Planted

After missing out on the best day ever on Monday, I got another chance with weather just like it today. Last night I went to the store and got my veggies: lettuce, spinach, peas, and sweet peas. I wasn't sure when the weather would let up to plant them and was excited to wake up to sun streaming in the windows this morning. 

One thing I forgot to get at the store was a bag of compost. I'm planting in last year's containers.  I wanted to start the beds off right, since I plan to remove and add plants through fall. So I decided to stop at the nearest nursery, Yard 'N Garden Land for a bag of compost. My thinking was that it would be a quicker stop than at the grocery store. 

I decided to "look around" and discovered that spring is in full gear there. Lots of plants, and yes vegetables cheaper than what I paid at the grocery store. Inside were racks of seed packets with all the tools and garden decor. I stuck to my plan and bought one bag of planting compost. But, I'm excited to get back there soon.

I've mentioned that I live in a town house. It is 3 stories with a lower porch on the ground floor and an upper balcony on the 2nd floor. That's where I was doing my planting today. Sometimes getting the garden supplies to the back is more work than planting. We don't have access from the back yard, so it's through the garage and up the stairs through the house. Today I got the compost there in a pail.

I decided to put the veggies in the container Chris made last year. It's located near the sliding doors to the living / kitchen area. Last summer we had the pear tomato growing there. Based on past experience, I know I will pick veggies upstairs, rinse and prepare a lot more frequently than any veggies grown downstairs on the ground floor. I plan to grow most of my veggies upstairs this year. The downstairs porch is handy for starting seeds, so I'll try getting some seeds started for the community garden later.

A tiny frog claims his spot 

While planting my veggie garden I met a frog, who staked his claim in one corner of the container. I tried not to disturb him too much. 

I pulled out a chrysanthemum and a pansy from last fall. They got temporarily potted until I move them to the back yard. I added peas with a couple of sweet peas along the trellis in back. Then a row of lettuce and finally randomly located spinach plants in front with the primrose and pansy. 

It was really warm out so the lettuce was a little wilted before I planted it. I lightly watered everything with a little liquid fertilizer. 

I can't say how nice it was to be outside in the sun planting again.

The finished planter

When I was done I had 3 sweet peas left, so I worked more compost into another container on the upper deck. This container has a metal form I've used for morning glory seed and sweet peas in the past. 

Not sure what I'll add, but this year my goal is to mix veggies and flowers wherever I can. An excellent book on edible gardening is Edible Landscaping, by Rosalind Creasy. Her photos alone will inspire you to try something new. Her book is listed with other favorites at the bottom of my webpage.

P.S. here in Clark County you can recycle
the plastic nursery pots up to a 5 gallon pot
(along with the cardboard boxes)