My Thumb is a Mild Shade of Green- From our friend Ryan

Our friend Ryan Smartt ( @rsmartt to some of you) is going to be guest blogging his garden experience this season. Here is his first entry!

June 2, 2010

My Thumb is a Mild Shade of Green

I am not an expert gardener. And never will be. So if you’re reading this blog thinking you’ll get expert advice on gardening, well, you’ve come to the wrong place.

But wait, before you leave…

What I will try to do, however, is share with you some of my experiences this summer as I participate in the first-ever RVANews “Garden Wars”. I somehow got roped into this competition a few weeks ago via Twitter with a couple of friends/fellow-amateur-gardeners (although, they probably think otherwise). It started as some good, old-fashioned smack-talk, but has turned into an international sensation. Actually, a few of our friends/family in Richmond find it entertaining, anyway.

Gardening has been a hobby of mine for the past five or six years, but I now garden every day, and it’s something I truly want to get better at doing. So, what am I growing? I’ve got three types of tomatoes, two types of hot peppers, green pepper, cucumber, watermelon, strawberries, eggplant, a mix of spicy greens, and several herbs: rosemary, parsley, and thyme.

As Garden Wars evolves, each week I promise to share with you what I’ve done, what I’ve learned, and of course, give you the chance to respond. Like I said, I’m not an expert and could use all the help I can get. My thumb isn’t green yet. It’s just a mild shade of green.

Finally, I’d like to thank my friends at Strange’s in Richmond for giving me this opportunity. Full disclosure: I purchased all of my vegetable and herb plants and seeds there this year.

Tune in next week to see how Ryan's garden is growing, and check out the guys over at Garden Wars too- There is some nifty stuff going on here in Richmond!