Sunday, March 27, 2011

Garden Update 1


Our little garden is growing and it is SO exciting / nerve wracking. Mostly exciting though :)
After the jump I explain (with the help of a few photos) how we're doing this little garden.
Happy reading :)


When we first talked about creating a garden, we thought we'd just get some terracotta pots and plant them in those. Sometime in January we were walking through Wegmans (our local ginormous grocery store) and saw a little garden setup using a 4 ft x 4 ft box. We decided on that then we chickened out and decided on starting with these 1ft x1ft pots that came with the soil and everything you needed to get started. Great! No guesswork. (i've never gardened before...maybe a little when i was a kid but nothing that i remember)
The product that we bought is called Simple Garden.
The kit came with soil compacted into tight discs, seeds for cherry tomatoes and basil, a planting stick, a planting guide, instructions and the plant pot to put all of this in.
I'm not one for reading instructions, but I kinda did. I wish I had checked the website because i wouldn't have  20ish plants vying for one inch of space right now..oops :(... i'm open to suggestions!

The organic soil comes dried and compacted (step 1) and you just add warm water to reconstitute it. (step 2).  I broke it up with an ice cream scoop and scooped it into the container (steps 3&4).
We put the planting guide over the top and sprinkled the seeds in the designated areas (steps 4&6). That's it. Punto final!


My sad cluster of cherry tomato plants. The result of planting the entire package instead of planting 3 or 4 like they suggested. My friend Megan said that I need to break them apart or they'll kill each other. She should know, she's from the country. Thank God for my country girl friend! She's going to get the plants that i pull out. Thanks Meg!

Sexy shots of the tomato cluster. I find it fascinating that If i tilt the plants away from the sun they'll find a way to  lean over to the sunshine side in a few short hours:)


My little basil seedlings. I love how they look like they're reaching and maybe even singing :)

I think this is a stray tomato seedling

More basil. I hope the groupings of basil are okay..they're not as densely packed as the tomato but perhaps i should weed through these as well?

Um yea...definitely need to thin out that tomato patch...how embarrassing!


I transplanted our little herbs into pots. I don't think that they grew at all/much since i transplanted them, but at least they haven't died so i'm taking that as a good sign! I planted some cilantro and chives in this pot as well - i dunno what the rules of planting multiple herbs in one pot is but we'll find out :) They haven't sprouted yet.
My oregano didn't take well so i re used that soil to set some seeds for a friend of mine.


I have no clue what this is...these little guys were poking up out of some discarded soil and I felt bad to throw it out so i put them in a glass candle jar thingy...we'll see what happens :)

Parsley growing. I'm not a parsley fan. I think its a bit tasteless and if there is any taste it kind of tastes 'soapy' so of course this is the one that chooses to thrive...hm. Its still pretty though I love looking at it in this gorgeous yellow pot! $4 from walmart.


Cilantro! Its growing well. I was SO terrified when i transplanted it. It looked 'shocked' and i worried that it would die overnight. I'm not going to do that again. Next year i'm planting this directly in the container i'm growing it in - in fact...i think i'm going to do that with everything. Is there any benefit to starting them in a separate container?

Cucumber! My sweet cucumber is growing and is so fun to look at (yes...i'm a little smitten / pathetic) These guys were also bought in little kits. The pots are totally made of coconut fibre so you can plant them directly into your garden bed/ larger pot or whatever you choose. It comes with the pot, small soil discs and seeds.



Green Beans! Can't wait for these guys to grow i'd love to try fresh green beans.

Honestly i've totally forgotten what type of tomato this is. I'll have to look it up. But its growing nicely:)

Seeds that i've started for my friend Cindy this weekend.

Love seeing these pots on the window sills every morning :)

Any questions feel free to ask in the comments. I also appreciate suggestions for indoor gardening as well :) This is so fun i wish i could grow things indoors year round!

4 comments:

  1. It looks good! well, I learned today that 'cilantro' is what we call coriander (I think) - very nice with curries and salads. what will you do with your cherry tomato plants when they grow bigger? we plant ours on in hanging baskets, so the cherry toms hang down - I think they're called tumbling toms.

    Have you tried salad leaves for your window sill garden? you can usually buy a packet of mixed seeds - ''cut and come again'', you literally cut young leaves for salads, and new leaves grow in their place.

    (Please, mention to Steve that I still read his blog) :)

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  2. Hello Ian! Thanks for the advice and feedback good man. Haven't read from you in a while!

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  3. I didn't laugh at the tomato plants. I didn't, I swear. I hope you can get them apart but they're still so tiny it'll be a trick. I miss my garden.

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  4. Hey Ian! I would tell steve but he beat me to it :D
    I think the hanging basket is such a fantastic idea :)
    We're going to plant them in pots on the porch. I divided the plants last night and replanted them. They seem to be holding up well this morning.
    We haven't tried Salad leaves but i would love to next year as it might be too late now? If not i'd love to try!
    This gardening stuff is SO exciting! I've made a ton of mistakes but it is amazing the will of things to grow and thrive:)

    @Megan...i'm sure u didn't laugh :P Yea i managed to get them apart and re plant. They hadn't had too much time to get tangled yet but i need to give u your plants soon because they will get re tangled! Thanks for your help they would have died if it wasn't for you!

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