A garden diary

So, I've decided to start a blog to be a place where I can obsess about my garden.  At this point, it's mostly just a venue where I can bounce ideas around for myself.  If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I'd be open to hearing them.  I will talk about my plans, desires and dreams for my garden.  Ideally, I would love to grow most of what my family eats in the garden, but that is still a long way off. 

The title, Shamba Yangu, is Kiswahili for "my garden" or "my farm."  In Kiswahili, there isn't a distinction between these two concepts: garden and farm.  The word shamba is used for both.  This seems to fit very well with my gardening ideals.  I would like to work toward farm-level production in the space limitations of our yard.

I've been gardening for about eight years now.  I have worked in four different gardens in that time.  Some years have been better than others, but I have been slowly adding to the variety and quantity of what I grow.  I am now planning my third season in my current space.  It's just under three hundred square feet and is primarily an herb garden.

I am seeking to mix formal and informal elements in this garden by combining a rigid design shape and perennial herbs with re-seeding annual herbs.  Over the past few years, I've done a good deal of research into companion planting and have focused on herbs and vegetables that grow well together.

In the future, I would like to expand into edible landscaping, growing food all over the yard and not just in my current garden.  I'm not sure how much of that I'm going to do in this coming season.

Thanks to anyone who may have read this!