family gardening 2005

once again we will try our hand at gardening this year. this time Michelle is interested in growing herbs in pots on the porch, thus avoiding having to subject her back to the toils of the ground. she's planted lots of seeds indoors, and will release them to the wilds of the porch before long. we'll see how it goes, but if her enthusiasm is any indication, it should go quite well.

our little plot in the back yard has been declared daddy's domain. so far I've got snow peas coming up, and after a slow start they've come up quite well. I've reconstructed our trellis system, which is made of electrical conduit that's been drilled and zip-tied together, to achieve a trapieze look. instead of twine for the plants to climb, we're using netting used to protect bushes from birds. it looks a little odd, but I'm sure it'll work well. last year's snow peas were oh-so-good, so we're looking forward to another good crop.

I'm trying out spinach this year for the first time. having heard it's hard to grow, I didnt have much hope, but about half of my seeds have sprouted, which isnt bad. we both love spinach salads, so hopefully we'll have some success.

we've got a bunch of tomatoes started inside, as well as cucumbers and marigolds for the garden. this is the first year we're trying to do all this stuff from seed, so we're wondering how well it will go, and can already anticipate all the more the satisfaction of success from growing your own. sure, a small tomato plant is just $1, but it's certainly a lot more fun this way.