I’ve been totally inspired by the book Grow Great Grub** to start a little garden of my own on our back patio. After reading about Siel’s adventures, as well as another blogger that I adore,** I decided it’s time to buck up and plant some herbs and vegetables. I mean, it’s the perfect time, right? I should be having my new baby any day now…I have PLENTY of time to grow a garden!

I just received the book in the mail yesterday, but I dove right in. Gayla Trail, the author, is the creator of the popular gardening project, You Grow Girl** (now in its 10th year) and the author of You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening as well as an in-demand gardening personality and spokesperson with a focus on urban gardening, growing food, sustainable living, and community.

The book covers issues such as choosing a location and making the most of your soil (even if it’s less than perfect), building a raised bed, compost bin, and self-watering container using recycled materials, keeping pests and diseases away from your plants (the toxin-free way), growing bountiful crops in pots and selecting the best heirloom varieties, cultivating hundreds of plants, from blueberries to Thai basil, to the best tomatoes you’ll ever taste and and preserving to make the most of your garden’s harvest. Phew! That’s a lot of information, but Gayla makes it all super accessible and easy for the TOTAL garden novice to understand.

I think my first project is going to be planting multiple veggies in one pot – according to Homegrown LA,** a single tomato plant can be flanked by 2 pepper plants and 2 basil plants in an 18-inch deep pot. Sounds good to me! Wish me luck!

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