The Domesticated Male

Well I have picked my first vegetable from the garden. I had a squash that was ready for picking. I am super excited to start picking things from the garden. I have several bell peppers that are in various sizes and in various colors, the banana peppers are growing and I have one that is about 5 inches, I have numerous cayenne peppers and Jalapenos that are growing and my cherry tomatoes are almost ready to start turning red. I started some aji peppers inside and they are breaking through the topsoil and I see little vines. It has been so thrilling to watch something that I have tended growing so good. I actually have a small watermelon as well. Growing a garden was never something I thought I would remotely want to do but I am so excited to see things grow. It has really gotten me outdoors. I have to water it, weed it, trim bad limbs and leaves, watch for disease and insects and soon I will get to start harvesting my 'crops'. This has really been a great way to calm down from

Growing up I always dreaded having to help harvest vegetables. The getting up at the crack of dawn to go into a field to pick peas, beans of several varieties as well as corn , etc. The shelling, peeling, shucking, silking they were all things I came to dislike immensely. Now that I am a husband and father my wife and I are trying to live healthier and one of the ways we have decided to help in that area is to put up our own vegetables. I have also started my own garden. I am growing everything from Tomatoes of various varieties to every form of pepper from bell to cayenne to aji. I have never thought of myself as a gardener but to be quite honest I am thoroughly enjoying myself in the garden. Weeding, watering and waiting! What joy! This is truly a way of learning patience since plants don't grow very fast. It has been so rewarding watching the banana peppers start to grow and seeing these tiny cherry tomatoes forming. This is been so much fun and can't wait to harvest! This m