We’d like to plant a little garden this year. (And coming from two people who actually managed to kill a cactus by not remembering to give it enough water, this decision is monumental!) But we’ve managed to keep ourselves and our cat alive and grow two children, so … we can do it, right?
The key word here is “little.” We only have time for something easy and manageable (plus, the kids tend to trample over things when they run around outside). We’re not sure where to plant everything yet, though. Maybe the spot in our backyard where the pole for our tomato plants sits now. That area actually gets a fair amount of sun, even though our house is nestled in the woods.
So … what to plant? Probably fruit, flowers, and herbs. When our house was being built and the soil was tested, we discovered that our dirt is perfect for growing blueberries! Also, when we moved in, we noticed a few blackberry bushes up by the road. (They must grow OK here.) We all love strawberries, so that might be an option. And I’d love to have a mini herb garden. When my parents had a huge garden when I was little, they grew zinnias … so I’d love to try growing some of those, too. They’re so bright and cheery.
We plan to participate in our local farm’s CSA program again this year, so we’ll have tons of veggies from that. But we thought that supplementing our weekly shares would be a good thing (and save some money at the grocery store). Plus, the kids could learn about growing things. I’m sure that it’ll be a trial-and-error process as we figure out how to take care of things and determine what grows best in our particular area. Apricot trees probably wouldn’t (we’re in Zone 4/5), but I’m having fun looking at the berry plants and fruit trees here and thinking about spring/warmer weather!
It never hurts to daydream! What’s that famous Albert Camus quote … “In the depths of winter, I finally realized that deep within me there lay an invincible summer.” :)
We have wild blackberries here too – so yummy, and yet so painful to pick, LOL… I am thinking of doing a bit of container gardening on the deck. The only veggie I really want/need to grow is cukes because we didn’t get nearly enough from our CSA. I’d like to do a small cutting garden too (with zinnias like you suggested). Otherwise I’ll leave the veggies up to our farm share. You might want to check out the book “Square Foot Gardening.” I know a lot of people who have had small, successful gardens learning from the tips in the book!
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That sounds like a fabulous idea! I so envy home owners who can do that. But I don’t have much of a green thumb unlike my dad. Good luck Lisanne and please keep us updated!
I’m going to do a garden. I haven’t started planning. I do know you can start tomato plants in the house. Strawberries get a lot of diseases. You may want to grow them in a container. All you have to do is google it & you can find a ton of info.
Oh, & in the new Rachel Ray magazine there’s these organic her kits they’re $10. shopgreenvillage.com. They are for a windowsill box but I’m sure you can move them to the garden.
I want to do tomatoes, green beans, & peppers. Oh, and potatoes. Did you know you can grow those in containers? You can grow tomato plants upside down in pop bottles. There are so many cool things you can do. You can do a lot of things you can do that are *green*. You can collect the rain water off your house to water your garden. You can use your organic garbage to make compost.
Can you tell I looked into this? ; ) And I kill every plant that is brought in this house. My cacti are doing great though!
I loved our garden from last summer … such a success (unlike our CSA shares … boooo). We planted tomatoes, squash and herbs. I learned a few things … like prune back your squash with a vengance. Otherwise they take over your garden!!! Also, you need those cage things for the tomatoes or you spend half your life staking off the darned things. The herbs got eaten up by the overgrown garden, and I think I’ll do those in pots this year … want to try strawberries this year. I hear raspberries are easy to grow too. :) It’s a perfect time to start planning … esp. if you want to grow your own starter plants indoors (I am not that adventurous). Read Animal Vegetable Miracle and you wil be inspired!! Good luck.