Sunday, September 10, 2006

Tiburon Garden Experiment - Take I

After John and Johanna left last weekend, we went for a quick Ring Mountain hike.

While we were walking home, we walked past a house with several old, rectangular, large wooden planters sitting out by the curb. They were marked free. I pointed them out and considered coming back with the car to get them but was tired from the weekend and discouraged at the thought of the cost of filling them and the few pots I drug from Chicago sitting on my back porch that were still empty. We kept walking and I forgot about them until I was leaving work on Monday.

Then there they were, still sitting there, calling to me. "Mary, you know you want a garden." Here we are. So while it took two trips, I brought the empty, battered, filthy boxes home. I still had a bit of time before Sam was released from school so I ran to the local "urban garden" store. The snap dragons looked pretty but I figured vegetables would be easier to justify from a cost standpoint. I ended up getting some of both along with some dirt.



I put the pretty basil in one of my empty plants.




Filled one box with some lettuce that almost looked ready to pick already.



Bought a second type of lettuce, Romaine variety, I think.






Some snow peas.







And broccoli.






One flat of veggies filled each box and since I only had four boxes, what seemed like a lot of space to fill, was filled quickly.

I was left with the snap dragons and no space. I put the pink ones into one of the pots I had but it wasn't much bigger than the flat it came in. Not much room to grow. I ended up sitting it in the pot on top of this funky pot I bought a couple of years ago to use as a strawberry pot. It has never really worked as I'd hoped but makes an ok base for this flower until I can figure out what else to do with it.

For now, the white snap dragons are just in their tray. I might bring them to school, there are garden plots there that could use them of I may find another planter and more dirt.

Today, we returned from a weekend of camping and exploring in Yosemite. While we had plenty of good food with us, we were lacking in fresh produce. Cam and I ate some of the lettuce I planted last Monday with some other lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and red onion. I will keep you posted on the fruits of this labor.

1 comment:

Carma said...

I wish I had better luck with strawberry pots. (Though I think it would help if I actually water them.)
You can put some different types of thyme (French or common) or parsley in the smaller holes on the sides so they can spill out nicely. Okay, so it would be better if you put the stuff in the side holes in first before the flowers in the top, but it could still be do-able. Just don't put in mint. It will overtake the entire pot. (Mint can be in its own pot, but is really rabid about spreading.)
The patio looks nice and you are going to have great fun with it.