One of the joys of living in the Phoenix area is that we get to grow things here just about year round. Everything currently in the garden was grown from seed.

Here are a few snapshots from Amy's raised-bed garden. These were taken in mid-January.

As you can see, the Bright Lights Swiss chard is prolific. She tends to let it get a bit big before harvesting, but it's still yummy. You can use the chard in soups, saute it with some garlic, olive oil and a squirt of lemon, or fold it into some eggs and cream cheese for a yummy omelette.

There are also two DiCicco broccoli plants and a tangle of Cascadia snap peas. The broccoli is just now starting to form heads but the snap peas are about a week away from being harvested. Our guess is that she'll just munch through them before they even make it to the kitchen for a salad or stir-fry.

Just before the rain last week, a spring mix leaf lettuce was planted in front of the chard from seeds purchased at Greensgrow Farms in Philadelphia last summer. It's beginning to sprout and we're hoping the weather stays cool for most of February so we don't have a bolting problem.

What's growing at your place?