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Friday, March 18, 2011

Oh Joy! Mad container gardening skills.

Right at this moment we live in an apartment. We thought this was going to be okay. Mmmm, not so much. It is close to our places of employment. It has 3 bedrooms. It has the mandatory 2 bathrooms. It has space for a dining room table. What it doesn't have is storage, OMG it is so lacking in storage, it is not funny. Don't laugh. I store all kinds of crap. 

What it also doesn't have is very much outdoor living space. This wouldn't be too bad if; 

1. we didn't have the dogs. Giving them up is a non-issue. They are not just companions but getting a dog is a responsibility. Yikes! I almost went into pet responsibility lecture mode. 

2. It is hard to seat 2 people on our excuse for a patio. During the fall and spring JR and I like to sit out on the patio, drinks in hand, chat about our day or he reads and I paint. We miss this. Seriously miss it.

3. We can't garden. Much. Or barely at all. We have some gardenias that we put along the fence that is 5 or 6 feet from our door but what about veggie and fruit? Where do we put those? And, basil? Please God, don't make me give up my basil. It is life to me. It is my drug of choice. If we don't count wine. For this example let's not, m'kay?

What were we to do?
We put up a set of wire shelves to hold pots of plants. Herbs mostly.

This is lemon thyme and Flat Leaf Parsley
Yummy

We did pot up a few strawberry plants. 

Lookee how well they are doing.

JR loves strawberries.
Maybe not as much as peaches. 
Peaches are his favorite,
but strawberries come in a very close second. 
Plus, they are easier to grow in a pot. 
Though we do have a peach tree in a pot. 
It's just not doing as well. Something we'll have to work on.

We have my beloved basil.
We had to put in new plants a couple of weeks ago.
The freeze killed off my last bunch. It was a sad day in the Dog's Life household.
I'll be planting basil seeds in that bare front area tomorrow.
Basil loves to be in pots. Loves to be bunched up with its buddies. Loves the hot humid weather of southeast Texas. 
By this time next week we will be snacking on these plants and the seeds will be up.

We also have oregano, rosemary and sage. 

Do not think that this situation will persist. We are moving in July to a bigger townhouse with fenced front and back yards. We will be making good use of that place. I have been plotting (steeples fingers and taps them). Because while the new place has 20 times more area to work with I want 40 times more veggies and herbs. Here's what we are going to do; we're going vertical. I have plans for those fences to become garden space. I'll keep you all posted. Though I'm pretty sure you don't really care about my mad planting/gardening plans I'll tell them to you anyway. Because I'm like that. Mhahahaha.

Love,
M


13 comments:

  1. I am always impressed with your container gardening. this summer I may be doing more container gardening (HELP!) than my raised bed gardening. :(
    The plan is I am going to WY with the guys instead of being cemented in front of the computer in SD. I am trying to figure out what to do with my raised beds during my long absence.
    I do plan on planting some tomatoes in pots and taking them to WY with me. Clark wants to plant onions and pumpkins in WY and see how it works out. Daryl is begrudgingly giving us some space. Will see if he follows thru with it for us! And if the gophers leave it alone!
    Definitely going to be a very interesting summer.

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  2. I NEED to start one of these herb pots. Or at least get one at the store and keep it, you know, alive.
    Great job on the strawberries!

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  3. Plants look great, I have a brown thumb. MJ has a cabbage growing on our apt. balcony and some cactus's (sp. sorry). We have the same issues with our apt.

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  4. Hmmm, with 20x the garden work space, there should be room for the kiddie pool planters. They make me laugh every time i think of them 'cause they're so flippin' BRILLIANT!
    Bought this spring's toys at Bakers last Saturday - lavender, mint, a few geraniums, a creeping wire vine (waaaay cool!), pineapple sage, lemon verbena AND cantaloupe and watermelon seedlings. Yup, life's good.

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  5. There are a lot of advantages to apartment living, but lack of outdoor space is the biggest drawback.

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  6. SIGH! Look at the size of those, and the color. I won't see that here until late MAY

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

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  7. Hmmm... I should cover my patio in pots of basil. At least here in hot and humid Houston I know it would grow well.

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  8. I just finished reading the 50 books I checked out from the library for research on container gardening. My next step is pouring through seed catalogs, planning my garden, & getting more supplies. I'm excited!
    P.S. Do you still want me to send you that info on growing saffron?

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  9. Every year I try Basel. Never works for it dampens off before the first true leaf stage. Looking at yours makes me jealous.

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  10. You can have some of MY garden space. Holy hell, I have way too much.

    And yet...I still want to start things in containers. I'm sick.

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  11. Next year is my year to garden. I'm checking books out right now to get a bit smarter. I can't wait to grow some veggies and fruit.

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  12. The containers look great. I think I may try a real garden this year. Nothing too big - the part of my yard that gets the best sun is little more than a strip, but I can do enough veggies for my family.

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  13. A woman after my own heart. So which ones do you think I could easily grow with the kid's help? I was thinking tomatoes and strawberries... maybe carrots? They're not the best veggie eaters and haven't been allowed to eat most fruits and veggies for awhile (cause of their allergies). Now that we're supplementing them, they're able to eat more stuff they previously couldn't.

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