*garden zen*

cucumbers, originally uploaded by neverfeltbetter.

every morning i stroll in the backyard, making rounds making sure everything is in tact from over the evening {you never know, there are critters who roam the neighborhood who may want a midnight snack of my carrots or lettuce. not to mention the snail fiasco of earlier in the season...}. the one bed is dappled in sunlight even at 7, where the other is shady and cool and won't receive it's sun until about 10ish when it clears the roof of the house. the containers receive their sun about 9am. their location is the best in the yard, as seen by the jillion squash flowers and now bean flowers! {who knew they made flowers?}

even though i didn't have TOO much to do with everything {things seem to grow whether i am there or not haha}, i have a sense of pride that it's my loving tending to them that helps them grow. i am no master gardener, more like a humble novice. it's one thing to keep hearty plants alive in the yard but it's another joy to plot and plan a vegetable garden and watch them produce for you to share with your family. {even though today that one new red ripe strawberry was all mine!} i might even have enough to gift friends or do the crop swap this year, which makes me even more excited for the harvesting.

i have to read up on the swiss chard, like how and when to clip and harvest...when the carrots will truly be ready...how to keep the tomatoes producing through the summer. there is so much to learn! when we are own our own home i believe i will try a year-round garden then canning. my aunt on my mom's side lived into her late 90's and when my mom asked her how she stayed so spry, she said that she got up early to bake bread every day, she had her own garden and she canned her fruits and veggies. that sounds like heaven to me...

so: how does YOUR garden grow? :)