What’s Growing?
While I still consider myself to be a novice gardener, I’m starting to feel like I might be slowly approaching intermediate status. Every time I get out in the garden and poke around, I learn new stuff. There are continually sucesses (fava beans!) and failures (carrots) and things that fall somewhere in between (Brussels sprouts). This learning process humbles me; especially to the farmers who do this for a living and grow the food I eat.
Since we started working in the yard (January 1st 2008) we have drastically made improvements. It’s been quite a journey from the days when our primary biomass came from kudzu to today when we are cultivating a fairly decent variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers and other various plants.
When I share with people I have a garden, they almost always ask me what I’m growing. So here it is:
Vegetables 
Fava beans (Windsor)
English peas (Grandma Denlinger’s Sugar Pea)
Southern peas (Whippoorwill)
Tomatoes (Roma, Brandywine, Beefsteak)
Peppers (Ancho, Cayenne, some mystery peppers that our friend gave us)
Lettuce (Bon Vivant Spicy Mesclun Mix, Oakleaf, Drunken Women Looseleaf, Buttercrunch, Bibb, Vivian Romaine)
Swiss Chard (Five Color Silverbeet)
Kale (Lacinato, Red Russian, Blue Dwarf)
Potatoes (Yukon Gold, Caribe, Russian Banana Fingerling, Rose Gold, Red Cloud, Cranberry Red, Carola, Rose Finn Apple Fingerling)
Zucchini (Tender Grey, Black Beauty)
Winter Squash (Delicata Honey Boat, Waltham Butternut)
Carrots (Little Finger)
Red Cabbage
Brussels Sprouts
Red Onions
Fruit
Blackberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Pomegranates
Nuts
English Walnuts
Herbs
Sweet Basil
Thai Basil
Peppermint
Cilantro
Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Sage
Tarragon
Sorrel
Feverfew
St John’s Wort
Citronella
Flowers, Shrubs & Other Stuff
Cala Lilies
Cana Lilies
Hydrangeas
Gardenias
Sedum
Euphorbia
Yarrow
Daylilies
Irises
Nasturtiums
Roses (Knock Out)
Hellebores
Virigated Liriope (aka: Washington Grass in my family…another story for another day)
Vinca
Ferns (Christmas, Leatherleaf)
Creeping Raspberry
Yew
Nandinas
Acuba
Things that grow whether we like it or not
Kudzu
Poison Ivy
English Ivy
Mimosa Trees
Mulberry Trees
There are things that are not on this list that we have grown in the past and may or may not grow again. There is a ton of stuff not on this list that I plan to grow eventually. One of the areas that I really want to turn my attention to next is more herbs, particularly perennial herbs. I also have no experience with citrus, but I’d like to give it a try. Perhaps some dwarf varieties in containers? Have any tips for citrus or favorite herbs you’d like to tell me about?