Not as well yet as Mary, Mary Quite Contrary's, I'm afraid. But I'm getting there!
I have dreamed, for a very long time, of growing a huge garden in my backyard. I like to envision myself heading outside before dinner, gathering all of the herbs and fresh vegetables I will need to prepare a healthy, delicious, organic dinner for our family.
But the first two summers Brian and I were married, we lived in a house with a backyard that was almost completely shaded. Grass would hardly grow, much less the huge tomato plant I dreamed of. So I did my best at growing things, from seed, in little pots inside my house. To my dismay, I killed every single thing I planted!
Then last summer, we were living in Lancaster, PA in an apartment, with nowhere to plant anything. I made up for my fresh produce cravings by visiting the local farmers market at least once a week. The market was amazing, but I still had to pay for the things I walked away with. I continued to imagine the day when vegetables and herbs could be mine, for FREE.
This year, we have great sun in our backyard, and although I entered late into the season due to our late-June move, I decided to give gardening another try. Last night, I am quite proud to say, part of our dinner came from our very own garden. I made fajitas, so I got to pick 3 green peppers to grill with the chicken, and a handful of cilantro to add to rice. Happy sigh. A small dream fulfilled. :)
So many of my friends have amazing gardens, and I still have soooo many questions. I would appreciate any advice you could offer this novice!!!
I found these hanging bags that have openings in the side where the plants grow from. The hanging peppers have done really well, although the leaves always tend to be a little yellow. Any ideas what could be causing that?
My strawberries have also done well, except that originally I had the bag hanging too close to the ground. Evil rabbits came and ate all of the berries, except for this one. Does anyone have advice for warding off the bunnies?
For my other plants, I decided to plant everything in pots because I didn't have time to prepare a patch of ground for planting. (Maybe next year!) I chose a tomato variety called Goliath - apparently they are supposed to have very sturdy stems that do well in pots. But so far, I've only seen this one tomato, and it refuses to turn red! Plus it looks like an insect or something got to it on the underside - it's starting to look bruised and rotty. So I guess we won't be eating it anyway.
I have read that basil is supposed to be very easy to grow, but mine isn't doing so hot. The leaves keep turning yellow. I have tried watering them a lot, and then watering them a little, but it doesn't seem to make a difference either way. They are getting full sun. Could it be that I am leaving the leaves on the stems too long - should I be picking the leaves sooner? Also, does anyone have good tips on storing basil in the refrigerator or freezing it?
Unfortunately, I killed my zucchini plant this year, and I'm bummed because I really like zucchinis and was looking forward to them. Oh well. Can't win them all! My last outdoor plant is cilantro. I have no idea what it is supposed to do; recently its been flowering, and I don't know if that is normal. At least it looks pretty!
Lastly, a few weeks ago, I made a huge commitment. I bought a tiny little lemon tree seedling for $2 at the farmers market in Wichita. I am basically obsessed with fruit trees - during our Girls Weekend a few months ago at my friend Ann's house in Phoenix, I was pretty much drooling over the grapefruit and orange trees she has in her backyard. I probably won't see fruit from this tree for another 15 years or so, but I don't care. The lady I bought it from said it should do great indoors during the winter, and would thrive outside when temperatures are warmer. Some day I just KNOW I will be making gallons of fresh lemonade thanks to this little plant!
So, if anyone has any recommendations on good soils, good fertilizers (I have been using a 20-20-20 mixture) or any other expertise they could offer me, I would LOVE to hear from you!
4 comments:
Way to go Em!! I'm so impressed with your gardening skills!
Emily--
I'm trying my hand at gardening this year too. I'm pretty much a novice as well although I've grown herbs for a couple of years.
My basil is doing what your basil is doing. I think it's just coming to the end of it's season. Mine had beautiful leaves all summer and now it's flowering and the leaves are getting smaller and not staying green as long. I think it's just going out of season. If you'd like to store it in the fridge, you can wrap the leaves in damp paper towels and seal them in a ziplock. That's what I do and it keeps for quite a while.
Your cilantro is turning into coriander. Cilantro doesn't last very long, so as soon as it starts flowering you need to pick all the leaves if you want it to stay cilantro. I'm not sure why it doesn't last long or what the exact difference is between cilantro and coriander, but I was frustrated that mine turned so quickly. The coriander is actually the little light brown seeds that grow after it flowers. I know if you buy a spice rack with pre-filled jars, coriander is one of the spices you usually get.
Hope this helps!
Oh Anna - that was SUPER helpful - thank you so much! I am going to go outside right now and pick my cilantro while its still cilantro. And that's reassuring to know that your basil is doing the same thing - must just be getting ready for hibernation. :)
Em - I love those hanging bags! Maybe that's my answer to saving my strawberries from all the dirty squirrels! Where did you find them?
We planted our first full-out garden this year and I'm learning too. There's so much to learn! One thing I know is that when your herbs start to flower that means they've "gone to seed". {Coriander is the seed from cilantro and is often used ground as a spice.} It may just be the end of the season for them. I try to cut my herbs regularly to promote more growth and prevent them from going to seed to quickly.
We planted our tomatoes a little late this year too and though we have several growing, they are all still green. Hopefully they'll ripen soon. Last year - because of the season we had - tomatoes were still ripening around here in late September.
Post a Comment