I had two main gardening goals this year: to put in a real veggie garden and to make good use of my herbs. I dug out a 4' x 8' plot of ground right in front of my driveway so there was absolutely no way I could forget about the plants once I put them in. (That visual did not prevent me from under-watering, however. Dammit.) I used the square-foot gardening method that allows you to pack a whole lot of plants into a small area, and I had some real success with tomatoes and green beans. Cilantro continues to be difficult and sickly, and my parsley seeds never even poked out of the ground. Is this me? The beets and carrots were great and tender, but I really should have staggered those in several plantings and done more. Next year I think I'll go a bit bigger and maybe come off the water now and then, but all in all, I'd say it was a success. Notwithstanding the saggy fence I constructed to keep the deer out--but hey, I built that thing all by myself!

end of season garden (slightly droopy fence removed)

As for herbs, I dried oregano, lavender, lemon balm, and mint and I used a whole lot more fresh herbs this year in cooking. And you know what has magical happy power? Zinnias. Those were by far the best thing that happened this season in the garden.