I’m very excited about planting a vegetable garden this year! I’ve been looking forward to this moment since I moved here 2 years ago. I’ve tracked the sun and found the best location for a garden so over the weekend my boyfriend Dale, my oldest son, Ryan and I dug our hands into the earth.

I’ll be learning as I grow so I’ve decided to start small and add beds each year as I feel the need. For our first beds we’ve chosen to make four of them; three 4×12′ and one 4×4′ the smaller one will be my spot for herbs.

Since this home didn’t have a veggie garden before, at least not to my knowledge, we had to start from the very beginning. We plotted out the beds, dug up the grassy earth and pulled out many large and small rocks-and oh boy where there a lot of them! It was Saturday and it was a partly sunny day, warm but cool enough to work outside digging. Along with the digging came tired muscles and everyone slept well that night.

Sunday was drizzly, damp and cooler  and it was the day we built the bed frames. I helped where I was needed but I didn’t feel like I did the hard labor. I kept myself busy by cleaning flower beds around the yard when I wasn’t needed.

I wasn’t sure how I could help and wanted to be useful so I made sure Dale and Ryan had full bellies and plenty of water to drink throughout the weekend. At the end of the second day I warmed them up with a pot of slightly spicy chili with 3 kinds of hot peppers, simmered for a few hours and a fire in the wood stove.

The real payoff will be all the great meals I will prepare for them with my own grown produce!

I invite you to stop by from time to time, I’ll share my garden with you. Come in and sit, unwind, contemplate while you find inspiration from recipes I will share with you; you can use them or create your own healthy dishes!

From my garden to you!