And So It Begins

There's nothing like a little competition to get you inspired, is there? It happens to Dave whenever the neighbor next door gets out and mows his lawn, making ours look like it just got out of bed after a night of hard drinking. I'm susceptible to the green meanies when it comes to the garden, and this year was no exception.

One morning a couple of weekends ago we casually looked out the back door (not snooping, not at all!) and there were the neighbors, sneaking around putting in their tomatoes. GAAA! So, of course, we had to run to the nursery this last weekend. Now ours are comfortably ensconced in their Wall-O-Water jackets, basking in their little red greenhouses and, hopefully, growing like weeds.

We decided on just five this year, since last year's bed got a little crowded by harvest time. There are Sungold and Sugar Lump cherry tomatoes, a red Siletz, a Green Zebra and our perennial fave, the Cherokee Purple. We'll be planting lettuce and arugula around the bases while the baby bok choy grows in the second bed.

Oh, and you can still download the plan for Dave's raised bed here. I'll keep you posted on how the competition goes!