blackberry flower, originally uploaded by clevermynnie.

Our garden is doing better this year than last year. We have the two rosebushes established in pots from last year which are now 2' and 3' tall, which aren't blooming just yet. We also have our blackberry plant, which spent last year covering a trellis with canes. These canes turned red and orange over the winter, and I was vaguely afraid they would die, and then they turned green again and now it is blooming! It heartens me to know that every flower will turn into a big juicy berry, to be eaten outside on a hot day in the sun with Ben.

Last year our attempts to grow herbs from seed met with failure: we only managed to get parsley, cilantro, and thyme to sprout. This year we tried cultivating seeds inside first, and they flourished but died before we could get them into the ground. So we bought some from a preschool having a plant sale, and now we have little plants of rosemary, sage, basil, lavender, peppermint, and recao. We also got a habanero plant and two tomato plants. And we were planning to plant peas again, and we had gotten some sugar snap peas which were in the fridge too long and sprouted... so we planted them in the ground, and now they are tiny vines grabbing the fence! We will plant the parsley, cilantro, and thyme from seed again, since that worked fine last year. I can't wait for the peppers and tomatoes and peas, not to mention the blackberries... and I also can't wait for the herbs to get big enough that I can start tearing off leaves and seasoning things with them.

Oh, and we recently did something to make our tiny backyard even more awesome! We got a small charcoal grill. It makes great burgers and also great grilled eggplant and mushroom sandwiches, and later this week we plan to make grilled corn on the cob. I used to think a grill was redundant over our broiler, but it was really cheap and the food really tastes more smoky and delicious. Plus when it is really hot during the summer, we won't have to be making heat inside the house to cook with.