Getting Dirty

Operation "let's get this garden started" has been completed, with a sigh of relief and accomplishment. My least favorite part of gardening is the dirty part - schlepping heavy bags of soil, excavation of last year's dead roots, deciding which size pots are best for which plants, anxiety over whether I'm providing enough drainage and compost, and physically doling out the dirt - so I'm always glad when this onerous hurdle has been passed.


My interest in gardening began two years ago, as a natural next step following my interest in local eating. In my ideal world, I would turn our yard into a cornucopia of produce with a zero mile footprint, but in reality I stay within the limits of my knowledge and laziness by creating a simple container garden, mostly from already-started young plants bought at the farmers market. Now that almost everything is potted, all the garden asks is a daily watering or two, and in return I will (hopefully) be blessed with fresh herbs, tomatoes, and greens for fun summer cooking.


Here's what I planted this weekend:

Parsley
Purple sage
Creeping rosemary
Lemon thyme
Basil
Lavender
Anise hysspop (Licorice mint)
Bloomsdale spinach
Swiss Chard
Mesclun salad mix
Arugula

I will also plant cherry tomatoes and peppers in a month or so once it's warm enough. And some pretty flowers, to be determined.


What are you growing this season? Can you recommend any gardening blogs or websites that can help demystify the confusing (to me) field of horticulture?