Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A No Knitting Day...
As much as I want to be a sheep farmer, it's not happening living in a large city environment. We live on a zero lot line so there is no privacy unless you spend all your waking hours indoors. Living near a beach is wonderful if you are a fun in the sun sort of person. I am not. I miss trees and I miss the shade with dappled sun light. So we have tried to create a little farm here at the city dwellers house. Yes, this has nothing to do with knitting other than the fact that I was so exhausted from working in the garden, I couldn't get any knitting to speak of done.

The weather here is getting warmer and wetter so we figured it was now or never to get our little city garden planted. Not only did we spend some bucks (I could have spent that money on yarn you know!) but we spent a lot of Mother's Day digging in the dirt. The fruits (really veggies) of our labor should be happening in about ten days. The earth is warming up and so are the temperatures.

A few weeks ago when we were at one of the big box hardware stores, one of my weaknesses came seeping out of me. I just love decorative garden do dads. Last year we used PVC pipes for our climbing veggies. I just couldn't bare to look at those again this year so hubby indulged my need for pretty garden things. We had to amend our soil and when I sent him to the store on Sunday he came back with these. The large one in the back will hold our Snow peas provided we haven't planted them too late in the season. The leaning tower to the left will also have Snow peas. The plants in the front are different colors of bell peppers. We love to grill them!







This bed has more Snow peas, some bush beans, spinach and assorted micro greens. I am never really sure how they will turn out but I keep trying. Last year I had a great crop, but they bolted and I didn't get as much out of the planting as I had wanted. The sticks are to remind me what was planted where. Once they come up the sticks will go. I am hoping that the birds didn't get all my seeds before it rained.
This next bed has another variety of bush beans, cucumbers, squash and of course more Snow peas. Can you tell I like snow peas??

This last bed has a some Jacob's cattle (a bean meant for drying), three different kinds of tomatoes, red and white onions and zucchini. We want to plant more things but will wait and see what comes up. I still have to purchase three or four basil plants and we bought some lavender. I have two plants in the front garden that are really going gang busters so I wanted more. I have the lavender because of my wool. I usually get my lavender from a farm NC and this year will be no exception.

I can't help myself with the containers. So here are those plantings. We did more tomatoes and I sneaked in a few flowers too. I am hopeful that my garden will yield wonderful things. As far as knitting it's back to normal. I have made some progress but that's another posting. Enjoy the out-of-doors before it gets too hot!

6 comments:

Susan Luni said...

What a lot of work that must have been! I used to garden, so I know. I travel too much now to have a garden, but I love the fresh veggies!

vlb5757 said...

I love working in the garden. It totally kills my hands but I still love it. I hate gloves so my hands take a beating. There is something so comforting in touching the dirt and feeling it in your hands. I sure hope all that hard work pays off. There is just this sense of satisfaction having veggies that you grew from your own little garden. It's like knitting; you created it. Even when we couldn't have a garden, I have always had plants. I just love them.

Anonymous said...

ooh I am jealous . except I would have one whole bed of BASIL, all varieties. I can eat it by itself!

vlb5757 said...

I am hoping to get some basil in here shortly, maybe this weekend. I do love basil but I really love rosemary and thyme more. I have two different kinds of thyme and I have a small rosemary bush in the front yard. I also have chives, oregano, cilantro, parsley and lavendar. I would love to expand my herbs but we are going to be moving things around for the next few months and so they might have to wait until next year. I would love to have a just a herb bed.

Bobbisox said...

How is your garden holding out in your heat? This is really basil weather now so that should be good. I can't say much good about hot weather as I hate it. My husband spent last summer and spring in Virginia and luckily his quarters had air conditioning. I am insisting we buy an air conditioner this year, I love gardening, I hate sweating.

vlb5757 said...

bobbisox-the garden is chugging right along but the Snow Pea Pods are not loving the heat we have just had. They are starting to yellow at the bottom and I know that's not a good sign. The beans are so big, pretty soon I should see some blooms. Tomatoes have blooms as do the squash plants. I have no idea how things will turn out but I am hopeful every year. My basil is pretty small but it's growing. The butterflies haven't laid their eggs on my parsley yet but I am sure they will. I love doing the gardening thing but I think we don't get enough out of it to pay for the supplies we put into it. I will post a garden update soon.