This year, for the first year ever in my 8 years of living in Madison, I have a yard that I can dig in and grow a “real” garden. I’ve responded by taking my green thumb up a notch.

Due to lack of sun in the digging area approved by our landlord, I potted 5 tomato plants and 1 green pepper plant in giant red pots. I put them on our walkway so they can get lots of sunshine.

And, unlike my gardening disaster of 2011, THINGS ARE GROWING. Like lots of things. I have at least eight tomatoes in the works out there with more on the way.

Big plants

Tomato babies

I did some research and planted some shade-tolerating veggies in the approved digging spot. I did a ton of manual tilling (AKA shoveling and raking for an afternoon) and Alex put up a fence to keep out the aggressive bunnies.

Shade garden

Check out all that digging

Vegetables in the shade garden include: cucumbers, celery, cauliflower, broccoli and Swiss chard. Nothing seems to be making big moves back there but it was worth a shot. The broccoli seems to be doing the best.

Come on broccoli, you can do this

I put boards and other random pieces of junk that I could find between rows to prevent weeds and make it easier to walk without crushing things. So far it seems to be working pretty well and the weeds are minimal.

I have basil and cilantro going in some small pots and I might do more herbs in the shady area because I have room for it. I haven’t planted any flowers, just one hanging basket I threw together for about $3, because I find plants that you can’t eat a waste of time.

For the next few months you will find me either gently urging my tomatoes to grow larger or obsessively checking on my veggies to see when I can pick and devour them. Happy gardening!