Garden-y stuff!
So, due to the insanely hard clay soil of our yard, and the fact that we are not wealthy enough to pay a landscaper to Make It All Pretty For Us, we've been doing our gardening in bits and pieces. Right now there is a makeshift bed in the front yard, containing a large number of random bulbs graciously planted by an army of children who wanted to play outside during our housewarming party. There is a large trench in our front yard from which clay has been excavated, and into which a clay-and-peatmoss-and-potting-soil mix will be returned. But most of what is green and growing right now is in containers in the back yard, so that we do not have to wait until all the digging is done before enjoying the rewards of nurturing little plants, and having fresh herbs with which to cook. We mixed up a huge batch of dirt to fill a plastic pond-form that had been sitting unused in our shed, and now are growing two varieties of thyme, chamomile, lemon balm, cilantro, basil, and garlic just outside the back door. Soybeans and snap peas are growing up along the trellis, and peppers, oregano, dill, rosemary, sage, curry, and stevia are all in their own little pots, along with some out-of-season brussels sprouts which may or may not survive(on a side note - why do garden centers sell things when it is the wrong season to plant them? Grr!).
We've been perusing gardening websites in an effort to find plants that will be both pretty and productive - I'd like everything that we plant in the backyard to be edible in some manner, as well as ornamental. The front garden will be the formal one...the back yard, we want to have a little bit Wild. It's going to be an extended process, especially finding a place to make the asparagus beds (when you're committing a minimum of 3 years to a project, you'd better do it right the first time), but we are enjoying it a lot. Today, I sat out on the back deck with a book and a cup of coffee, nestled amongst my baby plants and enjoying the cool breeze and warm sunshine. This is the awesome part of home ownership :)
We've been perusing gardening websites in an effort to find plants that will be both pretty and productive - I'd like everything that we plant in the backyard to be edible in some manner, as well as ornamental. The front garden will be the formal one...the back yard, we want to have a little bit Wild. It's going to be an extended process, especially finding a place to make the asparagus beds (when you're committing a minimum of 3 years to a project, you'd better do it right the first time), but we are enjoying it a lot. Today, I sat out on the back deck with a book and a cup of coffee, nestled amongst my baby plants and enjoying the cool breeze and warm sunshine. This is the awesome part of home ownership :)