Growing up, I wanted nothing – and I mean NOTHING – to do with a garden, flowerbed, or any other activity involving working in the dirt. It wasn’t the dirt part. It was the “working” part. That sort of manual labor was not me. I was content to let my mom – the one who has won awards for her beautiful flowers – carry that load.
Nope, I was not the little girl who helped her mom in the garden.
And I was not the young woman who wanted to help her husband either. (In my early marriage, I didn’t quite get the “help-meet” concept.) Indeed, all credit garden and landscaping related in our yard right now goes to my husband.
Until this year.
I became more convinced of the benefits of growing a garden:
1. It would save money if I could grow my own fruits and vegetables.
2. I could control (ok, Matt could control) what chemicals were on our food.
3. I could teach Drew the hard work and joys of gardening.
Matt, the supportive – though skeptical – husband he is, built a second raised-bed garden (he worked the first one on his own last year). He let me choose which vegetables and fruit, and he has, ahem, made sure it was watered when I forgot.
Here’s what I have in my first little garden: squash, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, basil, cilantro, tomatoes, lettuce, okra, strawberries, & watermelon.
So far so good! Everything is looking great, but we have only had it planted for about 3 weeks. I’m excited to see the “fruit” of our labor soon. 🙂
But since I know almost nothing about what I’m doing, I’d love to hear advice from any of you gardeners. What suggestions can you give me regarding the plants above, or any plants I might consider that have done well for you?