I sliced the zucchini about ½” thick.

Mixed up some fresh-diced garlic, olive oil, Celtic Sea Salt (the best!!), a little pepper and some beautiful Herbs of Provence that were a gift from my friend while traveling in Europe.

My Granny taught me, yes I’m from the south, to always mix with your hands because it makes everything taste better because it’s mixed with love. Mixing with your hands also helps to coat all the sides evenly.

I placed the Zucchini in rows on a grill rack. I usually break this baby out when I am grilling fish but it also works great when grilling veggies.

Grill for about 5 minutes each side on a piping hot grill and voila! You could easily sprinkle some feta to finish or leave just as is. It was so very tasty and we enjoyed every bite. A very plain recipe but it was so much more knowing that we grew it ourselves. Real satisfaction that I cannot explain until you do it yourself!!

The space is approximately 20′ x 25′. The first step made with our garden was to deal with the soil. As the saying goes: “Feed the Soil and the Plants Will Take Care of Themselves.” It is probably a great idea to test the soil in a new area to determine how much nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium you have in your soil and what the pH is. We were familiar with some of the other gardeners and talked with them to get an idea of the soil quality. So no soil testing for us, we jumped right in!

We ended up renting a rototill to turn the soil over. Once this was accomplished we added worm poo (castings). I have been worm composting for about a year now. The great advantage of worm composting is that this can be done indoors and outdoors allowing year round composting. We had prime castings ready to be mixed into the soil after the tiling process. Nothing better than digging through worm poo!

After the soil was amended we had a split of seeds and seedlings. Seedlings are much easier to start with but we all wanted to see if we could start seeds in the soil and get something to grow. The depth you plant your seeds depends on their size. They only need enough soil to cover them and supply moisture for germination. Seeds buried too deep may not be able to struggle through the soil to the surface. As a rule of thumb, seeds should be covered up to twice their diameter at their largest point. After you’ve set the seeds at the correct depth, firm the soil by tamping it with your hands or the end of your garden rake. This will improve contact between the seeds and the moist soil. For the seedlings we just dug a hole and placed the plant in the hole and filled in around it and firmly pressed down with fingers to pack it in.

We get our seeds from Abundant Life Seed Company. Their goal is to offer true-to-type open pollinated varieties grown using only certified organic or biodynamic farming methods. Abundant Life has pledged that they will not knowingly buy or sell genetically-engineered seeds or plants. Growing GMO free products were a must for us.

After the planting, we stood around and looked at the garden and all hoped for the best. Of course a little watering needed to take place. Vegetable plants need 1 – 2 inches of water each week especially from mid June to mid August. Too little water will not let the plant roots grow deep and strong. They need to be able to do this to gather nutrients for good growth. Too much water will saturate the soil so it’s all about observation. Get to know your soil conditions. I think its best to water before 10am or after 5pm. We are here in sunny California and have plenty sunshine so if your watering more towards the evening time the plants have plenty of time to dry off before dark. This is important because if plants are too moist they can get fungus or disease.

We planted watermelon, squash, zucchini, beets, peppers, hot peppers lettuce, swiss chard, arugala, and 5 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Everything in the garden is growing and looking great. We were surprised that the arugala grew so fast and we are eating it now. It is soooo yummy. I’ve had it in salads and on sandwiches. A very rewarding feeling. We are so ready for everything else to start producing. We actually lucked out with the weather being a bit cooler because we ended up planting a large amount of different lettuce varieties and we planted a little too late. But hey it worked out. It’s all a big experiment!!

I encourage you to start a little garden in your back yard. It relieves stress and it’s pleasant knowing that you grew your very own food. When we get more veggies from the garden I will update you all and share some recipes. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, I have a friend who grows over 67 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Her name is Laura Taylor and she teaches tomato growing classes and cooking classes. She will be selling her lovely tomatoes this summer. Such a great person and an even more amazing gardener. Check her blog out for more information. TomatoMania is another amazing resource for everything tomoatoes.

Here’s to a happy garden!!

Did you know the National Gardening Association expects 43 million American households to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and berries this year. That’s up 19 percent over last year, according to a 2,559-household survey. Mike Metallo, spokesman for the National Gardening Association, says a $70 investment in a garden will yield $600 in produce for the year. That is a pretty awesome savings!! I would think this is truer for someone who really knows what he or she is doing. My team and I will be learning as we go. I am confident we will turn something out that can be shared by all. It will be two very dear friends, my hubby and I sharing the responsibilities.

My goal to grow an edible garden is to teach myself a life skill that I really should know. You never know when it might come in handy! I think community gardens can strengthen bonds and create recreational and therapeutic opportunities for us, and hopefully provide some really great food to be shared with family and friends.

So welcome to my edible garden journey! I look forward to sharing my knowledge and growth with you all. Oh, and recipes too!!

Thank you Harold, Mary, Jodi & Jeremiah for making this happen!!