Yesterday was Mother's Day and I spent it doing what I love most:  GARDENING!  It was a breath of fresh air to get out and get my hands dirty!  It was a touch chilly still this weekend, but I simply. could. not. wait. any. longer.  My darling husband, who knows me well, took me to a fantastic local greenhouse where I strolled the isles carefully selecting my plants.  I focused on the veggies and herbs this trip because I finally have my very own veggie bed - woot woot!

I was lucky and the area where we decided to grow veggies was already laid out, but it was covered in yucky mulch.  (I'm not the only one that despises mulch, right?)  

Here is a dreadful before picture:  

Not a huge area, but a good starting point for our first year.  That messy glob in the middle was a peony that I pulled out, divided and transplanted in another bed.  

My generous father-in-law dropped of a load of compost.  I get REALLY excited about compost. I love the stuff...seriously, I do.  Click here If you want to read more about how much I LOVE compost and a really easy method of composting.  

I know a lot of people believe in tilling and it might be necessary in bigger gardens, but given my simplistic style of gardening we just took the ole' garden fork to the existing soil to break it up.  Then we laid the compost on top, a nice thick layer and worked that into the top layer.  

Now the fun part:  planting!  Again - to keep things uncomplicated I decided on a few varieties of tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, and three varieties of peppers.  I also incorporated various herbs in the other existing beds around the back patio.  And voila!  

And of course I had help watering.  

So excited to have my very own vegetable garden bed.  It was my perfect way to spend Mother's Day!

Hope all you mamas had a great day too!  

And tell me what divine things you're planting this year!  I'd love to hear from you.  

Patty

This year we decided to outsource the majority of our vegetable gardening and purchased a share of a CSA farm.  Every Thursday for the past eight weeks we've received a delivery of uberfresh and delicious local produce.  And every Thursday for the past eight weeks I've felt like I've hit the jackpot!  Plus, we are supporting our local community and farmers, which feels AWESOME (and is very important). 

What is a CSA you ask?  Community Supported Agriculture is both a marketing strategy and service for farmers and consumers.  It allows consumers to purchase a "share" of a local farm and in return they will receive fresh (many times organic), seasonal food, usually on a weekly basis.  Primarily the food is produce, but some farmers provide the option of purchasing dairy, eggs, meats and poultry.   

I'm loving our CSA, Nature Road Farm.  Every week, farmer Randy drops off a bag full of just-harvested produce to my husband's office.  That's right, he delivers (bonus!).  The produce is seasonal, of course, so we've already devoured cool season crops such as asparagus, a fantastic variety of greens, beets, cabbage, broccoli, carrots and strawberries.  Lately our baskets have been stuffed with beans, peas, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers and sweet corn. 

Today's loot had my first real tomato of the season - ughghghhllll (Homer Simpson hunger groan) and that's right folks, those are blueberries!  Holla!

I've been trying things that I would normally bypass at the store or farmer's market.  For example, I've never really eaten radishes.  Why is that?  I have no idea, because they are freaking delicious!  Also, my two-year old seems more willing to eat these veggies than other ones.  Let me tell you, I was one proud mama when my toddler was walking around, chomping on a fresh piece of asparagus saying, "mmmm" and "this good."  Doesn't get much better than that!

So if you're like me and long for the freshness and vast variety of super fresh produce, but don't have the time or room (insert lame excuse here) to tend to your own veggie garden - check out a local CSA.