the garden = year 2

[far left: yellow & green beans, middle back: butter-crunch lettuce and arugula, middle: peppers, middle front: tomatoes, right back: zucchini, right front: cucumbers]

Nights like tonight [after days like today] I love to go outside and poke around my garden.

I never thought I would enjoy gardening so much - I have all these horrid memories of trying to start little plants and having them all croak on me about a week after they poked thru the surface. Maybe it was just because I was 7 years old and had no clue what I was doing, but that's besides the point! I was convinced in my mind that I had the complete opposite of a green thumb.

Well, after moving into our house last year, I decided I wanted a garden. I blogged all about it - from prepping the ground to planting everything to harvesting and what I learned from year 1 of gardening [which was ALOT]. So coming into year 2 I felt much more confident - and I have to pat myself on the back for a moment - my garden looks pretty darn fantastic, if I do say so myself :D

And this little guy right here is my pride & joy.

One of the things I learned last year was that I could plant pretty much everything as seeds right in the ground and have success - except for tomato & pepper plants. They needed more time to grow if I was going to plant them from seeds and actually get some fruit by the time October rolled around :P

So back in April, I planted a few tomatoes and a few peppers inside and by Memorial Day they were ready to go outside. For the most part, they all are doing great, but this little guy is leaps & bounds [err, more like a good 5 inches] above his little brother tomatoes. They aren't quite big enough to produce any fruit yet, but I am so proud of the simple fact that he's alive!

[the photo of the tomato above is actually from 1 of the 4 heirloom tomato plants I bought from the local theater in town, who was selling the plants as part of "Project Grow" - a project in the Valley to restore the local food systems]

And, after I successfully documented how beautiful my garden was - I "destroyed" it by picking all my lettuce :P I can't wait to eat it!! The lettuce portion of my garden is simply a little bare at the moment - that's okay though because it should come back! I'm crossing my fingers!