Look at our garden grow!

(tomatoes should be ready in July, can anyone say caprese salad?!)

(our herb garden, I have already made basil pesto)

(I love to make open face sandwiches with grilled squash)

Our garden is growing! We have been harvesting spinach and lettuce for about a week now and my husband just planted more spinach seed last night so we can have another crop soon. Next year we want to have a bigger garden space and have a rotation were we plant/harvest lettuce so that we can have it continuously all summer long!

The best part about our garden so far is that my two little picky eaters are actually eating green things (voluntarily and not just when threatened and or bribed which I am sad to say has been the only thing that has worked in the past and then with only a marginal success rate)!

Our eggplant, squash and tomatoes are thriving and we are feeling pretty smug about our gardening skills. We are calling ourselves farmers (or at least my husband is). He (I mean we) have lofty plans for our future agricultural efforts to include bigger garden beds, a green house and possibly a farm animal.

This brings me to my next point! We have found some land over here that I have fallen in love with! It is in a development, which has 3-10 acre lots for sale. There is a stocked pond, a creek, a cave and is about a five minute drive from a river were we could canoe, fish or just hang out! I am so excited, can you tell!?!

The real estate agent is a customer of my husbands and he is going to talk with him next week about a possible land trade (we have land of a comparable price that has been on the market for almost two years now). I am trying not to get my hopes up because I don’t want to be disappointed but this land is everything that we want with beautiful, *breathtaking* vistas and is only a few minutes from town. I will keep you posted!!

Have a great weekend!

Square foot Garden

not my garden photo found here

containergardening.wordpress.com/.../

We are going to try again this year to grow a garden. Every year around this time I get an "itch" to start planting things. I come from a long line of farmers and gardeners so I think it's in my blood. Or it should be. To date I haven't been very successful with actually keeping the plants alive. But every year I try. We are going to plant a square foot garden and I found a cool design from this site. It has all kinds of useful information and makes things sound so straight forward and, dare I say, easy, that I think even a novice like me could make a go of it.
This is what we are going to grow: Kale, green beans, broccoli, arugula, eggplant, hot peppers, bell peppers, leeks, cucumbers, leaf lettuce, spinach, okra, and of course tomatoes. The list looks pretty lofty but we are optimists at heart.
Of course, we always have our local farmers market that we will continue to support. And a csa that may deliver right to our front door (wouldn't that be nice)! We may end up bursting at the seams with fresh produce this summer, in which case we may need to seriously consider investing in a deep freeze. I can think of nothing I would like more than to provide local, whole, organic food for my family. Can anyone say super mom award?
Does anyone else have plans for a garden this summer? I would love to hear any plans or ideas!

I am also going to plant a little kitchen herb garden and guess where I am going to plant it? In an old wheelbarrow. It is my husband's idea and I think its great. Just drill a few hole in the bottom for irrigation and then add soil and herbs. Super easy and unique too. I love it!