We have no idea what we are doing.

Charlie and I have never gardened before.  Ever.  And now we have home that was previously owned by an avid gardener.  Um...help?  ;)

Making it most difficult for us, when she moved out, and the house sat on the market for 7 months, and no one did anything.  Therefore, we don't just have to maintain, we have to rebuild and restart!  But we are not going to lie, we are excited.  Charlie and I have always wanted a garden and to plant delicious herbs and veggies.  Given that we have the perfect space to do it, there is no excuse now.  We will learn along the way, I'm sure :)  The main thing I have learned so far is to not go against nature.  Plant what grows in the region and is right for the climate. 

Here was what our garden area looked like earlier today:

As you can see, it just looks like a bunch of dead plants because well, it is!  (Sorry for the heavy shadow, there is more of the same on the right).

We could see bright yellow skin of tomatoes, and even some green onions, but there were TONS of weeds.  It became immediately clear that the best thing to do would be to dig it all out and start from scratch.  BRING ON THE SHOVEL!  We got so lucky with a beautiful 65 degree day (in January) so we decided to begin to tackle the mess to make it more presentable for the time being. 

We dug out all of the tomato vines, weeds, turned the soil, and we have a pretty good starting point for the spring:

Also there was a composter in the back of the lot hidden under some myrtle.  Charlie dug it out and put it in a place where it will get lots of sun for maximum composting power!!  We hope to begin composting this month and next so we have some good quality soil come March.

Any tips for us as we make our way into the world of vegetable gardening? :)  Weekend warrior high five!