Winter Garden

our winter crop

rainbow chard, arugula, beans in the back

snap peas

arugula

see the carrot?

our stoooopid lemons...huge and void of taste

looking toward spring

this is our first winter garden...but certainly not our last! and i love that i am posting pictures of it...because that is about as far as i can go in taking any type of credit for it. bryan completely over-hauled one of our boxes and put in new soil and went to town back in december. everything was very slow growing until a couple weeks ago when we had unseasonably (who am i kidding...its so-cal?) warm weather and the garden just woke up! it was actually pretty amazing to watch...

we have been really loving arugula lately - especially since finding out that arugula'soul mate is goat cheese...those two can really conquer any dish - we have made pizza, salad, sandwiches, egg scrambles...you name it - with the pair and it always seems to come out right!

also - our rainbow chard is so beautiful. my boys will snack on it raw...but they wont with spinach...so i am guessing its cause of all the perty colors that makes it kid-appealing...but even bobby goes over and tears off a leaf and goes to town...i follow his lead because there is something so delicious in something so beautiful and fresh! same with the peas...i like them best raw...i have to open them up for bobby and bodie, but at least bryson is also eating them raw.

we have also been enjoying the lemons from our neighbor's tree that have been making its way onto on yard...which is so nice...we have two lemon trees in our backyard, but one is dumb...makes these big tasteless dumb things. we still use them - for the peel/rind and for juicing....and the other tree gives us like 5 a year. our neighbor's tree though has been great...whenever i need one i just go outside and pick away!

we also have some strawberries growing...and artichokes...both of which will pop with spring. and we have our starter garden growing in our dining room (last pic) that will get a home in the next few weeks as well.

i have some big plans for spring...our yard makes it difficult to plan properly because only a small portion of our backyard sees the sun for enough time to support veggies...so we need to make the most with what we got. i do want to get finally back going on composting...i want to grow out my herb garden now that i am cooking with herbs more...and i want to grow some veggies we dont normally eat...any suggestions on adventurous veggies?