I Don't Know Anything: The Beginner Beginner's Journey

I'm not even sure that you can describe me as a beginner gardner, I mean I knew absolutley nothing before I started my home garden and I really didn't even know I wanted to start a garden. Know I can't imagine not having a garden. I can't imagine that last fall I didn't get started properly on my garden, that I didn't seed more of a variety of plants, or start a compost six months ago.

So, even though a lot of things in my garden I did ass backwards, it hasn't been doing too bad...here is the story...


My boyfriend Nick and I live in Chapel Hill NC (Go Heels!) which is also the Carolina epicenter of local food, local farms, and farmers markets (there are three within 20 miles of our house). My little brother and I went to the Carrboro Farmers Market and I found a beautiful tomato plant and a 4 pack of basil for just $5! Nick and I went to Whole Foods to get herbs for the summer since we were sick of buying them at the grocery in their inordinate amounts that we can never seem to use before they go bad. We're both chefs, so fresh herbs really blows our skirt up-so to speak. All of a sudden I had all these plants and the next day I was a the local garden center off Franklin St. and found some really great seeds.

I began the seeding process, I tried germinating both already in soil and also in a warm damp paper towel that i left over the fridge. I successfully germinated and actually have plants for tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, peppers, collards, and these great butterfly attracting wildflowers. I am absolutely obsessed with peppers, I love every single kind of pepper that has ever been found from the hottest habanero to the sweetest bell pepper, juggling the heat to sweet of peppers is an art primarily contained within our southern neighbors but I always love a challenge. All my other plants were still potted, eagerly awaiting the ground...
The Land I had to Clear
I had to figure out somewhere to put everything, considering I didn't till up the land much less clear it away earlier in the year I began the arduous task of 'clearin the land.' We live in a house that has a lot of trees around it so finding part of the land that got the most sunlight took a while, I really had to keep an eye on the yard. Finally I got my plot, got my organic soil, got my manure, and I was ready.




This is my garden as of April 24, kinda sad...