Will my garden grow?

I've returned from my blogging hiatus!  I took a few weeks off, mostly because as usual, I've overextended myself this semester, and I just haven't had many spare moments.  I'm very excited though, because one of my two least favorite months of the year is history, and the second is just days from ending...yes, I'm talking about January and February.  Sorry to all of you winter-lovers out there, but winter is my nemesis.  I absolutely, unequivocally cannot stand being cold.  And I'm not one that can throw on a sweater and just warm up.  I live for summer.  Flip-flops, tank-tops, shorts and t's, iced tea, ice cream, bbq's, pool parties...I love everything about summer.  I'm looking forward to this one even more because for the first time in my adult life, I have a garden!

We planted our seeds about a month ago.  Here's what they looked like just days after planting.

Just a lonely bean, and one corn popping up. 

This is my herb garden.  I have spinach (which isn't an herb), basil, oregano and parsley.

Hubs has been working on our garden for months.  It was a huge project.  The back yard was in reasonably good condition when we moved in last May, but we've changed it around a lot to make room for a vegetable, fruit and herb garden.

Our yard on May 28, 2011 

Our back yard today

As you can tell, hubs has been hard at work.  He removed a lot of rocks.  Seriously, we probably have a ton of rock piled up behind and beside our shed.  He also changed the rock border to make the space more suitable for gardening.  We even bought a gas-powered rototiller so that he could till the dirt easily and quickly.  The back yard is lovely and officially ready to plant.

Here are our starter plants today. 

I don't have a photo of my herbs because I planted them, just this afternoon.  Hubs made me a little herb garden attached to the side our of shed.  

Yup!  Those are my herb planters made out of gutters.  I wish I could take credit for this brilliant idea, but I can't.  I saw this on a forward someone sent me months ago, and I mentally bookmarked it for just such an occasion.  

Next weekend, we are going to plant our garden.  I know to some of you, this may seem early, but the average last freeze day in Austin is around March 1.  I can't wait to plant.  We have green beans, kale, lettuce, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, onions, broccoli, corn, cantaloupe and watermelon.  As I mentioned, this is the first time I've had a real garden.  Oh sure, I've grown tomatoes in planters on my apartment terrace, but I've never had a full-sized garden.  I can't wait to teach the girls about how things grow and the miracle of creation.  Now, if only the weather will cooperate.  Hopefully, this summer will be just a tad wetter and cooler than the last one!