Quite possibly.
Lots happening in the garden. I made one last bed for annual flowers – with some bricks!
Things are growing nicely. Snap peas need a trellis.
Voila!
We’ll see how long that lasts… I clearly have no idea what I’m doing.
Been moving the seeds around so they get sun all day – they spend the morning in the tomato box and the afternoon on the ground near the house.
Lots of blooms…
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This summer is going to be mighty tasty.
The whole farm.
Outdoor sprouts, indoor sprouts, sprouts sprouts sprouts.
These seeds were all started one week ago.
I’ve started to weather the indoor seeds, which sprouted a few days ago. It’s been in the high 70′s during the day for the last few days, so I’ve put them outside under plastic in the sun. Today, I left them in the shade with no cover! A few of the outdoor seeds have sprouted, but many of them are still hiding. So they are hanging out in the tomato box under plastic.
We all knew the seeds germinating near indoors near the heater would do better, didn’t we? Well, we were right.
Here they are, 6 days after starting them in a mix of Burpee’s pellets and E.B. Stone flower & vegetable mix.
But who is this INTRUDER in my chamomile? Answer, answer – who’s got the answer?
Look what I found growing in my garden.
I constructed two new raised beds, the last ones! They are 2 x 4 and 6-inches high.
There’s one for perennial herbs:
(Top right, clockwise: rosemary, lemon balm, mint, spearmint, Texas tarragon, thyme, lemon thyme and purple sage. I left a space in case I want to put in another. I know they’re all crammed in there…)
Also a raised bed strawberry patch!
Right now there are 3 Quinalt plants in there, but I am going to add some Mara Des Bois and the Alpine strawberries I grew in the first fire escape garden (once those seeds finally hatch… 60 days for germination!). Has anyone ever grown the Mar Des Bois strawberries before? Are they really going to grow 12-15 FEET, or is that a typo? I doubt they are that tall, but if they are they will eventually have to M O V E.
So here’s the whole party, from the kitchen window. My tomato stakes are protecting lettuce seedlings from Lily, who decided to nap on them this morning.
It’s a mess, but it will get better!
Definitely not as poetic as 2009.
I may be a little late to the party. Still, here’s what I’m starting (and/or planning to start):
I like experiments, so I’m starting some inside and out to see how different the sprouting process is. I put some soil bags over the seeds to block out some light and trap a little heat, but we’re in Southern California so it’s pretty temperate here!
Any other suggestions?
My dirt stockings.
Several hours earlier… (what is this, an episode of Damages?)
I’m building several raised beds, using this plan from Sunset Magazine. Above is a 4 x 8 bed, 12-inches tall built pretty much exactly according to their plan. I’m also building a 2 x 8 bed that’s 2-feet tall. Guess why?
For tomatoes.
Lazy on-lookers – Lily + Andrew…
And our new neighbor, Dottie.
It took a while (see below for more), but here they are installed!
Happy birthday, to me!
It’s time to build the beds and Andrew thought I could use some help. He organized a super-fun garden party for my birthday.
We didn’t get to building, but there was lots of digging and sawing. You guys are the best!
Thank you thank you thank you!
Now with even more dirt.
What you may or may not know is that I left the fire escapes of Brooklyn and moved to California. And I must tell you – it really is great here.
Spring is springing, the dog is dogging, and we even have a yard for my new gardening adventures. So stay tuned, raised beds are in your future.
Fruit tree in front of our little bungalow.
Since scaling back my efforts for The Fire Escape Garden this year, I have been looking around for a community garden in my neighborhood. The Hollenback Community Garden is a very cool place and it is not far from where we live. I am going to be traveling a lot this summer, but I am looking forward to participating as much as possible, meeting new people, and hopefully learning a lot!
I went for the Herb Plant-Luck, where everyone contributed herbs to plant in a Memorial Garden for one of the founding members. It was a great day to be outside!
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Also gave away the Quinalt Strawberries! I planted 5 plants in a huge pot, and gave the rest to gardeners with plots. I hope they grow!!!
My Aunt Susie was visiting this week, and we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the Cherry Blossoms. I didn’t know the tulips were going to be SO TOTALLY TERRIFIC!
But they are.
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The cherry blossoms were gorgeous, too.
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Azaleas and more!
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