"That is well said," replied Candide, "but we must cultivate our garden"

Happy Birthday to me and my garden. Here are the seed packets and plants that will be the beginnings of gardening awesomeness.

After the successes of last summer's porch garden, I decided I would have another porch garden for Summer '09. Last year I grew some herbs and flowers, and I lived off of pesto for months. It was great.

This year I am kicking it up a notch. For my birthday, my parents and Boat Sister Shana gave me some plants and seeds to begin my garden. I was thrilled. Last weekend when it was warm out, I planted my garden on the porch. It's twice as large as last year's!

The up front costs of the garden can be a bit surprising, since you need to buy lots of soil and, in my case, more planters, but the amount of herbs and enjoyment and food and greatness more than pays for this garden. And I feel like I'm doing good things for the environment and it's a great little hobby to have all summer. This year I'll be growing:


--Swiss Chard (and that's me holding the seeds)
--Lettuce
--Two kinds of beans
--Basil
--Oregano
--Lavender
--Parsley
--Rosemary
--A variety of flowers


Here's a photo of the garden so far and its humble beginnings. Yep, right now it's just a lot of dirt and planters as well as a rosemary plant and a lettuce plant, but it'll start growing soon, I'm sure. I'll be posting photos of the garden all summer, as well as the food I'm making with it. Get pumped. It's going to be a tasty summer.