Growin' Green

Colorado has had some absolutely gorgeous weather recently, although it's not completely out of the ordinary for us here in foothills of the Rockies. Did you know Colorado boasts more than 300 days of sunshine per year? I think people have this misconception that it's cold and snowy all.the.time here. It's not, really. Of course it snows some, but it doesn't hang around long except in the mountains which makes for our great snowboarding/skiing conditions. Okay, now I'm just bragging on Colorado's weather, but I invite you to come check it out for yourself :)

Anyway, back to the point: the beautiful, warm weather. It can easily be said that I have a thumb that is whatever the opposite color of green is. The anti-green, if you will. Fortunately, my family doesn't share the same trait, so my mom came into town last summer and planted us up some pretty awesome gardens. One of my favorites, though, is the vegetable garden. Our vegetable garden isn't huge, but it sits in a corner by our flagstone patio and it was so fun to eat what we grew! It was like really enjoying the fruits of our (I use the our term loosely, as I've already shared that my mom did most of the work) labor. Since it's been in the 70s lately, we've been clearing out and cleaning up the beds and have enjoyed watching the new green buds popping up - turns out I didn't kill everything over the winter.

I read this article recently written by a woman who views her vegetable garden as more than just a novelty. It's a way for her to save money on her grocery bill! I think it's pretty safe to say many of us watch our budgets more closely these days, so it just seems natural to add a bit of a hobby in gardening as a way to save the dollars. So here's what she said: think about the veggies that are most expensive in your region. For us, peppers always seem to put us out a pretty penny, and we really love using them in our cooking. Last year, we also grew tomatoes. While it was kind of fun because the tomato plants produce a lot, we don't actually eat tomatoes and the plant got so big, it seemed like it was overshadowing everything else. They might not make the cut this year. Other things that are on the list to be home grown this year? Asparagus, onions, green beans. We'll probably add a few more and we're looking forward to enjoying our own fresh food!

What would you all plant in your own vegetable garden? Any secret tips for those of us just starting out?