My parents were supposed to come for a visit last week, but unfortunately a rhinovirus found me on the plane back from Madrid - I get sick about 50% of the time after intercontinental flights, which is always frustrating. I had planned to plant my seed trays and begin my garden adventures when they were here, as both of them have much more gardening experience than I do. However, when they cancelled, I resolved to forge ahead on my own. The weather is getting warmer, and I didn't want to delay the opportunity for fresh veggies as soon as possible!
I am one of the few people in my small graduate school friend circle that has a car. Before you get jealous, it's a '97 Ford Crown Victoria. Yes, I am an undercover cop. An outdated one. So when I head out for shopping ventures, I often inquire around to see who wants to accompany me. One friend, Anna, was quite enthusiastic - her actual reply: "Yes! I love Home Depot!!" - so on Saturday afternoon we headed out. I admit that I haven't been to a Home Depot or any sort of home improvement store for years, probably since accompanying my father in high school. Luckily, Anna's mother apparently used to work at one, so she steered us without hesitation to the garden section.
It was at this point I started to realize that, despite my childhood spent helping in a garden, I actually had no idea how to start one. It was completely overwhelming. There are plants everywhere, seemingly dozens of varieties of every vegetable or herb or flower. I managed to stay away from the flowers, although this was the one area where I had some knowledge (I used to help my mother pick up several flats' worth of annuals each year for her flowers gardens around the yard). Unfortunately, with my limited space, I can't afford pretty. Only edible.
I started with what I knew I wanted - tomatoes. There were at least ten varieties (strains? breeds?), so I picked one called "patio" that claimed it didn't need staking and was perfect for container gardening. Unfortunately, as I made my way through the aisle, I was also seduced by an Heirloom variety (my grandparents used to have the most delicious tomatoes in the world in their garden, and I had a thought they might have been Heirlooms) and a third random tomato that seemed like a good idea at the time. So much for avoiding the need to stake the plants.
By the end, I walked out with another six packets of seeds (herbs plus two varieties of peas), a pepper plant, a dill plant, and four strawberry plants. The strawberries were Anna's fault, as I was ready to avoid them, having many memories of my father cursing the strawberry beds we had when I was a child and eventually letting them go to seed. However, Anna's squeals of excitement about the plants were contagious and fresh strawberries are one of Nature's greatest gifts. I justified buying several plants by getting three different varieties, as a sampling. The other plants were part of a snowball effect that Anna and I tend to have on each other while shopping. The thought process goes something akin to this: Look how many plants/clothes/snacks! We are so restrained by only purchasing a few! It's one of the many reasons we limit shopping trips with the car to no more than once a month.
I did manage to also buy practical garden items - a small watering can, two bags of potting soil (MiracleGro water control kind - similar to the seed trays, I thought this was a wise investment), two pots, a rectangular planter, and some liquid fertilizer to mix in with the water. I couldn't find a trowel, which seemed odd. Shouldn't it be with the rest of the gardening supplies? I didn't bother to ask, a fact that will probably come back to haunt me.
I walked out with a fully loaded cart and feeling ambitiously triumphant, tainted only by a slight concern that perhaps I should've measured the balcony first and determined exactly how much space
I actually had to create my perfect green garden.
I am one of the few people in my small graduate school friend circle that has a car. Before you get jealous, it's a '97 Ford Crown Victoria. Yes, I am an undercover cop. An outdated one. So when I head out for shopping ventures, I often inquire around to see who wants to accompany me. One friend, Anna, was quite enthusiastic - her actual reply: "Yes! I love Home Depot!!" - so on Saturday afternoon we headed out. I admit that I haven't been to a Home Depot or any sort of home improvement store for years, probably since accompanying my father in high school. Luckily, Anna's mother apparently used to work at one, so she steered us without hesitation to the garden section.
It was at this point I started to realize that, despite my childhood spent helping in a garden, I actually had no idea how to start one. It was completely overwhelming. There are plants everywhere, seemingly dozens of varieties of every vegetable or herb or flower. I managed to stay away from the flowers, although this was the one area where I had some knowledge (I used to help my mother pick up several flats' worth of annuals each year for her flowers gardens around the yard). Unfortunately, with my limited space, I can't afford pretty. Only edible.
I started with what I knew I wanted - tomatoes. There were at least ten varieties (strains? breeds?), so I picked one called "patio" that claimed it didn't need staking and was perfect for container gardening. Unfortunately, as I made my way through the aisle, I was also seduced by an Heirloom variety (my grandparents used to have the most delicious tomatoes in the world in their garden, and I had a thought they might have been Heirlooms) and a third random tomato that seemed like a good idea at the time. So much for avoiding the need to stake the plants.
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| Plants (and a couple planters) from Home Depot |
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| One of the bags of potting soil plus the remainder of the plants. I went to Trader Joe's after the gardening trip and apparently felt the need to buy some herbs in a pot from them. Because I have no patience to wait for my seedlings. |
I walked out with a fully loaded cart and feeling ambitiously triumphant, tainted only by a slight concern that perhaps I should've measured the balcony first and determined exactly how much space
I actually had to create my perfect green garden.
You can use a spoon instead of a trowel-you shouldn't need to dig through anything hard, I am embarking on a sort of similar project. I decided last year that the deer had finally defeated me. So, when I get back to PC (week after next) I am going to confine my gardening to my open back porch and the cement pad below it(where the hot tub used to stand), so over the last two weeks I have purchased 6 window boxes, an upside down tomato planter and 2 big round planters. I have a whiskey barrel which will be a project all of its own to empty and haul up the steps and I have lots of assorted pots in my shed. Today I purchased a string cover to drop over from the porch and stake to cover the plants in the boxes I plan to build.I don't think the deer will climb the steps to my porch, but they will head straight for the cement pad! Ace hardware store had a special tax day sale-a $10 rebate if you spent $40, so I bought seeds etc (Mainly for my perennial garden, which I just keep adding to but also squash and spinach).When I get home, I will buy previously started tomato, pepper and cucumber plants from the local grower. Going to invest in Miracle -Grow garden soil (they were out today). I will be following your project. It will be weird for me...for the last 34 years I have hand dug my garden (a good way to get the frustrations of teaching out of your system!) The main reason I have a garden (apart from being raised in wartime Britain) is for green beans, and these seeds I will, as always, get at Southern States. Welcome to the gardener's world. You come from good stock!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I wish I had paid more attention to my parents' garden - my main memories of it are the harvesting/eating part, which was the most enjoyable but not very helpful at this point. Unfortunately my mother, who has an amazing green thumb outside, was never able to keep a plant alive inside, so I'm nervous I may have inherited it (although I'm not sure if the fire escape counts as indoor or outdoor). I haven't really needed any sort of trowel yet - I don't think I will using only potting soil.
DeleteI'm jealous that you have enough space to have so many planters! Best of luck!