Pizza Garden

There was an article in the paper over the weekend about getting kids interested in gardening. Now, that's not actually a problem here. Alex LOVES to help me plant and water things. Ben loves to dump all of the dirt out of the pots and then poor water all over everything, so I guess he loves it too. (I'll also add that the little stinker has figured out how to turn on the spigot outside, oops!!) Anyway, the article was about planting things that would go on a pizza. It went into pretty thorough detail about even laying the garden out in the shape of a pizza with each vegetable, herb, etc. in it's own slice. The slices would be separated by a rock border or something. I thought it sounded like a fine idea. So, we did our own version of a pizza garden this weekend. Instead of a designated "pizza" shaped plot dug into the ground I opted to plant my pizza makings in pots. So, we've got tomatoes, bell peppers (purple), oregano, thyme, marjoram, basil, and rosemary all happily growing. We fought a fantastic nursery and the plants are just thriving. If I can figure out how to grow those tomatoes out here we'll be in good shape. (Tomato growing in TX is somewhat of an art, I have failed miserably at it in the past...) Anyway, Alex is very excited about the pizza garden and no doubt we will have fun watching it grow.

The pizza garden is actually a good start for my herbs. Not sure if I related my herb growing experience this year or not. I decided I would grow them in pots and start them from seed. I got all the stuff together, planted the seeds, watered properly and NOT ONE SINGLE SEED from 12 DIFFERENT kinds of herbs sprouted. How ridiculous is that?? Anyway, now I have six established plants, and they are doing beautifully. (In addition to the ones I listed already I also have some mint). Now I know where to go to get the rest of the herbs if I want.

All of our gardens are actually doing quite well this year, must be just the right conditions. Let's hope for a bit more rain so they keep looking good!

Oh, and one last gardening note, our edible gardening this year also includes corn, the one peach currently left on the tree, lemons, and, if they grow carrots, raspberries, and blueberries. I'm not holding my breath that the last 3 will actually produce fruit, but the plants at least look good at the moment.