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May. 8th, 2011 08:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupagreenwolfSo I took time today to get my garden put in. This is the tiniest amount of space I've had to work in since I started gardening a few years ago, and so I had to not only sacrifice some things that I might have planted (like more onions) but I also had to get creative with the space I have--a small balcony about three and a half feet by eight feet.
The first thing I did was to hang a few of the window boxes from the railing. Fred Meyer didn't have any of the frames for such things, so I took some scrap nylon clothesline I had lying around and jerry-rigged some loops; they're pretty secure, actually. I then had to work to make the most of the remaining space.
Last yearsmcinpdx gave me his old altar, this nifty plant stand that I absolutely love. It has been tasked with holding my herbs; this year there's basil, spearmint, Italian parsley, orange thyme, golden oregano, sage and chives.
This is a better shot of the far end of the balcony. I managed to find large enough pots to have eleven tomato plants, and once I've repurposed a few plastic buckets I'll also be havingsmcinpdx put in a few eyehooks so I can have hangers as well. I gave up on hanging strawberries because the hanging planter kept killing them, so the few that hadn't died ended up being given their own set of three window boxes on the ground to expand into. One big pot also has last year's parsley, which I'm hoping will recover from looking rather peaked, and the rosemary, which was the only herb from last year that managed to survived unscathed. And there's a box of marigolds just because I do like a few flowers.
More tomatoes, and planter boxes. I didn't do too much in the way of seeds, just mini carrots and bush peas. And there are petunias for more flowery goodness :)
So yes, there will be plenty more tomatoes so's I can make more pizza and pasta sauce to last us through the winter--and also for fresh tomatoes in the summer! Having fresh herbs to cook with again will be nice, too--dried just don't compare at all.
The first thing I did was to hang a few of the window boxes from the railing. Fred Meyer didn't have any of the frames for such things, so I took some scrap nylon clothesline I had lying around and jerry-rigged some loops; they're pretty secure, actually. I then had to work to make the most of the remaining space.
Last year
smcinpdx gave me his old altar, this nifty plant stand that I absolutely love. It has been tasked with holding my herbs; this year there's basil, spearmint, Italian parsley, orange thyme, golden oregano, sage and chives. This is a better shot of the far end of the balcony. I managed to find large enough pots to have eleven tomato plants, and once I've repurposed a few plastic buckets I'll also be having
smcinpdx put in a few eyehooks so I can have hangers as well. I gave up on hanging strawberries because the hanging planter kept killing them, so the few that hadn't died ended up being given their own set of three window boxes on the ground to expand into. One big pot also has last year's parsley, which I'm hoping will recover from looking rather peaked, and the rosemary, which was the only herb from last year that managed to survived unscathed. And there's a box of marigolds just because I do like a few flowers.More tomatoes, and planter boxes. I didn't do too much in the way of seeds, just mini carrots and bush peas. And there are petunias for more flowery goodness :)
So yes, there will be plenty more tomatoes so's I can make more pizza and pasta sauce to last us through the winter--and also for fresh tomatoes in the summer! Having fresh herbs to cook with again will be nice, too--dried just don't compare at all.
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on 2011-05-09 05:41 am (UTC)I hope you grow many happy herbs! It looks really nice... shame about the onions though. Onions are good o.o
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on 2011-05-09 07:04 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-05-09 07:43 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-05-10 03:24 pm (UTC)