Working 9+ hours a day staring in front of a computer monitor, and barely a glimpse of sunshine and whiff of fresh air, there is immense joy in the simple pleasure of planting a garden. Feeling the earth with your hands, smelling the crisp morning air, feeling the dew drop after you've planted everything, rewards like this await all who venture into the world of gardening.
Why plant you say when you can buy from Safeway (God forbid!) ? For one, please don't buy from Safeway!! Where the heck do they get those fruits and vegetables from anyway. Someplace very far away, usually un-ripened and often radiated en-route or in the store. Safeway recently launched a line of "Safeway Organics"; that's like buying a book on stopping global warming by George Bush. I simply don't buy it (literally). If you must buy, buy from a store that buys local produce, organic produce (and has done so for years); or buy from a farmers market!
Simply put, there is no comparison between vegetables and fruits grown in your own organic garden and those bought at stores (or even in good stores or farmers market). Making a salad in the evening? Just walk out back to your garden, harvest different varieties of lettuce and tomatoes and enjoy the best salad ever. It's my belief that the difference lies in the fact it is on your land, born by your own hands, harvested exactly when you need to eat it. If you fancy eating food filled with the essence of earth, bathed in the moonlight, and drenched in the sun, give gardening a try.
What to plant? For first timers, I suggest the simple things like tomatoes, preferably an heirloom varieties, pear and cherry. Next is lettuce, romaine works good, any varieties you enjoy eating (we have 5+ kinds this year). If you plant early or live in a colder area, plant sugar snap peas, snow peas, blue lake pole beans (stake them and let them vine up). Herbs are good, like Basil, Rosemary, Italian Parseley, all your favorites. Whatever your choices, start small, dig deep removing old soil down to 12-18 inches, and use good topsoil if you don't naturally have it. Planters work fine also. The biggest key to having a healthy garden is an irrigation system that can water automatically. Especially out here in California, this is key with our hot and dry summers.
Dig in, get your hands dirty and enjoy your summer garden!
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