Its that time again!

 It is finally time to get out your shovels, trowels and gardening gloves again! It seems like only yesterday that 8 foot icicles hung off of the gutters of my house in Clintonville. I am glad to say that is long gone and it is just about time to plant your gardens. Whether you are involved in a community garden, have a vegetable garden or simply love flower gardens, digging in the dirt can be rewarding for the things produced and the time you get to spend with friends and family. My wife and I have a small 5 foot by ten foot box garden in our back yard that we started last year and we are very proud of it. We grew a pretty good variety of vegetables and herbs and are still trying to decide what  to plant this year. We grew fairly typical vegetables, things like bell peppers, a few varieties of tomatoes, zuchinni and my personal favorite...eggplant. The thing that is so much fun about gardening at our house is the ways that it brings our family together. At all hours of the day my three children beg  me and my wife to go work in the garden! They are so intrigued with the way that plants grow and enjoy the menial tasks that adults grow tired of so quickly. The other benefit beyond bringing us together is of course the simple enjoyment of eating food that you grew yourself. My favorite story from last year involves eggplant that we had grown. I breaded it and fried it in olive oil ( just hoping that my son would try some). From the moment he laid eyes on it he was convinced it was chicken and ate his fill of the delicious eggplant I was so proud of! So get out and get gardening--there is more than one reason to do it!