I am feeling so much better about the garden. I got some really encouraging responses from friends and e-mail buddies. Thanks guys! It really helps me to hear about everyone else’s experiences.

I finally beat back all of the weeds and replaced some of the plants that failed. I added some peppers and another cucumber. I took Victoria’s advice and finished my weeding on a morning when I knew it would be hot. Hopefully that helps. Many of the plants that survived the attack of the killer weeds are looking pretty good. I’ve been able to harvest some lettuce, dill, chives and lemon balm. The lemon balm is especially healthy. I’m going to dry a bunch of it for tea. I have some orange mint and pineapple mint at my house that are both doing pretty well. I think that combination would make a nice herbal tea.

My container garden at home is doing pretty well too. My tomatoes have flowers on them and seem to be pretty healthy. Last week I planted a few things in some extra containers I had lying around. I figured they may or may not work, but extra seeds and extra pots weren’t going to do me any good unless I combined them. Some lettuce, lemon cucumbers, and summer squash have popped up and are looking very healthy.

Most of my herbs are doing well. The sorrel, which I thought had died, seems to be staging a comeback. The Chinese herb whose name I can’t remember is thriving. The Chinese herb, some basil and maybe some orange mint will make lovely spring rolls this coming week. Maybe I’ll even have enough cilantro by then too. The tarragon I planted is doing well too. I love tarragon in chicken salad and eggs.

This afternoon I ran into my friend Athena outside. Athena has been a friend of my family’s since I was a little girl. She invited me over and told me she had a pot of basil to give me. As she was showing me around her spectacular container garden she pointed to a beautiful, healthy fig tree that was actually bearing fruit. I had no idea you could grow figs here. I expressed my disbelief and she pointed to the patio of a neighbor, “Do you see that small fig tree he has there? He got 64 figs off of it last year. You just have to cut it back and winter it in the basement.” I am definitely going to try that next year. Fresh figs are one of the things I miss most about California.

All in all I am getting pretty excited about my garden. I feel like it is really starting to take off. The support and advice I’ve been getting from other gardeners has been invaluable. I feel like this garden experiment is bringing me closer to the land and closer to my community, both online and in real life.

(image from thebittenword.com via flickr)