Kitchen Garden

Yes!  I grew these beauties!

Anyone who is lucky enough to have any outdoor space at all ought to think about having a kitchen garden.  You can be one of the proud ones who puts a little fresh produce on the family table. You might just find yourself enjoying a little dig in the dirt on a Sunday afternoon and then save yourself a trip to the grocery store to boot.   You can turn over a sunny spot of your lawn and put all that water to use making vegetables.  You can put some big pots on a drip line on your back porch and surprise your guests when they see all those decorative plants picked for their dinner salad.   Find a plot in a community garden.    I saw some young entrepreneurs in Brooklyn who had planted a one acre roof top garden to supply restaurants and a garden stand.  Check it out.  http://brooklyngrangefarm.com Ok?  Got anymore excuses?! I mean- there's no elevator for this building.  They carried ALL the dirt and everything up with a pulley system.  Unbelievable!

My grandpa had a huge garden on Upper Canyon Road in Santa Fe, NM.  He and grandma fed 3 boys out of that garden. We lived in a few different small towns in NM-mostly Albuquerque- and my dad always managed to put in a backyard garden.  (pulling weeds always a favorite chore-Not!)
I'm lucky enough to have a cozy 12'x24' plot to call my own.  There've been good years, better years and some pretty sucky years for planting.  Anyhow- I've been learning what works and what doesn't.  I'm trying to do better by the soil and deal with some pretty invasive weeds.  We can't live off this little spit of land but there's a lot of pleasure and pride that comes out of the soil.  It's done alright.  We even won a few ribbons at the Bosque Farms Fair once upon a time!
Here a few shots of whats in my Kitchen Garden today, Labor Day 2010!

OK- So, I stole these Santa Rosa plums from my neighbor!