It feels like forever since I posted a blog entry. Oh wait. It HAS been forever.  Like two years! My bad… We’ve been busy, I swear. Okay, I’ll admit it’s pretty lame that I’m a writing teacher, yet I never write. So, here I go!

Hmm. What to write about………

Still thinking.

Oh, I’ve got an idea! I’ll talk about my garden.

One of last year’s sunflowers.

Last year I had Nick construct two above-ground gardens in our back yard: one made with organic materials and the other made with regular materials. I also used some small planters, and one bricked garden to grow our loot. We successfully grew bell peppers, jalapenos, spicy peppers, blueberries, Italian parsley, carrots, broccoli, basil, mint, lavender, chives, oregano, and  sunflowers. Cucumbers and squash were also planted, but they failed miserably. The broccoli also gave me problems: it attracted a variety of pests and did not like the hot, sunny days we experienced. I was most successful with the herbs and the peppers. In fact, I had more bell peppers (green and red) and spicy peppers than I knew what to do with!

Fast-forward to spring 2013.A couple weeks ago on a sunny, yet brisk Saturday afternoon, we weeded and tended to the gardens. Then, later in the week, Xander and I picked up some seeds and new soil, and we got to work planting. For our spring loot, we planted:

• Alaska Peas seeds
• Bloomsdale Spinach seeds
• Matador Spinach seeds
• Heirloom Danvers 126 Carrots seeds
• Cauliflower plants from Lowes

We’ve seen some sunny, warm days since we planted these in our organic box, but we’ve also seen some very cold days. Today I took a look at the progress of our plants and seeds. The spinach and peas have sprung, our cauliflower isn’t dead, and our carrots are still hiding (as expected). Last year the carrots took many weeks before making an appearance. I also noted that the mint has sprung…. ALL OVER! It’s like a weed! It’s growing in new places, even. My chives have also come back and are standing tall. We are still undecided what else to grow. Xander wants to grow pumpkins. I want to grow peppers. Nick doesn’t care. So, we shall see.

bright green chives

Profusely growing mint. Mojitos anyone???

Cauliflower still surviving

I spy a baby bean plant!

Spinach? Or weed?