green thumb? wish me luck!

I planted our garden today.

It amazes me how my allergies are still growing by leaps & bounds, each year seemingly taking the cake over the year before. Soon I shall live in a bubble...you know, like you'll drive by and see me in a large hamster wheel tooling around my yard or sumpin'.

Freshly cut green grass + the bottom of my feet = oozing, itchy raw blisters. gross.

Green vegetation of any sort + my skin = itchy, rashy, swollen, hive infested, painful body. Photosynthesis + Marissa = bad.

Outside air in general during pretty much 3 seasons of the year = itchy, dry, watery eyes. Yes, it is possible to have dry & watery eyes at the same time. Try it, you'll like it. It's a wonderful sensation. Itchy nose. Pounding headache. Yum.

I crave controlled temperature environments - aka indoors + air conditioning. My husband lovingly refers to me as his shut-in.

And yet this gardening thing - I do it again & again to myself each year. Ask Garth how much I love to hate gardening. I also hate that I love it too. Some years my heart just plain isn't into it. But I love it so much that I always kick myself those years, that I didn't suck it up and do more out there. This year, a new me, a new start, I kicked it up a notch.

Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes & whatever variety of tomatoes Garth added in this evening.

Green peppers. Red peppers. Corn. Watermelon. Carrots. Cucumbers. Some sunflowers thrown in for good measure.

Oregano, basil, a little catnip for Daisy Mae.

Tomorrow I'll plant J's pea plant that is the best looking plant we've grown from seed so far this year. I forgot it in the kitchen window sill today but with a little luck tomorrow, I'll remember.

Lavender planted alongside the house. Should be a great addition to the lemon balm or whatever the heck my SIL gave me a few years back that has to be pruned back almost weekly out there. Sure smells good but dang its a hearty, ever-spreading plant.

I threw some flower seeds into a couple of porch pots and we'll just wing it as to how those work out.

I planted the flowers I received from the kids on Mothers Day into 2 pots and I'm sure they'll be the prettiest pots out there.

With a little luck, a lot of sunshine & some healthy doses of water, we should be reeling in a serious bounty this year. My newly acquired love of canning should come in mighty handy come late summer. Mmmm, I can almost taste that homemade salsa now...

Mother Earth, be good to us this year. Please make my itchy, swollen hands worthwhile.