The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt,
head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just the
body, but the soul.
Alfred Austin
For many years I have grown plants in pots. First it was flowers. Then for about the past five years herbs have been added. Inspired by Marion-Polk Food Share I have decided to try my hand at an edible landscape. This will be more than just herbs. It will include vegetables!
Hidden away from our beautifully landscaped yard, was a narrow and neglected patch of earth on the side of our home. This was to be the promised land! After some spreading of bark dust and strategic placement of ornamental rocks, it was all mine!
Even though I had some space, I still elected to use pots. Why? To conserve water, keep herbs from taking over the world and deter those slimy little fellas that like to eat anything green...slugs. YUK! Using a hose with a spray nozzle to water allows me to have better control over how much water and where it goes. It also helps the leaves from getting beaten up. The nice thing about gardening in pots is that it can be done on an apartment deck too! I did that for a lot of years when I was growing only flowers and herbs. Also, if you don't have a deck - check to see if there are community garden's in your town. It's a great way to get your hands dirty in your own little piece of earth!
So, where to begin? Planning. First I decided what I wanted to grow, what would be purchased as a plant start and what I would start from seed. Next? Placement. Below you can see my planning and the final (for the moment) items in my edible landscape. Notice that some of the pots have two items. An example are my peas in the back of a pot so that they will be able to climb; and, salad greens in the front of the pot where they will be easy to harvest throughout the summer. Everything in the pot will be growing pretty close together...we'll see how this turns out.
There are also some edible flowers: pansies and nasturtiums. Both may be used in salads. The pansies I primarily use for presentation; but, the nasturtiums will definitely be added to salads - they have such a wonderful peppery flavor! This weekend will see some culinary lavender finding a home in my edible landscape.
Below are a few fun pics of the potted happenings. We'll see updates in the days and weeks to come!
This is rather inventive. At least I think so!
My "taste-tester" built a little frame over the pot and tied gardening twine on it. Then he ran it up to the top of the fence and tied it to nails. What is this for? So that my little Oregon Snow Peas may climb and reach the sun of course!
Here's a close up of the pot. The front are salad greens growing like crazy! The back are the peas. Two of them have already sent up their little runners and wrapped themselves around the string. Isn't nature just amazing?
This is a great example of the plant label not matching the plant. Yes these are nasturtiums; but, they are double flower nasturtiums. The leaves look exactly the same as "plain ol' fashion" nasturtiums, so I didn't notice the difference until they bloomed.
This weekend I will be planting some of the plain ol' nasturtiums around this plant. Both types are edible...I just prefer the kind that's NOT in this pot.
This pot contains two plants: bay laurel and pansies.
Bay laurel (a perennial) is also called "sweet bay." Yes, these are the bay leaves that are added to soups and other yummy foods. We usually see them dried and in a spice bottle at the store; but, fresh is amazing! I enjoy them all summer and then dry some for the winter. FYI: We'll be covering drying herbs in a future post - I can hardly wait!
Pansies (technically considered an annual) often come back year after year. When they start looking a bit worse for the wear, I cut them back to about 1-2 inches. The next thing I know, they are pointing their happy little faces toward the sun!
It's not too late to consider planting a few herbs or vegetables this summer. In fact, I encourage you to try out that green thumb! Also, if you haven't already - take a moment to read guest blogger, Greg Wilson's post "The Benefit of Growing Herbs" for some inspiration!
be well...Mary
Summertime! That is a peaceful looking space you’ve got started there- should be low-maintenance too. I’ve spent the last month battling slugs and snails. After lots of hand picking in the morning and a little perimeter of coffee grounds, I think I may finally have the upper hand on them (maybe it’s just the hot, dry weather). I’ll be curious to see how planting in pots works for you. Good gardening!
ReplyDeleteThanks Greg - I've had a few harvests so far. Salad Greens and Spinach. I also picked and dried bay leaves, basil and sage. Let me know how the coffee grounds work for slugs. Grow On!
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