Growin...

Well, having been here a year now, this year we decided to have a little of Oregon here in Tennessee and plant a garden.
Let me preface this by saying that our garden in Portland was awesome. Tomato plants taller than me. Literally. We had to prop them up with lumber. FOUR of them. Basil, peppers, lettuce, strawberries, chives, beans, cucumbers, rosemary, carrots.... and the list goes on. Lush as the day is long and lasted the whole summer. And we didn't even have to work at it. Just water and sunshine.

This year, we started our plants from seeds and had quite little greenhouse going: potatoes, 2 types of onions, different kinds of lettuce, bell peppers, carrots and ....tobacco. Yes, that's right. Mr. Powell insisted on growing tobacco. (And yes he wants to grow it, dry it and smoke it--- he can't wait, frankly.) He did his online research and found the type he wanted to grow- and can you believe that the seeds he ordered actually come from EUGENE, OREGON?! (Of course, we weren't surprised. Since we moved away, we are more and more convinced that ALL good things in life either come from- or have a connection to- Oregon. Intel? Oregon. Nike? Oregon. Tillamook cheese? Oregon. My husband? Oregon. Widmer and Henry Weinhard's beer? Oregon. Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons? Oregon. The birthplace of distance running? Oregon. My daughter? Oregon. Columbia Sportswear? Oregon..... but I digress.)

Anyways. Back to the garden.
Our little seedlings were growing leaps and bounds this spring. They were gorgeous and we knew we were headed for a full garden this summer. Brendon made some nice planters to transplant them into and did so.

And then pretty much everything died. D-E-A-D, dead. So sad. Our skills for growing plants in the hot and humid south leave a lot to be desired, apparently.

The basil, peppers and tobacco survived and what's doing the best? THE TOBACCO!!! Brendon is a PROUD papa. He is SO excited that his tobacco is doing so well. He's told these plants will get FOUR FEET tall. Oh, brother...

Here are a few pics of the survivors!