I’m patting myself on the back for following through with my desire to plant my own veggies. I’ve had several false starts, but never quite obtained the desired results. This year, I have a new attitude about planting – an attitude that I’ll get out of it what I put into it. No longer will I plant seeds and water them whenever I happen to remember to do so. No longer will I place the plants outside and out of sight to be ignored forever. This year, I will harvest something edible – even if it’s one teeny, tiny veggie. I…am…committed!

I’m on a mission. Seedlings for carnival peppers, roma tomatoes, and bell peppers are getting their start indoors while pea seedlings began settling into their home outdoors yesterday.

I planted the indoor seedlings ten days ago, but noticed the first sprouts for the tomato sprouts just six days after planting; a great short-term reward for someone who typically has nothing to show for her gardening efforts. As soon as the indoor sprouts are ready I’ll move them outside to a homemade raised garden bed fashioned out of scrap wood (we have tons of it) that I knew would come in handy someday.

Peas were just planted yesterday and I don’t expect to see anything from the seeds for at least 10-20 days, but when I do, a sense of accomplishment will surely wash over me. Sweet corn, red corn, peas, and lettuce should be planted next weekend, which will allow me to harvest them in early fall.

I’m probably going to throw my hat into the herb-growing ring as well by growing mint and rosemary indoors in some artsy, but utilitarian containers. I’m looking forward to freshly-pinched mint to add to cups of tea and fruit salad.

I’m sure I will have learned many lessons during this experiment, but one that I’ve already learned…don’t wait until summer to think about growing strawberries. Better luck next year!

Any advice for a novice gardener? Well, I’m not a novice, but this is the year that I’ve declared to not give up on my little sprouts. With a little help from you, I just may have a bumper crop year.

Let’s chat!

CC