I’ve been talking about wanting to garden forever, and I always had an excuse to do it the next year. One year I started seeds in the house, but we ended up traveling for a week without plant sitters and the rest is history.  Well, lo and behold our new home had a raised bed already installed, and I was determined that this would be the year that I would actually make that garden happen.  I do not have a green thumb by any stretch of the imagination, so I wanted to stick with a simple plan. The plan was to plant foods that we enjoy eating and were fairly easy to grow.

So far, I’ve planted two lettuce types, broccoli, and swiss chard.  We’ve never eaten swiss chard, but a friend recommended it for its tastiness and to serve as a fast growing confidence builder for this first time gardener.  It has been growing beautifully, along with a few weeds, and I can’t wait to give it a try when we harvest it.  Just like painting, gardening has been relaxing, and I often find myself engaging in correlations about life as I dig, plant, water, and wait.

Dig, plant, water, wait…the life lessons of gardening.

In a few more weeks, I hope to add in some peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and summer squash.  Yum!!  I picked up some sage this week, and need to get that in my herbs dedicated section. So far, so good, and I can’t wait to share harvest pics with you. Follow me on Instagram, for behind the scenes:)

If you want to share some of your best kept vegetable growing secrets, spill the beans below!

-xo Shawon