For years and years I have tried to force the fenced in garden that we inherited to little or no success. That garden was the family garden of the owners of this farm when they lived here. And despite hundreds of hours of careful planting and wheelbarrows full of horse manure and mulch, it just never prospered as I had hoped.
That little garden was a minute walk away from my front door and made me depressed every time I saw its lack of luster. So, I decided to give up. Or rather, change strategies.
Welcome to my "new" garden! It consists of ceramic pots, plastic containers, and a couple of flower beds. It doesn't have the protection of the fence that the previous garden had but, it does have a lot going for it otherwise.
Namely, it is right outside my front door!
Not having time to water or forgetting to harvest certain plants is now impossible. As I come and go, do laundry and have meals on the patio I can keep an eye on what needs watering and what needs harvesting.
Now tasks like planting a tray of microgreens or transplanting a potted plant are nearly always checked off of my to-do lists. And, the close proximity to our house means that my cats scare off the birds that used to destroy our seedlings in the other garden.
Well, that is the hope anyway...
Over the years I transplanted a few catnip plants with that goal in mind. And so far it is working out quite well.
But, we do have one key issue that is not totally resolved. Besides having lots of space for in-ground planting, the previous garden had one main thing going for it ~ the fence.
As much as I love having Tila around to keep the grass down and for her cute antics, her habit of rummaging through potted plants is a bit worrisome.
I think the solution is to only grow herbs and crops that she isn't interested in out in the open and then keep the microgreens and potted plants that she does tend to eat under the protection of my mini-potting shed.
The potting shed is really not the most beautiful of places and is raided by birds from time to time but, I still get quite a lot of harvests out of my trays of microgreens and it seems the safest place for the bamboo plants that Tila loves to nibble on.
Overall I am really happy with the calendula flowers that I transplanted from the old garden and are celebrating their new spot with a few flowers.
And as I write out this very post on my front patio I am surrounded by the potted plants that I have been discussing which is making all the difference as I do my work both online and in the house. As the weather is warming up and the rains have showered us with their magical waters there will certainly be a lot to share in this community. Stay tuned for more and happy gardening!