on gardens and their required footwear.

while my boys sleep (john because he's sick, elijah because it's naptime), i thought i'd update you on my latest project: my garden! i am still in shock that i even have a garden...but everytime i look out the window, there it is! what started as casual talk between john and me about the prices of organic produce turned into a "why don't we grow our own?" conversation...and here we are, with a backyard full of fledgling vegetables. last saturday, we (well, mostly i) planted the first phase of the garden. we have a plethora to choose from; we have califlower, broccoli, swiss chard, two kinds of onions, two kinds of cabbage, brussel sprouts, spinach, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet peas, red lettuce and two kinds of potatoes. i'm planning to add cucumber, more lettuce, carrots, tomatoes (roma and cherry) as well as an herb garden this weekend. whew! i've certainly got my work cut out for me. but i'm so excited about it too. seriously, a few years ago, i never would have dreamed this for myself but here i am, and it is good. there's a certain satisfaction that comes along with growing your own food. yes, it is a lot of hard work, but it's well worth it. to me, anyways. plus...i'm going to have a ton leftover so if you live in the area and want some fresh, organic produce, hit me up! i don't want it to rot...

this is very different for me, though, considering where i grew up. everything about it (except the main concept) is different. first of all, planting in february is unheard of in alaska. you might start some seedings in the living room next to the fireplace but considering the fact that there's still snow on the ground along with freezing temperatures, keeps any and all planting inside until at the earliest, may. i remember memorial day weekend always being "planting weekend", when my mom would finally plant all her flowers outside. that's the last weekend in may! so this is weird for that fact alone. also...any gardening we did was done in "bought" dirt. as in, dirt you bought at the garden center of home depot or the local nursery. this garden that i just planted was planted in soil we turned over with a shovel. free dirt. very cool. a silly little thing, but still, very cool.

i will be sure to post updates and pictures of my splendid little garden regularly. we should be expecting first harvest in a couple months (according to my gardening guru, john's mom, who has a certified green thumb. seriously.) for now, i'm off to search the internet for the world's greatest pair of gardening shoes. that's a lie actually...i already have them picked out...i just have to figure out where they're cheapest. i was planning to wear my green crocs because i was hoping that having "green toes" would make up for my pathetic green thumb (it's not that i have a black thumb...i'm just not very experienced at this gardening thing). but seeing as i'm not super fond of having shoes full of dirt (due to the holes in the toes of the crocs), i found this lovely pair of keens that will work wonderfully. now i've just got find them cheap!