Veggies! But not from my yard...

I have herbs, though! Does that count?



I am a relatively new gardener. I've been gardening with mom and dad, granny and pawpaw since I was a kid, but not in a yard of my own. I've only had a house and yard for a few years now so almost everything I do is a new experience. I don't have a veggie garden yet. When we moved into this house I planned to have one. We've been here for over a year, but there are still things standing in my way. 1) The backyard is shady. We've got trees galore back there, in our yard and in our neighbors' yards, that shade the whole thing at some point throughout the day. 2) Other projects. For me it is more important to get the flower beds in order before I move on to the veggies and herbs. When we moved in many of the beds were either neglected or lacked that certain ooomph that said, "Look! A gardener lives here!" I've been working on adding that oomph for the past year.

Am I there? Well, as gardeners, are we ever there? I am getting close. I am happy with the way things are turning out, but I still have a long way to go!

Over the past few weeks I've been working on getting my herb garden together. I've been traveling for work and personal engagements lately, so it took me a little while to get it all planted, dug, composted, and labeled. I think it looks pretty good so far. I planted the Big Thyme and the Italian Oregano late last year. I have a bad habit of planting things too closely in the beginning. And that is exactly what I did with the those plants. I moved the oregano over a few inches to give the thyme some breathing room. I've probably made the exact same mistake with the Dwarf Sage and Hi-Ho Silver Thyme over on the left. I guess the good thing about it is that I can always move them! Behind the sage are two Sweet Basil plants. One of them shed all its leaves before I could get it in the ground, but it is already putting out new growth. I didn't lose it!

I have three varieties of rosemary. From the left: Rosemary, Pine-Scented Rosemary, and Spice Islands Rosemary. The Pine-Scented variety is special because it has soft leaves that are easily chopped up. This makes it an excellent choice to use fresh. It also has a creeping/trailing nature. The other two are uprights. The Spice Islands Rosemary has stems tough enough to use a BBQ skewers!

Oh, and the vivid veggie photo above is the appetizer that I've put together for my husband and I lately. My husband rarely gets a chance to eat lunch at work (and he manages a restaurant for goodness sakes), so he's always starving when he gets home. I'm usually just starting dinner. For this appetizer, I buy whatever is fresh and organic at the market, slice it up, and place a little sesame orange dressing in the middle for dipping. Simple and yummy!