met-my: A look back at 2011..

Is 2011 really almost over? I can hardly believe it! I also can't believe that it was way back in November of 2009 that I started working on The Year Round Vegetable Gardener and it has now been released (it's becoming widely available in the US and will soon be in Canada too - I promise!) At the time, I knew the book would come out late 2011/early 2012, but that seemed a lifetime away. Yet, here we are and 2012 is looking like a busy year - I have over 40 events/lectures/book signings, etc already booked and many more to come. Plus, I need to finish book #2, which is due in Sept (to be published by Storey Publishing in 2013).

I also love to travel and I was thrilled that 2011 brought some incredible trips. From the springtime gardens and markets of France and Belgium to the heat of Indiana and Kentucky in August. The US trip introduced me to 499 of my fellow garden writers from across North America and it was so much fun to meet those whose work I have enjoyed for years. I also have become a blogger on the Proven Winners website and my first post will be published on the site in just a few days!

Although I had less time for my own gardens this year because of travel and work, we still managed to enjoy a bounty of garden fresh veggies during all 12 months, thanks to our sneaky season extenders. Here is a bit of a visual tour through my 2011!

All the best to you and yours for a prosperous, happy, healthy and veggie-filled 2012!

Europe 2011!

Monet's garden on a warm April day.. truly a paradise!

Forget-me-not's and tulips - a classic combination.

Every corner of the garden was a perfect picture!

I just couldn't get enough of the spring blooming bulbs!

Is it real or a figment of my imagination? Mont St. Michel was a highlight of the trip.

The markets of Bayeux, France!!

Black tomatoes in the French markets

I so desperately wanted to take some of these veggie seedlings home!!

A big surprise - Howard Dill pumpkins (from Nova Scotia) in Bruges, Belgium!

Garden Writers Annual Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana - Aug 2011

The lovely Penny O'Sullivan, who co-wrote The Pruning Answer Book and is the author of The Homeowner's Complete Tree and Shrub Handbook. LOVE her!

Watch out - it's the Canadian contingent at Garden Writers! From left - me, Kathy Wood, Donna Balzer, Steven Biggs (Donna and Steve co-authored No-Guff Vegetable Gardening) and Donna Dawson, the genius behind www.icangarden.com

I loved this mischievous little dude that was tucked in an Indianapolis garden.

Doug Oster, Jessica Walliser and me at the Garden Writer's Convention. Love Jessica's book, Good Bug, Bad Bug and Doug wrote Tomato, Garlic, Basil and they co-wrote Grow Organic.