Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

Ok, so none of those herbs are actually in my garden. Except the parsley.

This parsley is actually from last year. The winter was so mild that he just hung out there shivering, and now he's back in full force.


My in-laws bought a new house last fall, complete with a giNORmous backyard. This backyard came with a small, fenced-in garden. After a couple hints and an outright request, they ceded control of the garden to ME.


Commence joyous leaping and scribbling of amateur garden plans.


I'm by no means a skilled or experienced gardener, but I love being outside and growing green things (especially when they become edible green things). Dan even built me some planters on our porch, like window boxes but on a porch, and I've grown flowers, herbs, and even a tomato plant last summer.

He got pretty big for living in a 5-gallon bucket ($2 buckets from Lowe's and a $5 can of reddish-sorta-terra-cotta-colered spray paint are way cheaper than huge planters), and he yielded a handful of cherry tomatoes. He was supposed to be a Roma, but oh well. They dressed up a couple salads and were perfectly delicious!


Anyways, I'm super excited to have a real garden this year, one that goes into the ground. I've spent the last couple weeks cultivating some seedlings in peat pots, and now that we're just about to the last-frost-date for Philadelphia, a few plants have met their long-term homes in my in-law's backyard.


I've got peas, cucumbers and marigolds planted as seedlings (marigolds keep away rabbits and certain bugs) and I just planted some lettuce, direct-sow style, today. This is one giant experiment, and the first time I've planted a whole garden by myself, but I'm pretty excited. I figure if I can harvest a handful of edible items it'll be a success, since I don't really know what I'm doing.


Within the next couple of weeks I'll be adding tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, onions, and maybe some herbs (pretty ones--lavender and such). I'll also plant flowers in my porch boxes, and a few more herbs that I like to use on a regular basis (basil, maybe some chives or cilantro). There's even the possibility of a strawberry plant or two!


However, it's been awesome so far. I'm totally five years old--digging in the dirt is the most fun ever.