Farmer...Colyn?

Not really.  I don't think I'm quite able to grow enough food to call myself a "farmer."  But let's just say I would like to add it to the things I'd like to know how to do, you know, in case of a zombie apocalypse.  Wait, is rapture today?  Why did I even bother planting?  Anyway, I have adopted a similar attitude toward the stuff that grows in the yard to that of my choice in clothing - I don't care so much how it looks, what does it DO?  Plants are pretty good looking any way you slice it, so I'm not as much into their aesthetics as I am their function.  I guess that's why I want to grow some food.  Besides, who doesn't want a few more tomatoes available any time you want them for the whole summer?!  A couple of weekends back, I got the soil prepared, adding top soil, peat moss, and slicing off a few more feet of grass to allow for more crops this year.  I'm not quite at the composting point yet so I didn't have any home made dirt to add, but we might be able to make that work soon.  I like the idea of a self-sustaining garden, but I'm not too sure how best to accomplish it at this point (and pops isn't too keen on the idea of letting stuff rot somewhere in his yard - on that note, I got a pretty swift "no" when I brought up the idea of chickens as well).  The challenge here is always keeping the squirrels off of the tomatoes, which we were pretty successful with last year maybe by shear luck or perhaps they ate one of those cayenne peppers I was growing and thought better of testing the fruits.  We also planted marigolds which I have heard keep squirrels away.  I'm really looking forward to this year's garden, I think we could get a pretty good yield if I can keep up with the watering, trimming, weeding, etc.  For those who care, we are growing three, maybe four different kinds of tomatoes, swiss chard, purple lettuce, squash, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cayenne peppers, hot chiles, basil, parsley, rosemary, cilantro, and perhaps some garlic chives if I didn't kill them by now.  Sounds like a tasty meal, eh?  I'm looking forward to it all.  Come over any time for a sample!