img_0045Last year was my first venture into vegetable gardening. My lettuce didn’t really grow much, I lost track of whether or not I planted jalepeno (on account of the fact I never found any), and I thought my carrots had flopped.

 I did however produce a respectable amount of tomatoes, herbs, and green peppers for a beginner. And then, a few weeks ago, as I was preparing my garden soil for new planting this spring, I reached down and pulled firmly on several green stems and discovered several sweet – albeit nubby – carrots leftover from last season.

 Impressive, huh?

But hey, it was an exciting moment f0r me (it doesn’t take much), great gratification for a girl truly appreciative of simple pleasures, and just the motivation I needed to expand my gardening prowess with this year’s crop.

image credit: Rhonda Franz