Tuesday, June 7, 2011

In the Garden

I love to garden. I have been doing it for a few years now. I'd like to think that each year I keep getting better at it but the jury is still out on that one. For some reason I am not producing a gorgeous, lush garden with copious amounts of produce. I keep running into obstacles. Last year I did a square foot garden on my front brick patio. Because the brick under the garden bed and surrounding it got so hot I think it burned my plants. Two years before that we had deer in our backyard that cleaned us out. I didn't get one darn tomato or anything else for that matter because they basically ate the entire plants.

This year I have decided to keep it simple, and cheap. After figuring out how much money we would need to spend to make a raised bed, fill it with good soil and compost, and build a fence around it due to all the critters we get in our backyard, I opted to do a container garden. Container gardening is a great way to save space, decrease weeding to almost none and makes it possible to move your plants if need be. I already had some compost and quite a few pots to work with , which meant I only had to buy the plants.

Now I admit, it's not the prettiest of gardens, but I'm not trying to be pretty, ya'll. I'm trying to get some good, fresh, organic produce up in here.

I planted two tomato plants this year in 5 gallon buckets, which is a popular way to grow tomatoes. I also planted a couple of pepper plants, spinach, basil and a few other herbs.



Here is a pot that was designed to grow strawberries but I am using it as an herb pot thanks to my friend, Lori.

We have an over abundance of squirrels around here. And I have caught, on more than one occasion, a raccoon roaming around my backyard at night. I am desperately hoping they don't mess with my plants. Things could get a little ugly around here if they do. I mean, I like sharing my food and all, but come on. I'm trying to grow food for my family, ya know!

I will keep you posted on how things grow (ha ha)!