading my cookbooks I keep wishing that I could just run outside and get all my ingredients. So I made a list of all the things I wanted to plant:
- Zucchini
- Pumpkin
- Onion
- Salad-various kinds
- Potatoes
- Strawberries
- Squash
- Carrot
- Beet-Yellow and Red
- Peas
- Chard
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Sweet Peas
- Tomatoes
- Nasturtium
- Calendula
- Chamomile
- Mint
- Thyme
- Oregano
(We already have Rosemary and Lavender)
Wow! A huge list and a lot of plants and seeds to shop for! We went to a nursery to get them. If you can believe it we found and drove home everything except Tomatoes, Potatoes, Squash, and Herbs!
It was a lucky day; sunny in the middle of a week of rain. We were all itching to get planting. Max helped with all the peas and sweet peas.
I got to do the best part, the salad! I love putting all those little green leafy bunches in rows in the raised beds!
I needed something to label all the different vegetables with so we all thought and thought finally coming up with an ingenious idea….
Spoons!
I wrote the name of the veggie and date of planting on the cupped side of the spoon. These “markers” are easy to spot, help with recycling, and the cup of the spoon even protects the writing from rain.
I love everything about being out in the garden: brown moist dirt on my hands, sometimes getting in my mouth and tasting like warmth, smelling even better.
When I’m in the garden I seem to notice everything. Like take this rainbow chard for example.
See how the root color matches the stem color?
I was very particular about the plants being in rows so the garden turned out beautifully. I’ll keep weeding and watering and watching my garden grow. I am so excited to start harvesting!
Check back for the next post…
Eat it… Or Don’t
Red Suitcase 
Hi love – great to see the garden started!! I’m happy that you liked planning and planting, and I’m a little jealous because I wish I was there to plant with you all. But I’m glad it’s started!! I am guessing that when I get home some of these plants will be pretty big!
It looks like the raised beds were pretty easy – that’s exciting.
Love,
– Daddy
PS. don’t forget the water is turned off for the winter, so after this rain maybe turn it back on (you’ll see a gray plastic box on the wall under the electrical panel (on the house wall facing the garden) turn the dial to something like “run” 🙂
Hi Emma,
Fantastic! Growing food, cooking and then eating it is such a satisfying feeling! We are replacing ornamental plants with food. Hedges are being replaced with fruit trees, garden beds are emerging and we now have chickens in our yard. I hope that you can come and visit again and consult with us about our transition. You are awesome! Thumbs up for sustainable gardening. 🙂 Marilynn
The veggies you have planted will be fabulous used in your menus. I can hardly wait to taste!
Love you,
Grandma
Hi Em,
why do you think there were no tomatoes? Is it too early?
How about planting some basil too?
Toby’s brother Jan is building us some planter boxes and then we will be able to plant a few things, but not as many as you did!
xo
Debby
Hi Debby!
Yup, you guessed right. There were only experimental tomatoes at the nursery. They were planting them in bales of hay on raised beds with 1 and 1/2 in. of Rich soil spread on top. There was a thermometer stuck into the hay and it was 120°F inside! That’s cool that you’ll have a garden!
Love,
Emma