From artichokes to zinnias

The little spare time I acquire in life is no longer spare, it has a purpose. Gardening, and boy has it kept me one busy lady, expanding day by day. It all started with a lettuce and herb tray with only a hand full of yummy growing, to an old bookcase turned planter, to a brick laid attachment to the house, to empty compartments from the cement block wall, to...

After a doomed attempt at creating a compost pile on the hill above my place, I carried the old, worn out bookcase from above down to mid-level and stared at it for quite some time. Oh what to do with such a thing. To fill it with ample soil would cost a small fortune, one I am not privy to. So my solution was simple, straw bales.

I stopped by the feed store I pass on my way to and from work, and for a reasonable amount, I was the proud owner of one straw bale. As I watched the feed store boy climb the ladder to the top of the straw tower numerous feet above ground,  watch him pick the one that was to go home with me, I pondered. Where will I carry such a thing? The backseat of a four-door car, that is where. As I drove home, windows open, straw flying every which way, gardening thoughts of grandeur filled my imagination, as a smile reached  a thousand miles. Then as I parked and looked stunned at the bottom of the stairs, my grandeur thinking fizzled to, oh no. Yes, oh no. You see I live in a small mining town where most homes are affixed to the sides of a mountain, and where I live is 52 stairs to the gate of my yard. Yes folks, 52 stairs. But I made it up the stairs with the majority of the straw still intact.

I filled the reallocated bookcase with straw and soil and started planting. First section contains celery, second section has what is left of a few lettuce transplants, and the third section contains corn and squash. All planted fairly recently and I am anxiously waiting their arrival. Some creature had a tasty snack of lettuce one day, so a bit of chicken wire and a newly made scarecrow have been added for further protection.

The wall behind the scarecrow has a row of zinnias in the bricks to add a bit of color to the garden. I have planted every type of seed packet purchased so far, and have added a few more plantlings picked up around town. Here are the rows of onions, mesclun lettuce and mustard mix, cilantro, and spinach that was the second stage of the lettuce planter.

Collards and chard in the back, a pepper in the brick, and broccoli in the container.

And what is summer without strawberries or mint to be added to many favorites like lemonade? Using whatever I can get my hands on or find lying around the house I made a small bed off the house to hold the mint and an old container that was once used by a friend for holiday decorations for strawberries.



mint



strawberry

The days are reminiscent of an advent calendar, but what is new each day is a new seedling, not a piece of candy behind cardboard doors. Each day has its surprises in the garden.