Garden!

I posted earlier that I was really looking forward to going to our local farmers market.  Well, I still haven't made it there and I didn't hear rave reviews from some friends that did go :( I know most people who live in larger cities say their farmers market have really great produce and it's usually cheaper than a super market, unfortunately that's not the case for ours (at least from what I've been told).

So, I decided to start my own little garden. We are attempting to cut our grocery budget down by half! And when I have looked back at previous visits to the store, a lot of the more expensive items have been produce and herbs, most of the time we don't even use all of what's bought.  Many times, the majority ends up in the garbage can.  This year I'm just starting small: tomatoes, red bell peppers, basil, thyme, & flat leaf parsley.  I really wanted to plant some lettuce and onions but I didn't feel like going to multiple places to buy the plants and I figured if I tried to do too many items I would just end up getting overwhelmed and discouraged.  It's crazy to think I have spent $4.00 (sometimes more) on basil, thyme, & parsley and that's only for 1/2 a handfull! Also, it usually dies before I use it all. You can buy a whole plant for about $3.00!!

I'm really hoping my little garden will flourish and hopefully next year I can expand and really cut costs on produce.  I took a few pictures that I wanted to share (they were taken with an iphone in the rain so you'll have to excuse the blurs). I am going to try to keep taking pictures and update as the plants grow and start producing :) Oh, I ALMOST forgot to mention my husband did all the work: building my raised beds and took good care to plant everything for me but now it's up to me to keep them alive! Hehe.

Sweet Basil

Italian Parsley

Red Bell Peppers

German Thyme

Butter Boy Tomatoes

Do any of you have gardens? If so or if you have any gardening experience I'd love to see them or hear your advice!  I have only grown tomatoes in the past and last year I had some basil and parsley in pots but once they outgrew their pots I gave up on them.  Happy Gardening!