my little vegetable garden in downtown Phoenix

I have noticed over the last few years urban gardening has become quite the hip hobby. Normally I would laugh sarcastically about such yuppie fads (did I just age myself, are yuppie and fad used anymore?) and joke how it will only be a few more years before the next outdated hobby, say knitting, becomes fresh and trendy again. (Yes, I am about two years behind everyone and their cousin.) But how can I scoff at a hobby that is not only good for your health, but also good for the earth and an amazing teaching tool for our children?

I am sure there are other blogs in the downtown Phoenix area that touch on this topic, but I regularly visit Valley Permaculture Alliance and Cracking Good to read about other local residents and their adventures in city gardening.

Let me start by saying my plot for vegetables is very small. My husband did an amazing job of building a brick border on a small corner of our backyard patio. I'm viewing each planting as purely experimental. So, no matter what the result, there is no disappointment.

Last October (I think), I planted a variety of carrot seeds and beet seeds.

For some unknown reason (which I will research at a later time), my beets didn't yield any, well, beets.

But I pulled out all the beet leaves, washed them, and tossed them with other salad greens. Delicious!

Now here were my carrots. Beautiful, feathery, green carrot tops.

Here's the kaleidoscope assortment. Weird. But crunchy and earthy and yummy. And very very small.

And here's the sweet hybrid. Short and stubby. Very sweet and crunchy with a nice flavor. And very very small.

Here are my boys giving them a try after a good rinse.

Verdict: They loved them!

How cute are they? Wouldn't these look lovely tossed in a salad? Or served with a variety of dips?

I don't know why they never got to looking like store-bought carrots. Or even farmer's market carrots for that matter. As I stated before, this is all a great experiment. And I couldn't be happier that my boys thought they were tasty.

But to give you some further perspective. I am not exaggerating their size.

These carrots were really really small.

Now that this little harvest is done, for the spring I have planted corn, snap beans, three varieties of tomatoes, and some assorted flowers. I still have cilantro, a bell pepper plant and jalapeno that survived the winter frost. My beautiful basil died, so I have started another batch from seed. I have a little more space for a shade-loving plant and I haven't figured out what to put there yet. But, I am excited to see what this spring planting will produce!