Give a girl a fig.

I love figs. I haven't always loved figs. As a matter of fact, I didn't eat a fig until I was 25 years old. I rented a tiny little hole in the wall apartment about 7 miles outside of town and there was a fig tree in my driveway. I didn't even know what it was! But I took my grandmother out one day to see my new pad and she about came unglued because I had a fig tree.

"Is that what that is?!" I didn't know. Not to mention it was one of the ugliest trees I'd ever seen.

"Yes! Oh, I love figs! You'll have to pick some for me when they're ripe."

Eventually they ripened. And as promised, I picked some for my grandmother. I even delivered them! And we had a nice visit while eating figs. And I really, really liked them. A lot. Who knew?

Thanks to my grandmother, and my little apartment in the country, I would like to plant a fig tree someday. Our dream is to buy country property...someday. So, when we DO buy country property...someday...I'll be planting a fig tree.

And an orange tree.

And a Meyer lemon tree.

And a plum tree.

And a persimmon tree.

And lots of vegetables.

The gorgeous photo above is from Whole Foods. Go visit!

Commitment One

Grow My Own Food.

This spring, after the last frost of course, my boys and I are going to plant food in our backyard. I don't necessarily want to call it a garden because it's not going to be your typical rectangular plot of land with everything planted in nice, pretty rows. Not that that's a bad thing. As a matter of fact, if it were possible, I'd have exactly that. But since my backyard is not designed in such a way, my garden will be different.

Last summer my husband planted grass in our backyard and installed some lawn edging all around the yard, leaving a 2 foot border for planting all around the perimeter. Originally I was going to plant it full of drought tolerant, low-maintenance plants...mostly flowering for some color. But since last summer I've done lots of research on gardening, sustainable living and canning. And because of this I've decided that, while flowering plants are nice and beautiful, I would rather fill my planters with homegrown vegetables and fruit. This will be a challenge because we have a HUGE pecan tree that shades half of the yard. So I can only plant in certain areas where there is enough sun. But it's doable. Definitely. I have a lot of containers that I can utilize as well. I've got pots and barrels and two raised beds. And then the areas in the yard where there is full sun.

Ideally I would have a rectangular plot of land to call my garden. Instead, I've got areas. I've also got a dog that likes to let us know that the backyard is HIS territory...if you know what I mean? So fencing would be ideal. But seeing as how I'll be gardening in strips, containers and borders, a fence isn't gonna work. Any ideas? I'd love to hear any tips or advice.

What will we grow?

Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Strawberries
Zucchini
Tomatoes (for eating and for canning my own sauce)
Cucumbers
Green Peppers
Hot peppers
Green beans
Sugar Snap Peas
Garlic
Shallots
Carrots
Sage
Cilantro
Flat leaf parsley
Thyme

Have I forgotten anything? It's dangerous reading the gardening catalogs. One could go a little over the top with the order form! But I will try to keep it to what we'll eat...regardless of how beautiful the pictures are. I would love to grow corn but we really don't have room. Not to mention we've got a great fruit stand nearby that sells delicious corn that is grown locally. So I'll utilize them for whatever I don't grow.

I also want to plant a Meyer lemon in one of my half barrels and possibly a dwarf orange or a tangerine. I'm leaning toward the tangerine because they're beautiful and delicious. But I am not sure yet. I have to read up on citrus more. I haven't researched it enough yet.

I'm so excited to grow my own food. It's my first step in becoming less dependent on "the man". Ha!