Garden-Fresh Peppers

I think gardening is so rewarding. Sure, you can try buying organic or buying local (who doesn't love a good farmer's market?) but how about just stepping out into your backyard and picking what you want to eat fresh from the garden?

Here's what our garden looked like at the end of May:

The garden box was first lined with newspaper and then filled with top soil. The newspapers help prevent weeds from sprouting up through the bottom of the box and choking the important plants but it's still soft enough to allow the important plants' roots to push through if necessary.

The daisies were planted to attract butterflies and bees and other pollinators but they actually got chomped by deer just a few days after they were planted. And recently, squirrels and rabbits have been eating the budding tomatoes! So we've been learning about "pest control" and how to protect the garden.

BUT, a few peppers survived and look at how well they've grown! Apologies that the photo is a bit out of focus.