grow shit!

my mailbox has been full of seed catalogs this week, has yours? even if you don't garden don't you find it difficult to not get excited about the idea of having your very own vegetable garden? well, let me tell you there is a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when you plant a seed in some dirt and watch it grow into a beautiful vegetable and then pick it and eat it. i had my first real garden last year. it was small, in a container but i had zucchini, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes. it was a ratatouille garden as per request by my 5 year old daughter. of course when i made ratatouille and presented it to her it was met with an emphatic "yuck!". but that's neither here nor there. in retrospect this decision was less about the foods present in ratatouille and more about the rat in the movie.

i think it is important for everyone to try their hand at gardening something. start small. in a container or if you are the go big or go home type...awesome! do it! build a raised bed or dig up your yard- i don't care...just do something. live in an apartment? containers make great gardens. you can even grow awesome tomatoes hanging upside down from a hook!!!
for me, this year i am going to have supermike build a raised bed and it will be full of tomatoes, beans, herbs, cauliflower, zucchini, and whatever else tickles my fancy.




maybe flowers are your thing...i want to do this to the path just outside our back door...ground cover is cheap and it looks gorgeous. lemon thyme makes a great ground cover that smells fabulous...usually takes a full year from planting to look like this though..


i planted ranunculus bulbs in november so come spring i can make arrangements like this:


this is the most beautiful garden i have ever seen. remember it from last year's country living? this is a full time job though...





look at the size of these dahlias!! i am going to try growing them this year...


the fruits of your labor...




this is more my speed...
here is a tutorial on how to build a raised bed.


here is another one of my favorite gardens, jamie oliver's!

to get your own free seed catalogs choose one or all of these:
seeds of change
southern exposure seed exchange great for heirloom seeds!!
kitchen garden seeds

and for a great vegetable garden timetable (as in when and where you should plant shit) go
HERE.