I know you’ve all been waiting patiently to see how my garden is doing, so I’ll give you a quick update. The bad news is that all the seeds I started back in the early spring succumbed to both my black thumb and/or the “let’s see what happens if I dump this out” impulse of my toddler. I gave three herbs that had started pretty nicely to my mom; she killed those, too, but I take 85% of the blame for that. So I shook off off my bruised gardening ego, picked up my planting tools (which, as a condo dweller three and four stories off the ground, include not actual gardening tools but instead forks and spoons and tupperware) and made a few trips to the nursery/farmer’s market/hardware store. A few days and about $150 later, I was the proud planter of these beautiful veggies and herbs:
This summer I’ll have little red cherry tomatoes, tiny sungold tomatoes, purple tomatoes, italian sweet peppers, mild cherry peppers, basil, chives, dill, parsley, cilantro, and arugula. Wow! Hopefully I’ll produce enough to make up for the $150 spent on gardening stuff.
The arugula was the first to be harvested (I harvested something!) and it was fantastic. I gave my mom a ton of it, to make up for the sad herbs I gifted her, and we ate the rest of the first batch in salads and on sandwiches. The heat got the best of the remainder this week, so I’ve planted my second batch which should be ready in a few weeks! (Can you refer to plantings as “batches?”) The other herbs are coming in strong, and I’ve used all of them so far. The biggest surprise has been the dill, which I was hesitant to plant because I hardly use it, but it’s been a great addition to couscous, pasta salads, tuna, and even salad dressings. Yum.
The biggest surprise of all is my planter-of-choice. I needed a few extra vessels for my peppers and was not about to spend another $50 on planters. I found myself at IKEA and when entering checkout, I was confronted with these cute containers and immediately snatched up two for my garden. It’s not a planter…it’s a TRASHCAN. And it’s $2. I just drilled a hole in it (very easy) for drainage, and set it out on a tray to catch the drips. I only wish I would have gotten five of these to use them for all of my plants.
A wastebasket, a planter, a really big drinking glass - whatever. Fniss from IKEA. $2. (image via IKEA)
So there you go: my “short” garden update for late spring 2011. I can’t wait for the tomatoes!!
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Don’t worry about the seeds. My seed herbs NEVER take. Next time buy the plants that have already started growing. I have much better luck with those.