I was thinking about starting an herb garden from seed this year, but that didn’t happen in time! So, I bought some herbs on Sunday and planted them in a pretty green planter by my kitchen window.
Left to right: sweet basil, Greek oregano, and rosemary
They smell SO amazing!
It makes me want to make a big batch of spaghetti sauce so I can use the basil and oregano! I also want to try making pesto.

What are your favorite ways to use fresh herbs?

Gardening has been teaching me what I really knew already: I am an inherently lazy person (aren’t we all?). We’re trying out gardening this year for several reasons, and I know that it will grow me in perseverance because it’s not easy and it doesn’t come naturally to me.

Pictured above are some little tomato plants that I have not managed to kill (yet).

Here is our gardening plan for this summer. We have planted Bed #1, but are still working on tilling Bed #2, so we haven’t planted anything there.

Bed #1
Row 1: sweet salad mix
Row 2: mini tomatoes, better boy tomatoes, snap peas
Row 3: sweet peppers, cascabella peppers, snap peas
Row 4: radishes, snap peas
Row 5: spinach, marigolds, snap peas

Bed #2
(to be planted)
sweet salad mix, cucumbers, squash, pole beans
basil, rosemary, oregano, chives, lavender
dahlias, zinnias, shasta daisies, bachelor’s buttons

We also have one raspberry and one blueberry bush, as well as one small hanging basket of strawberries.

Reasons why I shouldn’t even try to garden:
-I hate the heat (it’s already hot here in NC)
-I hate dirt under my fingernails
-I don’t like bugs crawling on me
-I can’t tell grass sprouts from snap pea sprouts
-I already kind of lost track of where I planted what and when

Reasons why we are gardening:
-Growing your own vegetables saves money
-Home-grown vegetables are healthy for you
-We thought it would be a fun thing to do together
-We think it’s important to cultivate new skills
-It will help us grow in perseverance

If the seeds we planted don’t come up, we’ll just buy a few plants at the local produce stand and keep on trying!