A Culinary Garden

I'm so lucky to be married to a man whose passion is sustainable gardening. My husband painstakingly turned our yard into a chef's dream. He has provided me, the chef (and my family), with a wonderful array of fruits and vegetables that are at my disposal day and night.

Our gardens have made cooking a delight, when all I have to do is walk out into my yard to clip some fresh herbs, or veggies for our dinner. I find myself planning our meals around what's available in our garden, like eating a big salad almost every night. There's nothing better then freshly picked greens and herbs topped with spicy peppers, cucumbers, green beans, snap peas, and cherry tomatoes -- all from our garden!

In May we took pleasure in eating strawberries from the planter below. We also have several young blueberry plants that have provided us with a handful of berries every other day for the past couple of weeks.

Newly planted this spring are 18 grape vines of three different varieties. However, as you can see the Japanese beetles have been getting the best of them. Keith is in search of a way to get rid of the pests without using any chemicals. For now, the boys go out and pick off as many as they can find, and drop them into a jar of rubbing alcohol to kill them. Aren't boys awesome!

Some of the other produce that Keith has planted, and that we can look forward to eating later this summer and in early fall, are sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, squash, several varieties of peppers and tomatoes, broccoli, beets, onions, and garlic.

We also have some newly planted raspberry and blackberry bushes that will hopefully produce berries for us by next summer, along with about 100 asparagus plants that should be ready for picking by next spring.

I know how lucky I am to be able to access fresh, pesticide-free produce right from my yard, and I count my blessings every day for my sweet, sustainable-gardener-husband who provides it for me.