The Bloom — gardens

The hunt for the healthiest possible me continues. And so far that quest is taking place at the salad bar. Because it’s farmer's market season, and salads are fresh. Salads are cheap. Salads are quick. But I gotta say… eat enough of them and salads are boring. The usual lettuce-tomato-onion-carrot-cucumber routine wilts quick. And while I know it’s about the best thing I can feed my body, my other less helpful self is screaming for something—anything—to break up the monotony. Forget dressings—that’s caloric fluff wrapped in a fat bomb. Croutons are carb cubes. And though I love those crispy little-fried...

I don’t have the greenest thumb in the world, but I like to make things grow. So I keep lots of plants in my windows, potted herbs on the kitchen counter, and during the summer even a few larger containers outside. With the days getting warm, it’s time to decide what to grow in those containers this year. I’m thinking about green onions. Maybe carrots. Definitely tomatoes. (Gotta have tomatoes!) It doesn’t really matter. For me, it’s not the harvest. It’s the planting and the tending I love most—the journey not the destination and all that. I just like to...