So excited!

It's here - my annual post about how much I love my garden! I felt like summer started the week before Mother's Day, because that's when we got the garden back up and running. John had a free afternoon, and I was surprised to come home from errands and find the neighbor's tiller in our garage. I had decided that as soon as we tilled, I would get started. (Last year we tilled too early and the weeds had completely invaded before I even planted anything, so I started out behind the game.) So as soon as the ground was tilled and raked, I sent John to get a truckload of compost. He unloaded the truck and spread it around, and I ran to the garden shop to get seeds. Here's what I planted: green beans, carrots, peas, beets, onions, chives, spinach, swiss chard, summer squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe, dill, and basil. My parsley and strawberry plants survived the winter, so I transplanted them. The next week, I added tomato plants - about 9 different varieties - and cherry tomatoes, as well as green and red peppers, jalapenos, and serrano peppers.

The past few weeks have been soooo exciting, as I've gone out every day to weed and water, and to watch for little bits of green coming up. I'm pleased to say that everything I planted has at least one tiny plant coming up now, which is better than last year. I never could get the pumpkin or melon seeds to sprout, so I ended up buying starts. If you garden, you know what I mean about the excitement. If you don't, you've got to try it!

I have big plans for the garden this year. I plan to can oodles of tomatoes, and beans if I get enough this year. Last year, my beans came a handful at a time, and my baby came at the same time as the tomatoes. Plus, Tanner moved in and started school. So I let loads of tomatoes rot before I could can them, and felt sick about it. This year I think I can do it if I do a batch every few days. We'll see about that..........Also, I really wanted to make salsa last year, but didn't for all of the above reasons. Hopefully, I'll get to try this time.

I have to say how grateful I am to have a hard-working husband. He did an entire day's worth of back-breaking labor to get everything ready for me, and all while he was on call and could have needed to shower and run to work at a minute's notice. His "do it now" attitude is a perfect complement to my "I'll get to it" style. I know he wanted to help me get the garden started because he knows how much I love it and that it kept me sane last summer. I love being outside, digging in the dirt, having the kids playing outside and wearing themselves out, and feeling the sense of accomplishment when harvest time comes!