How does your garden grow?
I participated in a round robin seed exchange on You Grow Girl this week, and now that it's 60 degrees outside, I'm feeling all nostalgic about getting my hands in the dirt. The houseplants aren't cutting it (though I do have an avocado plant sprouting that I will show you soon, if I can get the damned Picasa to work). The fact that many of our plants are still green doesn't help matters. I guess we've only had a few killing frosts so far this year. No wonder the polar bears are drowning.
Last year, Booby and I made serious headway in having a real, sustainable garden that helped feed us, even if it was only tomatoes, peppers, green beans, various herbs and, eventually, carrots. A major step up from my piddly little green bean patch at the side of the house my first year in my house.
The gardening catalogs have come in, too, and they really get the mind going. Already I have big plans to grow broccoli and cauliflower, two of Booby's staple veggies (I personally dislike them, but I'm interested in growing them, since the organic ones at the Fresh Grocer ain't cheap, and I like to learn to grow new things). One of the gardeners/bloggers who inspires me in this effort is Anne of Slow Gardening, who I know from personal experience is super cool and a nice person besides. She also has a lot of well thought-out ideas about everything from rain barrels to saving electricity.
What are you going to grow come Spring?
posted by Mrs. Harridan @ Monday, January 09, 2006
13 Comments:
I plan on ripening my envy of those who have garden space. :(
-a sad apartment dweller
Can I PLEASE visit your garden?
I'm impressed by your carrot crop shown in the linked photo! Mine were stubby and deformed... tasty but definitely not photo worthy. I will take a picture of my sprouted avacado and we can compare.
Ditto, V!
I've tried indoor basil, mint, and rosemary several times, but to no avail.
If I had a garden, I'd plant a million fresh herbs, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, green beans, and carrots. As long as I'm fantasizing anyway, I'd also have olive groves, peach trees, and a grapevine. Better yet, a vineyard. I'd stomp my own grapes and make a big jug of wine and set it down on a big long rustic outdoor table while wearing a gauzy white dress. Mmmm...fantasies...
I'm all about flowers. I go to every gardening talk I can in the winter...all those beautiful color slides of fabulous gardens are the only thing that saves me!
My current project is a Money Tree. No luck yet. I'll let you know if that 20 sprouts soon though.
V, you are welcome to come over anytime. Boston isn't too far from Philly! Arabella, you have a standing invite! I can toyally see you growing basile verde - we made great pesto last summer. If it comes back I will bring you a plant sometime for your windowsill.
Anne, the pictures lie: my husband planted the carrots too close together and didn't thin the seedlings. Many of them grew crooked and morphed into one another. I am hoping for a better crop next year.
GG, I'm hoping you post some photos on your blog later in the season since you're a pro!
WG, the caterpillars do love the tomatoes. You could plant milkweed to distract them. Or import some praying mantises and let the hunt begin! Your herb garden sounds luscious.
Tink, if you get that money tree to grow, please make me a cutting. ;)
I can just barely grow flowers and only the really hardy ones like Geraniums and marigolds. I've tried vegetables and roses but I don't want to subject them to the inevitable torture anymore. I really envy your kind of green thumb.
My husband is the green thumb and I am the seed buyer. Last year he grew a 200 pound pumpkin, which took up 1/2 of our beautiful raised beds (that he built - sexy, huh?). The pumpkin was "the other woman" throughout summer and early fall. This year I'm going with herbs, cucumbers, and flowers. I'm not sure what we were thinking with the squash, beans and tomatoes (which didn't ever ripen). blech.
We've taken down the banned-by-the-neighborhood-association deer fencing, so we're going to have to go with a lot of irises, lupine and ornamental grasses.
Why is the deer-proof fence not allowed by the association? Do they think it's an eyesore? I'd imagine that in Montana, that sort of thing is a must. But I won't get started on associations! My parents live in a development with one and it's just a neverending headache.
Ooooh, lupines. They're another plant I want to grow this spring. I have irises, but they're new, so they haven't bloomed yet. The woman I traded with told me they're either yellow or white, so I'm excited to see.
Blackest of the black thumbs here. But we do have some trees in the backyard that are producing lemons and oranges with absolutely no effort on our part.
That's probably why they're thriving.
Thanks, Mrs. Harridan! If you bring me basil, I will bring you fresh pasta!
I hope to grow a back lawn to replace the one that my two oldest boys have destroyed. Am starting to look into sod vs. seed.
I have a black thumb just like many of the previous commenters. In fact, my husband and I moved from a house with a big yard 2 years ago to a townhouse with NO yard, so we wouldn't have to worry about landscaping and gardening. It's a shame, because I'd like to work on my gardening skills -- maybe down the road. So I admire anyone who can actually talk about gardening AND make it happen!
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