Gardening has been a passion of ours for a very long time!  Having grown up in the country planting a garden is a common ordinary thing to do, one that both Hans and I enjoy.  Gardening takes much time and planning in order to produce high yields.  Ever since our boys were little they have enjoyed helping plant, weed, and harvest the crops that we plant.  More times than not the weeding turns into them running around with their dump trucks and shovels, scooping up a truck load of dirt here and dumping it there.  Hot days like the ones that we have had this week make the work rather tiresome but the end result is well worth all the hard work.  Planting the garden begins in early March with lettuces, onions, radishes.  At this time of year it can be tricky to grow vegetables due to frost, but if you are mindful of the weather the garden will flurish.  I love salads and you can not buy lettuce in a store that even compares with the homegrown varietys.  Around the same time tomato plants are started from seed indoors.   They are then transfered outside after a period of hardening off in early to mid May and usually we have the first fruit by mid to late July.  We plant many other vegetables.  When one crop is through the soil is tilled and another crop of vegetables is planted.  Gardens are a great way to eat fresh wholesome produce for a large portion of the year.  We are so thankful for our garden!