My weeds are what?

Weekly garden overview...










Tomato blossoms

So what are these little weeds lining the fence...?

Tomato plants! What?!

At the end of last season, I tilled all of the extra tomatoes into the soil, not thinking that they would not only survive the winter, but grow on their own once the spring came...

They're everywhere, and some are growing crazy big already! I just can't bring myself to weed them out!

Peppers and peas.

Pepper blossom!

Pea blossom!



Radish nub!


Marigolds in bloom

Calendula

No restraint: picking up herbs

I went down to Pemberton Farms today to pick out some herbs for my porch. This year I'd like to go for useful herbs rather than whatever catches my eye. Last year I mainly used basil (when it was freakishly contaminated), marjoram and oregano. The dill was a bit of a waste. The mint, while I love it, I didn't use too much.



In any case, this is what I ended up getting:

Oregano, Greek
Cilantro/Coriander
Rosemary, Sal's Choice
Thyme, French
Sage, purple
Marigolds (2 six packs)
Calendula (1 six pack)

For my mother, since she was a good excuse to buy things I didn't need:
Mint, Pennyroyal (n=2; for cat mat-making, not consuming)
Mint, Crisp Scotch



I also picked up that cute new planter, which is 30" by 10" with a built-in troph in the bottom for the rail on your porch to set into. No hanging off the side of the rail. It seems moderately more stable, but I'm concerned that it will (a) look tacky and (b) result in less sunlight since it sets farther into the roofed porch.

Where it all began...

I'm starting this blog in order to chronicle my adventures in backyard gardening. I can only imagine the success and failures you'll witness here - most likely many, many failures if my history with houseplants is any kind of indication as to just how not-green my thumb is.

Now in theory, I shouldn't have such a bad time. My actual experience in gardening started from the time I was a little, toddling by my parents' side as they plowed the earth and nurtured seedlings into full grown plants. I grew up with 40 x 20 ft full vegetable garden in the back yard. We had a seperate herb garden, and flower patches scattered about every corner of the lawn. Each spring I watched as my dad revved up the rottatiller, airating the soil into fluffy parallel mounds, and then again in the fall as the finished crops were tilled under for winter.

My mom and I would go out with the hoe and rake, creating delicate ditches where we scattered seeds of peas, green and yellow beans, broccoli, asapargus, yellow squash, zucchini, and more. We'd go to the local nursary where we'd pick up six packs of marigolds to plant at the end of each row in order to keep away pests with their strong scent, and cheer up the garden with bright reds, oranges and golds.

Around this time, the fall bulbs would be headed into full bloom. Grape hyacinth was a family favorite that we planted at the end of the house amidst tulips.