Friday, May 10, 2013

My spring garden

Yesterday, after the hail, rain, and wind swept through the plains (OK, this isn't Oklahoma, but the song ran through my head, none-the-less), I felt it was now safe to transplant the herbs I bought on Herb Day into larger pots.  It also appears the cold and snow are no longer in the forecast, either.

The first thing I did was drag all my pots into my garden, since I only plan to grow herbs this year.  Unfortunately, the pots needed to be cleaned and the dead plants or weeds removed

before I could add the herbs I bought over the weekend.  Moving the pots was a major undertaking, and I was already ready for a break.  But there was far too much work to do before I could rest.

My helper was not much help.


He preferred snooping

and sniffing to planting and weeding.  If I ever get a new helper, it will need to be a big strong man!!
 
I bought one perennial I decided did not belong in a pot.  This is a blackberry bush and should produce blackberries next year, if I'm lucky.   I don't really have a good trellis system, so decided to use two tomato cages that I won't be using anytime soon.

It took forever to dig through that black weed-barrier cloth I foolishly allowed friends to talk me into using a couple of years ago.  I never should have let anyone talk me into tilling my garden, because I had the perfect system known as "lasagna gardening."  So now I have to start the garden over again, building the garden from scratch on top of that useless and unwanted weed-barrier cloth.

For those of you who have no idea what lasagna gardening is, it begins with a few layers of cardboard or newspapers, which you wet down really well.  To that, you add "brown stuff," meaning dead leaves, etc.  Then you add "green stuff," meaning grass clippings or veggie/fruit kitchen waste (no meat).  Water each layer as you add it.  Then you repeat as many times as you have brown and green "stuff."  You can see I have lots of brown stuff, but no green stuff.  That will need to come later in the summer.  But for now, I'm not going to rush the garden 

because pots are my "garden" of choice this year.

I have three pots I haven't yet used, but I have a ton of seeds I still need to plant.  That means I need to buy a few pots (and possibly a bit of soil) before I can plant the seeds.

But for now, I'm happy with the way this garden is starting to take shape.  I still need to find a pot I'll be able to carry into the house each winter, because I was told the eucalyptus won't overwinter outside.

So how does your garden grow?  Is it doing well, or have you not started it?


5 thoughtful remarks:

Halle said...

Container gardening is the way I used to do it. Sometimes I think that I should go back to more containers.
My tomatoes are getting so tall in the house...UGH! I need to get them in the ground but it's not really "safe" for them yet here.

Rita said...

Oh I don't know...in my experience, a big strong man is a lot more trouble than a lazy, sniffing cat--ROFL! ;)

Anonymous said...

I love lasagna gardening it works amazingly well to bring up those earthworms and get them busy feeding the soil....Luckily we have a horse farm next door and I get my rotted composted horse manure and this really gets it going. Like your pot garden. Whatever works right? Good luck with the blackberries. Nothing better than picking and popping them into your mouth. xox

SandeeNC said...

I have all mu porch pots filled with flowers ( not a veggie gardner ) and Zinnia seeds sprouting in one. Major weeding work going on in the garden out by the creek, and planning on dividing hostas and replanting. That should last for a couple of weeks...just hope I do! waving hi from the hills of North Carolina ♥

Sabina Pamphili said...

your explanations are incredibly easy to follow and I am truly grateful that you take the time to explain to us how to make these mist sprays. Not sure if I can find the mica stuff here in Canada, but maybe I can find a substitute? your blog is great and I love your cat, your photos, and the way you write about it all.
http://unfinisheddreams.blogspot.ca/