It's Time to Get Dirty!

I didn't think spring would ever come, and I'm not altogether sure that it's here to stay,  but it was sunny and beautiful today.  That means I spent some time getting the garden going.

This year I'm doing an organic garden of only heirloom vegetables.  Well, except for the jalapeno pepper plants- they aren't heirlooms.

We've been trying to eat organic, locally grown food for health purposes, but sometimes California is as  "local" as we can get.

We are still about ten days away from our "frost date" in Tennessee, but I've been growing my seeds under a grow light in the living room.

Follow along with me as I plant, tend, harvest, and cook/preserve 1600 square feet of vegetables.

It's a very scientific process.  There are charts and lights and watering schedules.

I have a thing for tomato plants.  Two years ago I planted 45 tomato plants.  It was a tomato jungle.  And the weird thing?  I don't like tomatoes.  I like tomato sauce and salsa and ketchup, but not the actual tomato.  It's a texture thing.

So why do I grow them?

"I'm a Southern woman and we're supposed to wear funny looking hats and ugly clothes and grow vegetables in the dirt.  Don't ask me those questions.  I don't know WHY.  I don't make the rules."  Thank you Ouizer Boudreaux.

I really don't know why.  I guess it's partly because my grandparents grew vegetables and my great-grandparents, and Coach's grandparents did too.  It's a place where we can travel back in time, and it's right out back.

Oh, and everyone else likes tomatoes.

My favorite surprise of 2012 was the "temporary" herb garden.  We had pulled some bushes up by the house and were planning on filling it with Hydrangeas.  The Hydrangeas were small, so I filled in with herbs.  Then I fell in love with having an herb garden by my back door.  So, I moved the Hydrangeas and expanded the herb garden.  Watch out Ina Garten, I'm coming for you!

 
The herb garden has mostly survived since last winter.  The parsley is thriving as is the rosemary.  The oregano and the thyme are hanging on too.  I'm going to get that squared away and mulched this weekend.

But the crops I wait for most are the cucumbers, peppers, and okra.  I do magical things with those three vegetables.  I'll tell you more later.  For now just take a look at the infant plants.

The okra are really just embryos- they haven't even sprouted yet.  But they will.  And it will be glorious.

And this year we are growing our own salad greens, kale, and spinach.  I couldn't begin to tell you how that's going to go, but so far so good.

I'll keep recording the transformation and photographing the actual garden as it progresses.  I'll also share gardening tips I receive along the way.  I have a neighbor that I like to call Mr. Greenjeans.  He has been gardening and preserving food for decades.  He reminds me a lot of my grandaddy, and so far he's been very helpful.

Well, except when he comes over to tell me I should move my Crepe Myrtle before it gets too big.  We don't see eye to eye on that detail.  We'll see who wins.

See y'all!