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4/19/10

Summer is Approaching!

I stopped by Lowe's today on my way home from the doctor (another post on that lovely topic coming soon) so that I could pick up some supplies to wage an all out resuscitation effort on my grass. It is not so much that my grass is dead - I would basically say that it looks like an older gentleman with a receding hairline. He's not quite bald yet, but you can definitely tell that he's working towards it. That's my yard. So, I'm working on the rogain efforts of the grass, but meanwhile I got very distracted at Lowe's. You see, they have all the summertime plants out! They had herbs, veggies, fruit bushes/trees, spring bulbs, flowers, you name it! I love summer time, and I love working in my (pitiful) yard. We don't have a lot of yard space, unfortunately, but having a smaller yard allows me to really focus and get the yard in tip top shape. For whatever reason, I'm starting a little behind the 8 ball this year, but I have hope! As you can tell from my excessive use of exclamation points, I am really excited about summer. I wait all.year.long. for summertime to role around again. And now it finally is!

Going along with the idea of growing things, I recently read an article in the newspaper about a local food bank that has decided to create a community garden behind their main building. They mentioned in the article that the majority of items that get donated to the food bank are packaged and processed foods, and that they have a hard time getting a really well balanced meal complete with fruit and vegetables together from the items that get donated. As a solution to this, they have created a garden out back where they will be growing their own vegetables that can then be turned around and given to people when they come to pick up their bag of food. They are also renting out garden plots to people, similar to the concept of a community garden, and they will require a percentage of the food be donated back to the food bank for the use of the land (in addition to a rental fee). I thought really long and hard about renting one of these plots, as I don't have the ability to have a garden in my yard, and I would love to be able to grow my own produce! I've decided against it for this year, as I don't really feel like I would be prepared to start my own garden without doing some research and all, but I got in touch with the woman that is running this program and I'm hoping to start volunteering with their garden plot. I just think it is a fantastic idea! Plus, it would give me gardening practice and some basic knowledge before I set off on my own to flounder around the world of growing vegetables!

Do you have any plans for a garden this year? What are you going to grow? I love hearing about people's crops, so speak up!
I'm reading this: Summer is Approaching!Tweet this! Posted by Lauren on Monday, April 19, 2010

4 comments:

  1. CaityApril 19, 2010 at 2:54 PM

    That is so exciting seeing all the spring and summertime plants out! I absolutely love the warmer months. It makes me so happy and I live for this time of year. I don't have space where I live to grow a garden. I live in a little studio apartment. My husband and I definitely have plans for a garden when we move somewhere a bit bigger, though!

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  2. RonnicaApril 20, 2010 at 10:37 AM

    I grew up with a garden, so I'm SO excited that my roommate and I are doing a garden of our own this year. We decided to grow in containers, as that's easier (we hope) than preparing the poor soil. I hope it works out, because I love the idea of having fresh veggies at our fingertips. Taste better and are much cheaper!

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  3. LaurenApril 20, 2010 at 12:09 PM

    I agree Ronnica! I grew up with gardening (intermittently...it wasn't an "every year" thing) and there is NOTHING better than the taste of homegrown fresh from the ground produce. I'm thinking of trying to do some container gardening too. Last year I had a very small raised bed of spinach and lettuce and one tomato plant in a bucket planter, so I may try to do those again. I agree that it can be easier to do it that way than to worry about trying to prep the soil for an all out garden (and, in my case, tearing up the grass and patio that are in the way of where I would want my garden). Good luck to you! Let me know how it goes!

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  4. andreaApril 24, 2010 at 11:53 AM

    We're trying raised bed gardening this year (have had little luck with traditional plots and I HATE weeding). If it goes as planned, we'll have tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and three or four kinds of beans. Oh, and beets.

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