One of my favorite things about living abroad was the visiting the farmers’ markets for fresh, garden-grown fruits and veggies (and baguettes, and cheese and the list goes on…). The French were especially strong in this area, with markets in each neighborhood on practically every day of the week. I’d walk to each one, but my favorite was in Arceaux, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I’d usually meet Dave for lunch and bring a big bag to collect my goodies for the next few days.
Napa’s farmers’ market is great too, but I have to wait until May for it to get going! Before we left for Europe, that was somewhat of a tradition that Dave and I had: head over to Oxbow on Saturday morning, grab coffee at Ritual Coffee Roasters (his favorite…I’m just grateful for any caffeine in the morning) and peruse the market selections. I wish the Napa market was year-round (and more times per week) but, I take what I can get.
Instead of waiting for Saturdays (and May) to roll around, Dave and I decided to take matters into our own hands. We’d read about a tomato plant sale at Oxbow Market (aka our farmers’ market location) and because my parents have two planter boxes available, we thought it was the perfect time to get a garden in order. (Spoiler alert: I also used this as a chance to get back practicing my photography, so hang in there as we take a tour of my new plants…)
I, by no means, claim to have a green thumb, but I tried to figure out what “crops” might do well with dappled sunlight. I know tomatoes need a lot, so the six plants we brought home got the box that receives a touch more sun than the other. My mom has had good luck with tomatoes in the past, so I’m hopeful that we’ll have some decent veggies this summer!
Joining our tomato plants are a couple of red bell pepper plants, a poblano chili plant and a bunch of herbs (thyme, parsley, basil, cilantro, sage, rosemary…) since those would probably do all right in that area of the yard, and because those are things we use on the regular in the kitchen. I’m excited to just pop out to my garden and clip what I need for cooking! (That sounds way more Martha Stewart-ish than it probably will be, but I’m gonna hold onto the thought for a while.)
