Dream Garden '08

Ah yes, it's that time again. Garden time!

Last year's garden was a big success. Oodles of home grown tomatoes, basil and hot Thai peppers flowed into the Thai Orchid Cafe. I love summertime for many reasons and growing fresh veggies was added to my list last year.

Here's a run down of what we got growing this year.

18 tomato plants --romas, pink germans, grapes, pink girls, big boys (love tomato names)
19 sweet basil plants
8 green bell peppers plants
4 rows of spinach
4 rows of sugar snap peas
2 rows of romaine lettuce
2 rows of bibb lettuce
4 summer squash plants
3 zucchini sqaush plants
Lots of Thai Hot peppers (being planted this week)

So we will definitely have our hands full this summer. Come visit the restaurant around July/August and you may walk away with some of our fresh veggies. They will be coming out of our ears.

One reason for the bigger garden this year is my aunt, who we have nicknamed 'Rabbit', solely on her diet. She eats pretty much a no-fat, no-salt, no-sugar diet. Which leaves raw veggies as a big portion. She's the only one I know who gnaws on plain lettuce as a snack. She has inspired me to eat salad with no dressing. Which isn't that bad actually.

I love being able to grow some of our own vegetables, cook them, and serve them in our restaurant. You can't get any fresher than that. It's a whole lot more work, but we know we are serving high quality food.