Today we’re visiting with Kea. She’s a photographer by profession and grows a lot of beautiful, delicious food (among other things) in her garden in Washington, D.C. (If you want to see more, check out her Instagram.)

It all starts with seeds. Kea says, “I may or may not have a problem with my seed obsession,” but we all know you can’t possibly have too many seeds.

From seeds to seedlings. Cool-season crops like the kale on the right go out into the garden earlier than the warm-season crops like the peppers on the left.

Seedlings in the ground quickly develop into a beautiful crop of kale that’s almost too pretty to eat—almost.

A beautiful harvest of bok choy. Most varieties have green leaves, but this one with dark purple-red foliage is particularly striking.

Rainbow Swiss chard is as beautiful as it is yummy, and it is easy to grow as well.

Squash bug eggs! In summer, squash bugs lay their eggs on the underside (usually) of squash leaves. Cutting off the leaves with eggs, or squishing the eggs, is a chemical-free way to control these destructive insects.

Ground cherries (aka cape gooseberries) are sweet berries. They’re related to tomatillos but are sweet and fruity instead of tart and savory. Kea says that her daughter loves these so much that she has to hide them in order to get enough to use them to cook with.

It isn’t all veggies. A few Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Endless Summer (Zones 6–9) were snipped from the garden to enjoy in a vase.

Kea has a lot of “helpers” in the garden, including this little hard worker, JoJo.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

If you want to send photos in separate emails to the GPOD email box that is just fine.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

You don’t have to be a professional garden photographer – check out our garden photography tips!

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