Summer garden

This year Mr. Amazing and I planted our first garden.  Earlier this summer our wonderful landlords had built me four 4x4x1 raised garden boxes and filled them with wonderful dirt and compost.  We bought started plants at Home Depot (or Lowes, I can't remember); Chinese eggplant, okra, bell peppers, yellow squash, and at the begging of Mr. Amazing, yellow watermelon.  While I don't like eating veggies quite so much, I love to grow things.  My green thumb is new and exciting!

We've had so many veggies this summer.  We ate so much squash that I thought I'd turn into one.  And I learned a great way to cook eggplant: slice it up really thin and lay it out on a baking tray.  Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle on garlic salt.  I also like to sprinkle Chico Spice vegetarian spice on it, too.  Broil in the oven for 3 or 4 minutes, flip them over, and then broil another 3-4 minutes.  Then eat them all up!  It tastes like cheese to me, and I adore cheese.

I gave all the okra away.  I can't stand the gross stuff!  My mother, on the other hand, ADORES okra.  I grew it for her, and I am extremely pleased with how it turned out.  It's a very sturdy plant, grows very quickly, and produces SO much.  I will forever use it to shelter other plants.  They started out as little two inch sprouts, and are now almost 4 feet tall, with stalks almost an inch in diameter. 

The bell peppers are finally taking off.  The poor things are getting too much sun.  Turns out they need more shade than "full sun".  They are still getting some burned patches, but are trying really hard!

NONE of our watermelon turned out well.  Turns out, once they start producing, you really aren't supposed to water them very much....  So that was a big fat disappointment, but we live and learn, and have many more years of growing to figure it out (plus the internet is helpful).  We tore out the watermelon plants today.  The vines had taken over so much of the yard, so the grass of super overgrown.  Mr. Amazing did some mowing, and now everything is nice and neat again.

We need to dig up the dirt and get it ready for its fall crop.  I have seed packets for carrots and snow peas.  The brand (Seeds of Change) say USDA Organic; I hope they grow well!  I worry about GMO products, and am always suspicious when I buy plants and seeds.  I just bought some seeds online from Heirloom Solutions: Parisian carrots, wild arugula, mixed lettuces, and broccoli.  I'm super excited to plant and grow more food.

I plan on slowly changing the way I eat, and slowly changing the quality of the food I eat.  Growing my own food is my second step.  (Step 1 was switching to only buying and eating farm fresh eggs - free range, no hormones or steroids, and locally laid!  Chris's eggs were my "gateway eggs".)