IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!!!!!

garlic.
hot banana peppers, look there's a bud-type-thingy (i'm so not a farmer-type).
that's zucchini you're looking at here. grown from seed. yup, i'm good. lol
i'd like to draw your attention to the bud there in the middle of my tomato plant.

some of my herbs. the 2 you see here are rosemary and lavender. in the yellow pot i have sweet marjoram, and there's oregano in the blue one.

that's right, folks, my experiment in gardening is WORKING!!!!! i'm so excited! i've actually got a garden, and there's stuff growing in it! woohoo!!!!!!! next year, i'm gonna have a bigger garden! i have declared! lol

i have a number of things going on in the garden, and a couple things in pots. here's the list:

1. cucumbers (slicing, pickling). growing from plants.
2. yellow beans. growing from seed.
3. lentils. from seed. (giving this a whirl, don't know if it'll work, but hey, you never know.)
4. pinto beans. from seed.
5. garlic. i had a few cloves, so i planted them. and they're working.
6. potatoes. dunno how it'll work out, but i'm trying it.
7. hot banana peppers. doing rather well, if i do say so myself. from plants.
8. green peppers. from seed.
9. zucchini. 2 plants, both doing well. several seeds, one is pictured above. :D
10. butternut squash. from plant.
11. acorn squash. from plant.
12. pumpkin. from plant.
13. watermelon. from plant.
14. cantelope. from plant.
15. honeydew melon. from plant.
16. tomatoes. one plant (bigger ones), and some seeds (grape, i do believe). they're in a whisky barrel, at least for now.

a lot of the plants are doing well, although i think a little intruder has nibbled on my melon plants. i'm not impressed. i'm thinking of building a scarecrow. how ever so Little House on the Prairie. i just hope it doesn't turn into that Simpsons episode where Marge built a scarecrow but then Homer came home drunk and thought it was an intruder or something and he beat it to a pulp and then all the crows loved him and followed him everywhere. that was creepy. i hope that doesn't happen here. i know it's not likely, but hey, you never know, you know?

anyway, that's my garden. i've decided to post its progress here weekly. so, every sunday night, check in and you'll see how things are coming along.

as for the whole domesticity thing, well, today i canned some pinto beans for quickie suppers, made some rice to have on hand for the week. i love rice, but i'm too impatient, so i make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. then when i want it, i just pull it out and do whatever to it, and then i'm happy. also, i did the Day 5 thing on an amish bread starter i got. and i'm thinking of starting my own in a couple days. i looked up the recipe on allrecipes.com (i'm really digging that site!). i just want to give it a whirl, having never done this before.

and i just realized, that i may have given the impression that i don't do anything in the kitchen. so sorry, if i have. in fact, i love being in the kitchen. i love to cook. i could cook all day if i had the chance. rarely use recipes; no, i check out food at my favourite restaurants and then come home and make it myself (and mine's usually better!). that's the type of cook i am. i love it. very creative and soothing, in a lot of ways. very pleasing. just baking... ugh. but i'm trying it. tonight i'm trying annie's homemade granola bars, and i'll let you know how they turn out. i'll give you the link to her recipe below. (there you go, annie, a little free advertising there for you! lol)

so, that's going to be my evening.

here's the links i mentioned earlier (just to give credit where credit is due):

1. http://myrecipestash.blogspot.com/2008/04/chewy-granola-bars-recipe.html
2. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Amish-Friendship-Bread-Starter/Detail.aspx