Gardening

It's been a few years since I've attempted any type of garden, but the boys both expressed an interest this year, so I thought we'd give it another try.  We visited the Desert Botanical Garden's Spring Plant Sale on Friday, because I knew they would have some heirloom tomato plants.

We purchased 4 different varieties -- Cherokee, Arkansas Traveler, Taxi and Big Boys.  I purchased 2 of each plant, except the Taxi because they only had one plant. I don't know if it's a good idea to plant different varieties or not, as I did wonder about cross pollination, but I purchased them anyway.

We also bought rosemary, lavender, oregano, chocolate mint, spearmint and ice plants. We picked up seed packets for marigolds (Colin's choice), heirloom pumpkins (Lydia's choice) and watermelon (Nate's choice).   The kids each also chose a cactus.

I was very proud of the boys that afternoon because they worked hard helping get the plants into the ground.  We hadn't prepared the areas before buying the plants, so we had to do that when we came home from the Plant Sale. Nate turned over a good portion of the dirt in a previous planting area, and Colin put forth effort weeding.  By dinnertime, all the plants were in the ground!  We still need to plant the seeds and cactus, but the other plants are in the ground and ready to grow!

That evening, I read of a friend's plan to create a plan for garden, and I recognized how slap-dash and erratic my own choices and planting were. I love the idea of growing plants, and I chose plants that I like to eat (tomatoes), smell (rosemary, lavendar, mints), cook with (oregano) and look at (ice plants). It isn't a particularly cohesive plan, and it's definitely not pretty . . . but if everything grows I'll be well pleased.

We were too busy working to take pictures, but I'll be sure to share as the months go by.  I have highest hopes for my tomatoes!