Monday, June 07, 2010

Color changing thumb!

I have always longed for a garden. Living in our apartment, I would try and grow various herbs and plants, but would often fail. Not because I forgot about them, but because of the 1 hour window of sun the little 6” strip of balcony would get everyday. But still I tried, convinced I could get something to grow.

My perseverance apparently was interpreted by my dear husband as having a black thumb. He never fails to point out any opportunity how much I “like” to kill things. Yeah right, dude! Little pieces of my heart die every time I see one of my precious plants turn crispy and brown and then wilt away. That and the fact I paid like $7 for each little plant!

Well, now that we are in a home with a yard and space, I was determined to have a garden and actually grow something. We’re starting small, doing just one square foot garden. I followed all the instructions in the book I read about Square Foot Gardening, and we even built a little fence to go around it to keep the bunnies out. But guess what fits just perfectly inside each of those little holes in the fence? A hand belonging to a 2 1/2 foot little person with blue eyes and pigtails. Stinker.

Derrick is convinced I will fail again. Some support system, right? Take your negative energy and get away from my garden, yo!

According to the SFG system, you divide your 4’x4’ plot into 16 square foot sections, and then you can plant 16 different things. Seems like things might get a little crowded in there, but that’s what we did! We planted cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelon, canteloupe, pumpkin, and lettuce. We doubled some of the smaller crops. So far my cukes, lettuce, and pumpkin have sprouted! I feel like a proud mama, helping my little seeds to grow! I did get tomato and pepper plants at the farmer’s market, for uber cheap.

Speaking of uber cheap, or not, Derrick will tell you freely that this garden “cost over $100! It’s totally not going to be worth it, so I hope you just enjoy doing it!” What is with this dude??? Somebody please try and tell him to stop being such a garden scrooge! The prophet said to plant a garden and that’s what we did!!

Isn’t is adorable? I love it.

DSC_7461 Oh, we also planted strawberries in a container a month or so ago. I do not have such high hopes for those. We followed all the directions for our Earth Box, but I think they have fertilizer burn. So sad.

Happy gardening!!

7 comments:

Caitlin said...

Hooray for your sprouts! I am very impressed and jealous. I too am going through a black thumb phase -- it must just be an apartment-dwelling disease. I'm sure I'll grow out of it twenty years from now when we can actually buy a house. Here's to hoping that I can have a little garden someday too . . .

Unknown said...

We're trying this gardening thing for the first time too! We'll have to see how they compare with 1,000 miles between us!

Cynthia said...

Ok, I've got to rent a garden spot. I have green beans, corn and even a pumpkin growing on my balcony, and they need to have more space. Plus all those veggies and fruits sound good. I hope you get a huge harvest!

Melissa and Trevor said...

love your garden! We planted our first one this year and you can see pictures on our blog that it worked!

Jessica said...

I fully support your SFG! It's going to be great and Derrick can just eat his words!

Maria said...

Keep us posted. I have already killed my cilantro. :( But I have faith you will do better.

wackywilsons said...

I totally want a garden too...I am determined to have one one day. Just prove him wrong! As soon as he eats his delish salad, he will repent.