My family has never appreciated the high price-to-quality ratio of most Whole Foods items (same goes for when they were still called Bread and Circus), so we have always shopped at local farms for fresh vegetables (then again, being from the suburbs in New England makes that pretty easy).

We also grow at least some tomatoes and hot peppers every year (along with herbs, etc.).  Some years, we have particularly good success with the peppers; nothing beats a fresh pepper that's capable of killing off a few tastebuds.

Those ducks are adorable.

Hey, that's a lot of green thumbs out there! And I thought you guys just had green fingers from tapping out those winning trades.

I like the idea of growing foods that taste a lot better fresh (e.g. tomatoes) or unusually expensive at the store (melons and herbs especially). I can't tell you how many times I bought a bunch of some pricey herb and didn't use it all in one cooking session; seems like it invariably wilts by the next day! Courtney and I have done pretty well in past seasons with some hot peppers, plus basil, oregano, Italian parsley, lemongrass and garlic. Mostly we kill thyme. ;)

Since we have so many gardeners out there, how about we share pictures on the blog of the bounty later this summer? We're game if you guys are!