garden obsessed

A couple of weekends ago (in the early days of my gardening obsession), I read Grow the Good Life by Michelle Owens. I came across the book at Rodale's General Store and the tagline "why a vegetable garden will make you happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise" caught my attention. The book isn't a garden how-to, it's an argument for why people should have backyard vegetable gardens.
     I'm not a huge reader of nonfiction, but I highly recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in vegetable gardening. And if you're not interested in growing vegetables, read the book and you may change your mind. Owens' informative and humorous voice comes through and kept me focused from start to finish. (Okay, maybe I skimmed the what the kids get out of the garden chapter...). The book is a great combination of history, research, personal anecdotes, and education. It's not meant to be your gardening bible, but there are tidbits of garden knowledge on every page.
     I was excited about the possibilites my garden would bring before reading the book. And after reading it, well, it made me wonder why it's taken me so long to plant a vegetable garden. It seems like one of the smartest things a person can do.
     Well, I'm off to actually buy a gardening bible.

And yes, I may have borrowed my blog title from the book...

overly ambitious gardener

the pepper seeds are starting to sprout!

To say I have a vegetable garden might be a bit of an overstatement. Right now, it's more like two areas of dirt with a few early seeds planted that I'm really hoping will grow and produce veggies. The broccoli, spinach, carrots, lettuce, and beet (golden and red) seeds have been planted, and my kaleidoscope carrots should arrive early next week and those will go directly into the garden.
     Once it warms up, beans, corn, peppers, three varieties of cucumbers, strawberries, and pineberries will be planted. For those of you wondering what the heck a pineberry is—they're white strawberry-shaped berries that taste like pineapples. I've never eaten one, but they seem fun!
     I'm a huge fan of cucumbers. I eat them raw, in salads, and use them to flavor water. (Chris's motivation for growing cucumbers may have more to do with cocktails...) We're planting traditional cukes, mexican sour gherkins, and lemon cukes. I'm really excited about the last two!
     This may seem like a lot for a garden newbie, but I'm really excited to grow things!