Gardening...Joy or Pain?

After weeks of dreaming that the soil in our garden would turn into nourished, soft dirt I determined it appropriate to start planting. This weekend Rob and I took to the garden (once again), but this time are blessed with the virtue of seeing some fruits of our labor. Albeit through rocky soil, there is growth. I've taken some photos to let you in on our plans for the garden this year. 

Strawberries!!  Yum! I've never planted strawberries before, but Grandma Garden says these are the sweetest strawberries she's ever grown. Besides, she supplied me with the starts and I figured it's worth a try. 

Peas are the next item that have started to sprout. Actually, Rob and I planted these from seed a couple of weeks ago and are now seeing growth. Rob planted one row and I the other. His are growing heartily and strong, while mine are still 

struggling to break through the soil. They are determined though. I've never grown peas, so this will be a fun adventure. 

Here comes the best part of all....the tomatoes! I love growing tomatoes because it provides me a fresh resource for salsa during the summer. However, this year the tomato garden means a bit more to the both of us. Rob and I came up with the idea to name some of the plants so that we could talk about them and discuss their "issues" together. Rob creatively started naming the plants after certain sports teams (Eagles, Phillies, Spurs, a few of the Tigers for Dad T, and the Red Sox as a spite to the Yankee Fans). 

Therefore, after planting our twelve tomato plants yesterday Rob and I discussed and reviewed which names would be associated with each plant. Today we labeled the plants (sacks) for reference. You'll note I took a picture of Ryan Howard, #6. He's a strong one, but needs a little extra attention (as it seems the real Ryan Howard may need). In our time together I have learned so much about Rob and the great man he is. He didn't complain once yesterday as we spent time in t

he garden (admittedly not his favorite place), but instead found a way to relate this to his favorite world - Sports.  Besides, this will help me associate with the players a bit more. Who knew named tomatoes would bring such joy from required diligence and determination? (By the way, the tomatoes are the Phillies.)

I'm going on too much, but thought is a great blog entry. I hope everyone enjoys watching the progress of our garden team. Hopefully soon we'll name the rest of the plants - but the peas are definitely the Eagles; first planted - first priority.