I live in a place that has a HUGE concrete patio and a bit of a yard, but nothing that can be dug up and planted. So, I have a 6'x3' concrete block raised bed on the patio and plenty of containers. My goal is to grow 100lbs of food this year...in the space I have. I want to know that I can have abundant crops in a small space, and I want to be able to share with others the knowledge I gain, so that they, too, can grow plenty of food for their family.
Now, mind you...I'm not an expert in any way on gardening. In fact, I have tons to learn. But I love it! I grew up in the Midwest where if you toss a sandwich on the side of the road, the pickles will become cucumber plants, the tomatoes will grow enormous, and even the lettuce will probably sprout!
Ok, maybe not quite that easy, but seriously, they have some pretty awesome dirt over there. Dirt that doesn't have to be fertilized, amended, babied, ph'd or any of the other stuff the dirt here needs to have done. But, we have the weather, so I guess it's a fair trade off.
Last year I tried the whole garden thing too. Unfortunately, I started all my warm weather seeds (tomatoes, peppers) and such way too early and their growth was stunted from the cold. So, I didn't get a good crop at all. I did invest, however, in the concrete blocks to make the raised bed and some special square foot gardening dirt (the jury is still out on this dirt...I honestly haven't seen anything special about it over plain 'ole Miracle Grow potting soil...we'll see after this year before I give it a thumbs up or down though). So, this year, my little garden is already there, and with a bit of new compost added with each plant, ready to go.
Here's what I planted the other day:
In the holes of the concrete blocks, I've planted my herbs. I have cilantro, thyme, basil, rosemary, chives, and some strawberry plants. I love growing herbs. For the most part, they are fairly easy. I do have some trouble with mint...you know, the one everyone else complains about having it take over their entire yard and they can't get rid of...yeah, that one! But, I've got a fairly decent sized plant and I'm hoping that once I put it in the ground, it will survive. I'll keep you posted!
I also just bought a large lavender plant. This will be my first time growing lavender. I'm hoping to learn how to harvest it for soap making and cooking. I love the smell of lavender!
Here's a pic of my Monkey Girl helping me plant onion bulbs. She's such a cutie when she's helping! We were able to plant about 32 yellow onion bulbs (I use a lot of onion when I cook, and they make great onion rings, so I don't mind having a lot. I do plan to use some of these for their greens or as fresh young onions).
Then I also planted 8 romaine lettuce plants, have 2 lettuce plants I've grown from seed (it was a mix of lettuce seed, so I'm not sure what kind these are...one is red and one green though), 10 strawberry plants (one of which has mysteriously disappeared...I'm thinking pests), 2 basil plants, and about 10 kale (both purple and green)!
I also have lots of seeds that I have planted, sitting in my little greenhouse; carrots, radishes, more lettuce blends, along with warm weather crops; tomatoes, chiles, squash, beans...still waiting for them to sprout. I don't know if I'm just impatient (probably) or they are slow...but hurry up already!!
This is my DIY mini-greenhouse. I saw something like this in the stores (it was green and had a zipper on the front to open) for about $40-45. Being frugal, I was able to get this shelf from Home Depot for about $15 and a roll of plastic for $3...ta da...a mini-greenhouse. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I haven't been able to really utilize it the way I expected...it's been in the 70's & 80's so far this whole winter! Right now, I sit my trays of seeds in there at night.
So, there you have it...my garden so far. I'm dealing with a mystery pest that is eating my lettuce and basil, leaving no evidence (slime for slugs, dropping for worms...nothing), and driving me insane! Hopefully I figure out what it is, so I can deal with it and not lose my mind. We'll see.
Are you planting a garden? What's in your garden, or what will be in your garden? I want to know!
Happily Homemade,
Sandra
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