in the garden.

If you have walked by our house lately, you may have noticed that our garden doesn't look like this anymore. Our tiny, baby plants are maturing into their teenage years. Their limbs are too long for their bodies, and they are sprawling all over the place. These pictures were actually taken last week, and today we saw zucchini and squash measuring 4 or 5 inches! Pretty soon, we will have side dishes for every meal, and all the makings of a fresh pizza garden. So far, the garden has not been as difficult as I had imagined. (But, technically, Sam has been doing most of the work.)

Here are some thing we've learned in the early stages:

1. If you live in Utah, or a similar climate, plant a lot of squash and zucchini. They are amazing ego boosters. They will make your green thumb feel just great, without having to do much work.

2. Plant everything at once. Pick a weekend, and just do it. We still have a nice little empty plot outside by the fence, with two little packets of pole bean seeds sitting on our bookshelf.

3. Use mulch. We just bought some this weekend. At first, we thought we could get away with just pulling a couple of weeds every morning. But, then a thick carpet of round, grassy weeds popped up and we wished we had protected it. Those little ones are not easy to pull up.

4. Cucumbers need a lot of water. We just about gave up on ours, but with a little tlc they came back from the dead.

5. Don't buy tomato cages for $4 at Home Depot. They will magically turn up the next time you hit DI.

So, we have a little bug problem right now. They are having a picnic on the basil and pepper plants. We've heard of mixing garlic or tabasco sauce with water, and spraying it under the leaves. Do you have any suggestions?