By contributor Andy Jaynes

Shovel? Check.
Gloves? Check.
Sprouts and seeds? Check.

Aerating, mixing, and fertilizing your soil. Pulling weeds and old growth from last year’s crops. Protecting sprouts from the occasional spring frost. Those take a little more effort…

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Jalapenos

As temperatures rise in Leavenworth and the last of the snow melts from the peaks of Tumwater and Wedge Mountains, green thumbs throughout the area begin their annual rituals. I’ve heard the locals’ guidelines about not planting outdoors until all the snow has melted off Wedge Mountain. Well, there is still a little of the white stuff left up there as of Friday, but not much, and considering how hot it’s been the last couple of weeks, earlier this week I moved some of the sprouts that were started indoors to my outdoor garden.  Here’s to hoping I didn’t jump the gun!

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Cherokee purple tomatoes

This season, my roommate and some friends are all pitching in to help with preparing the soil, planting, watering, and harvesting. And I can’t forget the best part, eating and sharing the bounty that nature provides us! We may have outdone ourselves this year but we’ve planted quite a bit including 2 varieties of tomatoes, 3 varieties of peppers, 2 varieties of onions, carrots, kale, spinach, squash, and several herbs including dill, basil, and rosemary. I hear we may have some potatoes going before too long too!

As someone who is new to the area, seeing all the other gardens around town and the fresh produce stands at the ends of driveways speaks volumes about the community and culture that is Leavenworth. It promotes and portrays the town’s healthy outlook on life and pays tribute to the innate bonds between us and nature.

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The garden. Clockwise from top – pasilla bajo peppers, bell peppers, jalapenos, yellow onions, sweet onions, carrots, kale, spinach, squash, big rainbow tomatoes, and cherokee purple tomatoes in the middle.