Demi's Garden Day 16

By: Pen-Pal Productions on 4:51 PM

What a difference just a couple weeks has made! All of the plants have rooted nicely and are pretty happy. I caged the tomatoes (thank you, Mum) and added a small trellis for the cucumbers which will be upgraded once they get bigger. I'm pretty sure the tomato plant in the top left corner has a flower already so we may just hit our 1 tomato goal early! 

And the strawberries have started flowering! My MIL suggested we cover them once they turn into berries to keep the birds away. 

Just a quick update for you all, I hope your summer is starting off as wonderfully as ours is. 

Day 1:

 Day 16:

I am a proud garden mom right now and they haven't even produced a single fruit or veggie!

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Demi's Garden: Day 1

By: Pen-Pal Productions on 7:28 PM

Apologies for the blog-neglect! We all have been super busy but I'm here to share a garden update! 

Isn't it so hopeful and beautiful!? 

I'm going to try really hard to keep them happy and healthy. I have a bit of a brown thumb when it comes to plants but I am dedicated to getting SOMETHING out of this little garden. 

After a little more research, I decided that square-foot gardening was the method I wanted to try first. This method is kind of like a vertical garden, each square-foot supports one super healthy (and hopefully productive) plant.

So here is the finished plan, based on what they had at the garden store (we went to That Bloomin' Place in Weymouth) :

I read that marigolds are are good companion plants for tomatoes and peppers so I added a square foot of them so we'll see how that goes. I hope I didn't waste a square on flowers but plants need friends too! 

The Mr. measured out a foot on each side and used a little nail to hold some kitchen twine so that we could separate our square-foot sections neatly.

We spent $25 at the garden store so I'm praying that we at least get one fruit or veggie out of this plan. Super low expectations will yield a high reward, right?

We had a lot of extra plant babies so I grabbed whatever pots I could find and planted them all around the garden. I suspect a few of them will outgrow their pots but that is for a different day.

The left overs were,

Broccoli:

3 tomatoes and 3 peppers:

and 2 brussel sprouts (not pictured.)

I also picked up some strawberries, because every garden needs a few strawberry plants:

In other plant news, our gerber daisies have returned! These guys were planted in 2009 as a way to cheer up the side of our apartment. We have let the flower heads dry and make seeds, let the leaves cover them in the fall, and the snow pack on them in the winter, and every year they have faithfully returned to greet us in the spring. I remember talking to Brendan about how we could plant different colors every year because they are supposed to be annual but these flowers are here to stay. We have a theory that the brick wall and the heat from the house keep this strip of soil super warm all year. I love seeing their little heads bloom all summer.

This is Chloe, she loves to watch me garden from the kitchen windowsill.

An avocado experiment by the Mr., he thinks he will get a tree out if this set-up, check back and see.

If you need me I will be here, tending to this garden's every need. Wish me luck?

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Baby Fruit Plants Update: They're growing!

By: Pen-Pal Productions on 7:00 AM

It's been beautiful outside this week, 60's and not a cloud in the sky.  It feels incredible, after a long, dark Alaskan winter.  I'm in a better mood, my family is in a better mood, and my plants are soaking it up.  We've been spending more time outside; the sun doesn't even set until 10:00pm!

My strawberry plants are starting to bloom pretty little flowers, there's a new one almost daily.  Two of them produce white flowers and one is producing pink.  I was not expecting flowers yet, so it's a pleasant surprise.  My tomato plants are growing too, the one in the window sill is growing much quicker than the upside-down hanging plant.  I've been watering at least every other day, these babies are thirsty!  

I also re-potted some of my herbs: basil, cilantro, and chives.  I was a little nervous because they didn't look so great after their initial repotting, but they've since perked up and are loving their new location (I literally rearranged our dining room and moved the table against the window to ensure the most sunlight possible will reach the plants that don't fit on my hanging shelf.)  No update on my raspberry plant, it's doing fine but nothing too exciting has happened yet.  

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Baby Fruit Plants

By: Pen-Pal Productions on 7:00 AM

Let me preface by informing anyone who reads this that I am not a gardener.  I’ve never planted a garden of my own, I actually don’t even know the first thing about planting except that plants require water and sunlight.  I would say I’m at about a preschool level when it comes to gardening. If I plant a seed that sprouts, I am over the moon.

Now, that being said, I love plants.  I love herbs.  I love flowers.  I love how they look, I love their multitude of uses, and I love their smell.  A few months ago, my husband accidentally knocked over my shelf of plants and a few baby herbs could not be saved.  I ugly cried.

This year, I am ecstatic about giving gardening a go.  We have big plans for a raised flower bed in the yard, which will be a task in itself as we will be competing with our bouncy, almost-two-year-old lab who has a passion for digging holes and eating branches. But more importantly, I want to grow some fruit!  Strawberries, tomatoes, and raspberries to be precise.

Last weekend, we ventured out to the local nursery to browse some baby plants.  I walked away with three strawberry plants, two tomato plants, and a raspberry plant.  The next day we planted them in a pretty nifty planter that allows for a hanging tomato plant as well as flowers or, in my case, strawberries on top, all-in-one.  My second tomato plant is now living happily on my super sunny hanging window shelf, and my raspberry plant is living in a big, yellow pot of it’s own.

I’m overly excited, and overly optimistic.  My fingers and toes are crossed that the fruits of my labor (har, har) pay off and these plants actually produce fruit by the end of the summer.  I’ll be the first to admit they’ve got a rough road ahead of them, being that I’ve actually somehow managed to kill both mint and cactus in the past, my two-year-old is very, very curious, and my lab eats everything from welcome mats to plastic, but I am determined!

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