Waiting--a post for Caroline

So after living in a yardless condo for the first 5.5 years of our marriage we finally have a yard! Early this spring Matthew and I had a discussion about plants. He was convinced that nothing could be grown successfully at home from seeds by amateurs such as us--apparently he had a disappointing experience with radishes as child. I remained much more optimistic; I mean all those plants at Home Depot had to come from seeds. If someone else could grow them, so could I! Unfortunately our yard is almost entirely shaded by two beautiful trees, so a huge vegetable garden was not in the cards, and we decided maybe we better start off small. We got off to a late start, but it appears that our tomato and pole bean plants are going to produce at least a modest harvest. To date we've enjoyed about 10 grape tomatoes and 1 green bean, and we are awaiting the maturation of the rest with the excitement that usually can be found with first graders growing their first sunflower. We are having a good time laughing at ourselves--the grandchildren of farmers on both sides marveling over plants grown from seed. We are having so much fun in fact that I'm scheming of a way (and hoping it's not just a pipe dream) to cut down the dying tree in our side yard and to build four small (4'x16') raised beds so I can have a big(ger) garden next year.