I have a very close friend who is a woodworker. For the past 3 years he has been successfully growing tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Seeing how fruitful his harvest has been coupled with my desire and need of fresh herbs and vegetables, I decided, heck, why not try a hand at it.  I have never grown anything that required photosynthesis other than in the third grade when we sprouted beans from dried peas. I remember taking it home to my mom, placing it in the kitchen window and never thought about it again.

Alas, here I am, trying my hand at it. First, I did research. I am one of those people who loves to read and if I am interested in something I will read up on it, learn about it and then pinterest the heck out of what inspires me.

So, what am I growing?  I wanted to start small. I purchased seeds for cilantro, lavender, rosemary, basil, and dill. I got some soil and planted them in their own seedling pots.  So anxious, I potted some in styrofoam cups when I ran out of seedling cups.  I would recommend sticking to the more eco friendly seedling cups. It only took about a week before my seeds started sprouting. My basil has the nicest small leaves already.

After seeing that I could at least sprout seeds, I decided to purchase plants. I have tomato, watermelon , cucumber and jalapeno plants. They are thriving.  I have started them all indoors but place them outside in full sun for 6 hours each day. Now it is time to plan my outside garden. It will consist of part raised bed for my herb garden.

I will update as they grow and when I make harvest a recipe using the 'fruits of my labor' are sure to follow. I am feeling pretty confident about this.

If you are a gardener and have any tips, feel free to share!

My favorite salad is usually romaine, spinach, bleu cheese and various fruit. I pair mine with simple vinegar and oil dressing with a little salt and pepper. Simply beautiful.

Here is a quick tip, when making tacos, place your guacamole in a ziploc bag and your sour cream in another. Push them into the corner of the bag and then snip it with a pair of scissors. Now you can drizzle your sour cream and guacamole with out spooning it and getting lettuce and tomatoes into your sour cream and guacamole dishes!