Go Greens!

This is my first year in Scotland and to keep our grocery bill at bay we decided to make use of the window boxes provided with out flat (aka apartment). We planted Swiss chard, round carrots, beetroot (aka beets), salad greens of sorts, garlic chives and the herbs we tend to use/cook/eat the most! They are all snuggled together with a tiny army of mis-matched marigolds to fight off the bugs. Despite Scotland lacking in the sun department and the gale force winds this week, our urban container garden is growing happily perched on our window sill. We also planted a pot of courgettes (zucchini) which are showing their little sprouty heads just now, so we hope they will be ready in time to harvest by late summer.

Having been raised by a gardening family it just feels natural at this time of year to go outside, or in our case into out kitchen with newspaper on the floor, and get your hands dirty. Back then, our acres of vegetables and potatoes took some of the strain of providing fresh food off my parents, I believe more importantly it made me appreciate the work/love that goes into a garden/family. Many hours were spent digging hills of potatoes, picking and peeling peas, keeping the kids from eating all the baby carrots and sharing the wealth with family and friends. The process was just as rewarding as the product!

On an entirely mini scale, me and my Lumberjack got to experience the satisfaction of spending time together in an effort to grow food for our family of us.

And so, I introduce my first bowl of greens, grown in Edinburgh, enjoyed in Edinburgh and worth the effort! I'm not gonna lie, I'm a wee bit proud, and I think my green thumbed Dad would be pretty dang proud too...and then recite all the scientific names for all the plants we planted... and then go on to list at length all the other things I could have planted that would be suitable for this growing season we find ourselves in! If you know my father, I'm sure you will find this account of him both amusing and accurate.

So in conclusion: Having our wee window boxes full of greens to great us when we look out the window makes it feel a whole lot more like home to me!

I will leaf you with this picture...